Shobha Joshi: Travails of the distracted mind…

What is one to do when the weather is lovely, a song lingers in the back of the mind and there is a pile of work to complete? Having left the blues of Monday behind, Tuesday doesn’t seem to be very promising in terms of giving me a sense of accomplishment and my ‘To Do’ list only seems to be getting longer. I take a stroll, refill my cup with some green tea but these don’t help; so, I decide to do just what I must to get the mind back on track – listen to ragas from the Khamaj thaat. And when music is so handy on a phone and an iPod, it only becomes that much easier!

Raga Kalavati is a late evening raga belonging to the Khamaj thaat. Not known to be traditionally of the Hindustani classical genre, it is derived from the Carnatic raga Yagapriya (also known as Kalavati by some schools of Carnatic music). Like all ragas from the Khamaj thaat, this, too, depicts the ‘shringar’ rasa.

Raga Kalavati, Dr. Prabha Atre – ‘tana mana dhana to pe vaaru’

Since I have discontinued the practise of vocal music and have taken more to the theory, history and allied areas related to it, the most part of my learning is now through listening, referring to notes that I may have scribbled from earlier experiences, and discussions with my musician friends. Yet, now I have restricted myself to being a rasika.

Another raga on my list is Rageshri. This is one raga that confuses me with it’s multiple dimensions! Technically of the Khamaaj thaat, this shows flavours of Raga Bageshri which is of the Kafi thaat. Though I have not tried it, I have read that a moorchana of the raga can also lead one to Raga Bihag and that it can also compare to Khambavati, which I have not studied.

I simply take this raga as is offered, without argument; I probably need to mature more in the area to be able to fully fathom the raga and understand it in totality.