Simon Kohli comments : Just been reading and listening to your article on Bhimpalashri and it is great. In particular I like your hard-hitting comments about western musicians, being one myself. Fortunately I have since given up my hippy ways and enjoy the music with a clean heart. But I am not musically talented. Oh well, we in the West do have our own great tradition I suppose. I guess I see Indian music as having helped me, that is why I keep practising.
RASHMI SHUKLA comments : Bhimpalasi Inc.is an outstanding collection of music and information.I distinctively remember listening of Bhimpalasi by Hirabai Barodeker...how come that is not included.If anyone has...I would love to have.
Thanks.
Rashmi Shukla Canada
Please e-mail the information if you have.
Ashraf comments : Dear Sir I found your site accidentaly, I have enjoyed it so much that I can not tell you. I would like to congratulate you for putting so much Classical material and information about Desi Classical music. I am very pleased and wish you all the best. We get together every sunday at 1200hrs GMT on Paltalk, Pakistani / Indian rooms and play Classical Music there so if you would care , please join us it would be realy very nice to have you there. If you could share some of your collection with us we shall be more than obliged. Look forward seeing you there next sunday. Take care and thank you again for the lovely site.
Mushtaque Ali Khan Babi comments : Dear Shri Parrikar, I too stumbled across your site through pure serendipity, which always multiplies the joy of discovere several-folds...
Yr site is excellent, chockful with information and great nuggets abt music and musicians. But it seems to be aimed at the very knowledgeable, since you have used the musical jargon so freely [quite a few interested westerners would be scared off I am sure : a lot of newcomers to Hindustani shastriya sangeet would also react that way, I guess].
Regarding Bhimpalasi, which affects me the way it does you, well, your choice of material is good though I wish you had included Abari the Carnatic version. I have a cassette by the violonist L. Shankar wherein he has poured his heart and soul into this extraordinary raag without restraint.
Live versions by Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Pt. Jasraj, are also landmarks.
Keep up the good work, for your work is indeed labour of love : I am going to visit your site frequently.
I visited your site based on my friends recommendation and I am glad I did. I enjoyed resing the article and hopefully, I am better educated then before on the music I love, and the first raga I learnt.
Thanks you Vasu
Syed Hussain comments : Hi: I thank you for your grand effort to share, educate and preserve. I can not possibly over empasize.
However whenever I clicked on a music clip I am getting page not found error. I have real one player version 2 on Windows 2000 server. Iam dying to listen to the clips so any help will be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Syed
Usha Nanthini comments : hi Sir/Madam I had read thru your articles and i found out that its worth it i have open this page & it was coincident. i learned a lot about indian cultural & fanntastic music's. i'm very happy that i had a chance to view ur site & would like to wish you'll the best ever. Also if u could help me im interested on peacock colourful corlam that usually decorated in indian house, pls if u have any ill be very happy to c and would like to learn how to draw & to put in different colour in my house. thank you. hope to hear from u soon. bye
I went through your article. However I would like to add a few words. I have heard the bhimpalasi by various artists which is available as recording. I myself have personal archives of 1500 hrs of live vocal performances by vocalists especially of yesteryears.
Out of all bhimpalasi which is with me or whatever I have heard, one factor which emerges out is the use of Komal Nishada by the vocalists. Normally it is found that what is used is the Komal Nishada which we are accustomed to listen to. But it seems that The Komal Nishada which actually gives that special touch to Bhimpalasi is something else not normally portrayed by the vocalists. Certainly not by any vocalist in your given list except Mallikarjun Mansur. The shrutis of that nishada are in between the Komal Nishada which we often listen to, and between the shuddhha nishada.
Incidentally I have such a Bhimpalasi in my archieves. It is sung by Mukul Shivputra. The Bandish is extremely unusal. It has the SUM on that Nishad only. It is set in Jhap-tala and is as following :
Wa ki CHHaba Nirakhatahee Mori Sudh Budh Bisar gayi Sajani. Lagan piya we lo nahi Aaye Wa ke birog (viyog) me Motiyan Mal Bikhar gayi sajani.
Mukul has started with an alapi for 15 minutes showing that Komal Nishad and its samvad with Komal Gandhara and then has shown especially samvad between madhayam ,pancham and dhaivat. No other vocalist whom I have heard has been able to portray the aforesaid samvad as Mukul has shown it. And thereafter he has sang this bandish with such an upaj Anga that entire swara samvad of Bhimpalasi of the "swaras within" is portrayed before you. He stops after showing you the possibilities the Raga has in that particular embodiment of the Bandish he had chosen to sing.
This is the most unusal Bhimpalasi I have heard till today. Incidentally when I spoke this with Mukul himself, he clarified that though the Komal Nishada of Bhimpalasi has to be portrayed as aforesaid, it is not sung in such a fashion. He actually showed me that Komal Nishada from the tanpura itself.
One more thing. Do you know that Kumarji used to sing various cheej in Bhimpalasi having sum on every Swara from Shdaja to Tar Shadja.
regards,
Chinmoy Khaladkar.
Sudheer Krishnaswamy comments : I have thoroughly enjoyed your pages on Hindustani classical music - especially the ones on Maru Bihag, Bihag, Bageshree, Kamod, etc. Thanks for sharing with us the "fundas" as well as some excellent recordings. However, I felt that the samples you have provided on this page (Bhimpalasi) are not really that great (notable exceptions are samples from Kesarbai Kerkar and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. These two samples are very good). The carnatic samples, on the other hand, are quite good. I am sure that you can find some really good renderings of Bhimpalasi as you have for all the other ragas. I am not an expert on Hindustani music but I have listened to quite a bit. Bhimpalasi is one of the well known ragas and we have also heard renderings of Abheri. I will be glad if you can augment this collections with some good Hindustani samples. I don't want to give the impression that I do not appreciate the effort; I am really a fan of the Music archives at SAWF which has provided many hours of bliss; so please do not mistake me. Thanks. Sudheer
To start with, I am an absolute novice on the technicalities and grammar of ICM....but my ears have over decades of listening evolved ...now to such an extent that I am intoxicated to great stuff. Particularly to pandit Mansurji.
Kindly let me know any set of cassetes / CDs or books through which I can hone my listening skills to the finer nuances of ICM.....shall be greatful on your wise counsel!
Nicholas D. Klacsanzky comments : (I must agree that Ali Akbar Khan has really gone astray and so has Ravi Shankar.) I am an American disciple of Ustad Iqbal Khan, (he was the disciple of Ustad Amir Hussein Khan) recently visiting India to study Tabla and Vocal under my guru. I have enjoyed your articles thoroughly, especially the Bhairav article. I have one question, what do you think of Ustad Rashid Khan? I would be nice to have some of his recordings in articles too.
Sincerely,
Nicholas D. Klacsanzky
Srinivas Mangipudi comments : There's a small typo in the Bhimpalasi Section, in the following line:
"There is symmetry in the elongation of R and D through the clusters n' S G R and M P n D, respectively."
G instead of g is used.
The author responds: Thank you for pointing it out. We shall soon fix it.
Thanks a ton for the rare 'khazana' you have put on this website. It has been of great help to me. Hats off to you and your team. Thanks to sawf as well.
I am eager to know more on 'Shivranjani' which I couldn't find in your articles. Could you please enlighten me on Shivranjani please. It's a request.
Good wishes, Rajesh Vaidya
Madhu N Masand comments : Excellent.Extraordinarily educative.Do you have such material on other raagas too? Dhanyavad, Namaskar Madhu
Anupa Chakravorty comments : Namaskar Rajan! Thanks for the treasure-chest of ragas on the SAWF website. It is an amazing storehouse of material especially for a tyro like me. I have been coming back to this site over and over again for information. And btw, the sparks of humor interspersed throughout the readings illuminate your points so well :-)
Anupa Chakravorty comments : Small correction: I think Rajguru's Patdeep bandish goes Dhana dhana bAje (not bhAga)
The author writes: No, the lyrics are correct as stated - "bhAg" here is "bhAgya."
What should I say about your contribution on the sawf website.....outstanding efforts, outstanding collection, outstanding love for Indian classical music...! I am extremely happy to listen to various songs, vocal recitals, especially on raga Bhimapalasi, my favorite. The listening to song –‘Prabhu tero naam’ by Lata is a divine experience! I listened to it repeatedly. Please do keep making the website rich by adding such music. I will be a frequent visitor to your website, I loved it, it is a unique website. Thank you so much.
Uday Deshpande
Elio Mazzocca comments : I am disappointed by the arrogant attitude of Parrikar wrt AAK and RS. The excessive technical verbosity of the music turns me off and the envy towards these musicians is disgraceful. (I too can look in the mirror and say how clever i am), Parrikar can do no more than accompany on the harmonium (without ever having even composed a 5 note scream) whilst RS composes 50 ragas- yes, they have certainly strayed - perhaps Klacsanzky can teach them how to live. If it wasn't for those nasty American hippies, there would never have been the worldwide interest in Indian music which Parrikar now reaps some benefit through the net !! The author replies: Mazzocca you lil twit, have I crashed your operating system or what? I'm afraid you'll have to live with my arrogance. But don't worry, you'll get over it. Now get lost. Rajan P. Parrikar
