Bhargav Mistry comments : Thanks Rajan, for your exhaustive treatise on Raaga Charukeshi. Though my programme got over last 16th without any hitch, it is very important for me to know these details you have presented. Hope you will not say `Oh no, not again', if ever I come up with another query!! Thanks once again... Bhargav
Andy Bungay comments : I'm attempting to write in western notation with a feel for the style current in the Pune area in 1943-5. I'm delighted by the detail and felicity of your comments. Could you make a couple of suggestions as to best practice and any audio clips available from that time?Thanks for your attention.
Simon Kohli comments : I like your bit of reverse imperialist arrogance here:
"From the elementary-level efforts of Western ethnic musicians we once again soar to the Himalayan heights of Indian music"
Pushpak Karnick comments : Truly a very good article, in fact, this entire series is just too good !! Keep up the good work Rajan. All the best to you !!
Although my interpretation of Charukeshi is something you'll have to hear sometime as well.
;)
Shekhar Gothoskar comments : I have been visiting this site very regularly. And spreading the word about this. And charukeshi, and the song from MERE HUMSAFAR, i cant stop listening. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. We want more. How can I help?
I enjoy classical music a lot, i accompany singers on the harmonium. THe old mukesh-lata song mere humsafar, and some other old ones like that, remind me of my trip in Himachal, travelling in the local BUS, they play hindi film music in those buses there. Beautiful scenaries, and great weather. I used to live in bombay then, now in boston. SINGLE AND HOPING TO MEET THAT SOULMATE WITH INTERESTS that match mine.
Harsimran S B. comments : this whole site is jus amazing. i cant putit into words.ivv bin using this site for the past year or so, in that time have extended my knoledge of raags both in my holy scriptures and also those raags that are not.for instance,raag chandani kedar,bageshri,charukeshi,kamod,tilik kamod,todi and many others, are just unbelievable.i have to say my favrte ustad is raamrang. he has inspired me beyond so much than i could have learnt in a year.his talent,his knoledge is just amazing.i wish to meet him.(also, im only 19 years old)i cannot thank you enough for this site.for some reason i fear you might dis continue this site, i dont no y! maybe cus it is such a 1st class site! i duno! its got so much on this site. so much information.
feel free to contact me via mail.i would like to learn more bout all raags!or most of them at least.thanks to this site, i know bageshri very well.and am studying the others one by one. i am now on chandani kedar! so just thanks.. sim.
i would appreciate it so so much for you to contact me and so i can get some information on raag bairari.i would be even more gratful if you post it up with all the other list of raags.
Sri Rama Chandra Murthy comments : Rajanji, I stumbled into your website and cannot express enough what a valuable contribution you have made to Classical music lovers. I am a student and enjoy this new found material and want to thank you very much.
Regards Rama
Meera Srinivasan comments : Thank you Rajan for the information of various Ragas. I love the audio piece addition that helps put the raag theory into practice and gives the information reality.
Meera
Suryanarayanan comments : not only charukesi, but the whole site is amazing; wish you had includd swathi thirunal composition in charukesi- cant ask for tto much-i really wonder how you had time to do all these things- so nicely done and very original; thanks a lot and congratulations
Suresh Parikh comments : Dear Rajan, I recently listened a CD of Smt. Malini Rajurkar on Raag Charukeshi, and was dazzled by the ease and artistry displayed by the artist. Suresh
Sharad Sample comments : Congratulations on your good work.Charukeshi is my third favourite raga (after Bilaskhani todi and bhairavi)Is it possible to devolop email contact with one of the respondent shekhar gothoskar as we seem to share atleast some common interest as I also frequently visited the himalayan region with my wife and daughters about 15 years ago before migrating to the USA.
D.K.M. Kartha comments : What is the primary rasa that Charukeshi creates or generates? It seems like it has a multivalent nature like Bhairavi and an ability to evoke a variety of rasa-s. In the south, I believe, it is predominantly a raga that relates to Bhakti Rasa, if one admits Bhakti also as a Rasa. But what about the Northern sensibility? I would like to hear comments by North Indians.
Rajendra Teredesai comments : Congratulations on your noble endeavour, Rajan. You are doing yeoman service to the field of Indian classical music through your extremely lucid & enlightening forays into the domain of our divine ragas. I am a classical flautist and one of the senior most "ganda-bandh" disciples of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. For the benefit of the music lovers, it would not be out of place to mention here that I have played Raga Charukeshi in a jugalbandi with the santoor on my CD titled ANTARNAAD released by Fountain Music, Pune in 2005 (FMRCD-098).
In this recording , the listeners would be able to clearly discern how both the elements of the NAT ang in the poorvang & the ASAWARI ang in the uttarang post-shuddh-madhyam, which has been so lucidly pointed out by you. However, Rajan, I very humbly beg to differ with your reference to the hues of DARBARI that you mention. In my opinion, Charukeshi as generally & popularly played in the North Indian style has the GA-MA-DHA-DHA-PA (with a komal DHA) & the "nyaas" is on PA, whereas the interpretation of the phrasing between MA (shuddh) & DHA (komal) is very different...the DHA (komal) in DARBARI has a distinctive & repetitive "andolan" with repose on PA. This is typically characteristic of DARBARI & has to be eschewed during playing CHARUKESHI to give the latter its distinctive persona. Further, w.r.t. D.K.M. Kartha's query about the ras that CHARUKESHI evokes in the Hindustani style, I would like to humbly submit that the expression of ras is multi-facted ...though predominantly this raga is played to evoke the bhakti ras, the melodic structure & substance of this beautiful raga allows you to interpret it with both karuna as well as viraha ras.The shringaric ras element in this raga is overshadowed the the aforementioned rasa. I do hope you agree with me. Thanks, again, Rajan, keep up the excellent work. Rajendra Teredesai
Jakob Cohen comments : dear sir rajan many many thanks for the knowledge you share .i read your artical about rag charukeshi,and much much enjoy.i love this rag a lot specaily when pt.nikhil banerjee play .also when pashupatinath mishra fron banaras sing it .good day for you .jakob
it is incredible to me how you can put such beautiful music on your site, again and again, and yet make such utterly unmusical remarks about the (in your opinion)superiority of indian classical music above western classical music. Why is there ever a discussion about that subject? why can't two ,to my ears and heart, giants in the world and history of music on this earth; the indian and the western, exist side by side. I thank you hugely much for your generosity of your sites and the wonderful recordings you distribute., hoping you will peacefully be able to enjoy it yourself too, without feeling the need to boost it's ego; truly the strength, beauty, and spirit of indian (as well as western) classical music is far above that. yours sincerely, lenneke van staalen
