Pt Jasraj's 90-year musical journey

1952. He was barely 22. Stunningly handsome with a mop of hair that seemed to have a life of its own. A young Jasraj sat behind his two-decade elder brother Pt Pratap Narain (father of the music composers Jatin-Lalit, singer-actor Sulakshana Pandit and actor Vijeta Pandit) who was singing. Across the small confines of that chamber concert sat the Nepalese monarch Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah. Soon as the elder sibling was done, the younger one insisted on singing. Pt Narain looked at the monarch who nodded. By the time they had exchanged places, Jasraj had made up his mind on what to perform.

He began singing his father Pt Motiram's composition in Desh Rag Gal Bhujang Bhasma Shankar Anuragi. Lost in concentration, thinking of his father he sang imagining how he would have sung the same words venerating Lord Shiva. When he opened his eyes he saw that the moist-eyed monarch was smiling beatifically. He would later learn that the Nepal monarchy's family deity is Lord Pashupatinath – an avatar of Lord Shiva. The monarch was so moved by the young Jasraj's singing that he called his aide de camp and asked him to give the young maestro a bag of 5000 gold mohars.

No surprise then that the Mewati maestro went to be conferred the title Sangeet Martand (Musical Sun), has an auditorium in New York city named after him, has a scholarship instituted in Toronto University since 30 years in his name, has founded of schools for Indian classical music in Atlanta, Tampa, Vancouver, Toronto, New York, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Mumbai, and Kerala and also created a veritable army of heavyweight musicians (Saptarshi Chakraborty, Sanjeev Abhyankar, Ratan Mohan Sharma, Kala Ramnath, Tripti Mukherjee, Ankita Joshi, Sadhana Sargam, Anuradha Paudwal, Kavita Krishnamurthy and Ramesh Narayan among others) who have earned acclaim, laurels and national awards.

But we are getting ahead in our story of the nonagenarian maestro Pt Jasraj for whom a special tribute - Golden Voice Golden Years (GVGY) is being held in Mumbai. The Mewati maestro who spoke to DNA exclusively said: “I turned 90 on Jan 28th and my daughter Durga wanted to have GVGY right then. But putting logistics together for what she had in mind took time and we're now having the concert at Shanmukhananda Hall on March 15th”

The tribute is divided into segments representing stages of Panditji's life. Reminiscing his father Pt Motiram calling him to lie on his belly to sing till he snoozed off he said: “Barely two, he'd make me sing Ustad Abdul Karim Khan saab's sargam from Piya Bin Naahi Aawat Chayn. Unaware he was laughing at my mistakes I thought I sang rather well.” The Sangeet Martand adds modestly, “I'm still trying to find my mistakes and sing perfectly.” Children from the Pt Jasraj School of Music Foundation, Mumbai will sing sargams to mark this phase.

This will be followed by Anup Jalota singing Begum Akhtar compositions which have left a deep indelible mark on Pt Jasraj's musicality. “I've never sung ghazals but Akhtari Bai's Deewana Banana Hai Toh Deewana Bana De had bewitched me. Instead of going to school I'd loiter on the footpath outside Yakubiya Restaurant since they would play it on a loop. That footpath was my music school where I got my first lessons.”

Soon after his father's demise when Pt Jasraj was only four, his mother Krishnabai encouraged him to learn tabla from the elder brother, Pt Pratap Narayan – which he not only mastered by seven but also began accompanying several greats. This will be represented with a unique tabla symphony composed by Kedar Pandit.

At 14 an argument with a senior artiste over the rendition of a raga saw him being insulted for “playing on dead skin,” saying he knew nothing of singing. An irate Jasraj decided to pursue singing lessons becoming so good that he was invited to teach music at Lahore's Saraswati Music College. Though he had been an ardent Hanuman devotee his music lessons began on the Nand Utsav (the next day after Janmashtami). “Perhaps this why my music is richly enveloped in both the Utsav aspect and devotion to Lord Krishna.”

He remembers a dream he had in 1946 that left him convinced he should dedicate his music to singing about Lord Krishna. “I saw myself sitting among all the top VIPs (viceroy, rajas, nawabs and fellow artists) in a semi-circle in front of the Lord who appeared in his child form. He looked at me square in the eye and said: 'Leave all the puja and rituals to these others around you. You just serve me with your music.' I remember waking up in tears. I can sense the Lord watching over me since.”

But he also recounts how the transition from percussion to vocals was often traumatic as his ambition to sing overreached his capacity. “I once insisted on singing solo after my elder brother. When I told him I was going to sing Raga Yaman he reminded me he hadn't still taught me the raga. Unmindful, I sang the bandish Ae Ree Aali Piya Bin. When I moved from sthaayi to the antara I felt like Abhimanyu who was caught in the Chakravyuha in the epic battle of Mahabharata. I knew how to go in but didn't know how to come out. I left the stage in tears. I resolved I'd master music and worked on it for hours daily.” This struggle will be represented by violin maestro Dr L Subramaniam's segment.

Finally, Pt Jasraj himself will take the stage. “I want audiences to see if I've been a good student. Ultimately it is not me but He who sings through me and He who listens through them,” says the maestro who says he has still not made up his mind on the raga he will sing. “I generally sing Bhairav in the morning and Multani/Desh later in the day. These days one of my favourites is Jayjaywanti.”

Panditji's daughter Durga Jasraj who produces original content in the field of music says his ability to keep dedication, time, commitment in the right balance even at 90 is inspiring. “And despite receiving top awards and recognition from across the world he is still the picture of humility.”

As a daughter, she should know. After all, she has shot a musical biography on him in 2002 (inaugurated by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee). It featured the legend himself narrating his inspirational and motivating journey, interspersed with live musical performances. “I experienced early on his exceptional musical prowess,” she says and recounts an incident from 2001 when Pt Jasraj was invited to the PMO to perform by then-senior IAS officer N K Singh (Secretary to the PM Atal Behari Vajpayee between 1998-2001). Remembering the lovely summer night she recounts: “In the clear sky, the Buddha Purnima moon seemed like you could reach out to touch it. The beautifully manicured lawn had a gathering of the who's who from the world of politics and culture.”

Pt Jasraj began with Raga Dhuliya Malhar and told the gathering it is sung before the monsoon to herald the dust storm before the first rains. “As he sang the climate began to visibly change. It got so windy that the backdrop and marigold garlands hung around were ripped off and sent flying. The dust storm turned into a downpour and all the dignitaries ran for cover. When it wouldn't subside the concert was shifted to a room inside,” she says remembering being awestruck on the tanpura behind him.

N K Singh has written about this miracle releasing the recorded live music in a CD on which he mentions what happened during the concert where industrialist Ajay Piramal was also present.

We ask the legend why despite his family connections to the world of films and glamour he never chose to compose for films. “When I shifted back to Mumbai with my wife and kids, my father-in-law the filmmaking legend V Shantaram asked me if I was interested in giving film music since I was not getting a single concert for over six months. He was making Geet Gaya Patharon Ne (1964) for which the songs were composed by the accomplished shehnai and flute exponent Ramlal. Vasant Desai was doing the background music and Papa suggested I should join him but I told him I have vowed to only pursue classical music.”

He remembers the filmmaking legend getting up to hug him. “He said he would respect my decision to stick to classical music and I did not then ever think of film music.”

Much later he has sung both classical and semi-classical compositions for film soundtracks, like, 'Vandana Karo,' composed in Raag Ahir Bhairav by the composer Vasant Desai, for Ladki Sahyadri Ki (1966), a duet with the late Kirana gharana legend Pt Bhimsen Joshi for Birbal My Brother (1975), and a ballad, Vaada Tumse Hai Vaada for Vikram Bhatt's 1920 (2008). He has also musically collaborated with wife Madhura on her documentaries children's plays and ballets. For her first Marathi film, Aai Tuzha Aashirwad (2010) he and the Bharat Ratna nightingale Lata Mangeshkar sang together.

He says he does not look down on film music like some classical musicians do. “Look at the divinity a Lata Mangeshkar, an Asha Bhosale or a Mohammed Rafi bring to their songs. They often achieve what we classical musicians try to achieve with a full concert in a few minutes,” he says and adds, “No wonder even young children want to sing these singers' songs on reality shows.”

He brushes off suggestions reality shows are not good. “They provide a platform and people are able to showcase their talent. Sometimes one can clearly see the talent graph of the performers going up even through one season. This is obviously because of rigorous classical training and riyaz. How can that be a bad thing?”

He also takes on naysayers who worry for classical music's future. “Even with royal patrons, there were only 6-7 top musicians who everyone doted on. This is true even now. Bright talent always shines through,” he says but laments the disappearance of the classical raga-based songs from film tracks. “Today's composers should realign themselves without tradition and channelise it in their compositions.”

While understanding classifications are necessary he wonders why this becomes an exercise in hierarchical exclusion in music. “I sing Haveli music. But to brush it off as lesser than khayal gayaki is a travesty. This has links with the Dhrupad genre from which all our forms of music have evolved. Do we call the uthhan and lagi done in Dhamaar of Dhrupad as lesser? That's exactly what Haveli music is.”

He recounts how a senior musician was scoffed at his Haveli music renditions as “Marwadi music.” He remembers telling him off for this. “This is completely raga-based and has the added component of devotion where the deities (largely Krishna) from the Vaishnav tradition are invoked musically. What is Marwadi about that?”

When asked who among his bevvy of students can be called his real legatee he smiles: “The one who people love will be the legatee. There is no point in me anointing anyone. This will be done by listeners and audiences.”

He says he is not much enthused listening to contemporary artists as much as the legends of yore like Pt Omkarnath Thakur, Ustad Bade Ghulam Khan saab, Ustad Amir Khan saab, his elder brother or his uncle. “When I hear them singing I feel there is so much still to learn.”

He is quick to clarify this does not mean brushing off the younger musicians. “The younger lot is quite well trained and knows what it wants. They have such focus and dedication that they will get there.”

On being asked whether there are still any unchecked boxes when he looks back he folds his hands and looks skywards. “Its all Ram Rachit Rakha (the Lord's charted everyone's life).”