Joy's morning message of Pt. Bhimsen Joshi's death. All morning I was playing Todi on the 12-string, tuning the strings to the notes of the Todi Scale and just improvising for hours, I could play for 24 hours if there was some method of arranging for water and food. :) All morning my tribute to Bhimsenji. The great hearts that God touched, the octave bringing forth joy, longing, hope...the time is here. Now. This is the sixth day of the rest of my life.
Afternoon, I sat with Bhimpalasi for hours trying to hit the ascent to the Shuddha Madhyam like Kumar Gandharv catches it. How beautiful it is, just the interplay of different notes, while the first Tanpura is set to Shuddha Ma & Sa and the second to a higher Komal Gandhar & Sa...and then the coming back to Shadaj is like the light the sun brought down that afternoon in Shivala.
And again, articulated beautifully by Rajan Parrikar:
The ati-madhur and ati-priya Raga Bhimpalasi has the penetrating power to infect the human mind and control it for days and weeks on end. There is as yet no known antidote to the Bhimpalasi contagion. Fortunately, it strikes only those with a mind and so the damage is restricted to a very small fraction of humanity. My first memories of this expansive, orphic raga hark back to the many bhajani utsavs in Goa I had the good fortune to be part of as a lad in shorts. Here I invite you to join me on what promises to be a balmy afternoon cruise through the enticing waters of Bhimpalasi.
The constituent swaras of Bhimpalasi are drawn from the Kafi that corresponding to the 22nd Carnatic melakarta Kharaharapriya: S R g M P D n where M = shuddha madhyam.
The aroha-avarohana set may be stated as:
n’ S g M P n S”::S” n D P M g R S
The aroha-avarohana barely betrays the rich fund of melodic promise vested in this mode. The very idea of raga impels us to look for fulfilment beyond mere scales. The insight, intellectual leap, and abstraction required to ferry us beyond a scale and into the raga realm must be considered a signal achievement in the history of music.
Bhimpalasi traces its antecedents to the almost defunct Raga Dhanashree of the Kafi that (Note: Dhanashree of the Bilawal that is still occasionally performed, and hence the clarifier). In Dhanashree the primary aroha-avaroha contour sketched above is retained, but it is instead characterized by a dominant pancham. When the accent is shifted off the pancham and the madhyam is advanced, the result is an avirbhava of Bhimpalasi and it is precisely this preponderance of the madhyam (nyasa bahutva) that bestows on Bhimpalasi its allure.
The kernel of Bhimpalasi is encapsulated in the following tonal movement:
P’ n’ S M… S g M, M g M g R S
Notice the M-centric nature of the phrase and the reprise of M g.
Supporting movements are:
n’ S g R, S, n’ S M, M P, g M P n D, P
The rishab and dhaivat are langhan (skipped) in arohi movements but assume the role of deergha bahutva in avarohi runs. There is symmetry in the elongation of R and D through the clusters n’ S g R and M P n D, respectively.
M P g M P (S”)n, n S”, P n S” g” R” S”
The typical launch vehicle for the antara.
S” n D, P, D (P)M P (M)g, M, M P (M)g M g R, S
The descent looks innocuous but there are always those gotchas to watch for. A spurious phrase of the type n S” D P may soil the development (we shall have occasion to experience this event later from a great master).
Obiter dictum: Some musicians, notably from the Agra school, view Bhimpalasi as a union of two component ragas, viz., Bheem and Palasi. Accordingly, their Bheem drops the rishab altogether and Palasi the dhaivat (the Bheem of the Khamaj that is today better known by the name “Gavati”). There is a recording of Faiyyaz Khan in Raga Bheem (not adduced here).
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Night on the terrace with Joy, candle lit, Brownie and Tommy hanging around. The moon looked down at the Ganga, now waning. But then the freshness and rapidity of Malkauns brought back the feeling of rejuvenation, a timely thing well-needed in our times...The moon reflected off the stainless steel, as I listened to the sound of night with just five notes. God has made his presence felt. Every moment brings a song, a message, some cosmic intervention making waves via Ustad Ali Akbar Khan's sleight of hand. I am here, maybe this is the next life, rebirth, dwij.
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A Visceral Path
