• Indian Classical Vocalist Manali Bose in conversation with Dr Priyaankaa Mathur on her early days, training at ITC SRA and Hori Ke Rang performances at G5A Warehouse, Mumbai.  

Indian Classical Vocalist Manali Bose who's popularly known for her "1001 Bandishes of the Great Maestros" curated by Satrangee on YouTube.She is driven with a mission to document and restore some of the rare and popular Indian classical music bandishes.Manali talks about her journey into the world of Indian classical music, Khyal, thumri and the folk music genres of Uttar Pradesh, she being extensively trained at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a Scholar under Pandit Arun Bhaduri of Kirana Gharana. She specializes in the Lucknow-style Thumri, trained by Ustad Golam Emam, a foremost disciple of Pt. Dhruba Tara Joshi of Lucknow, while her musical depth was further enriched under Sitar Nawaz Amzad Hossain of the Etawah Imdadkhani Gharana.

Manali Bose comes from a traditional Bengali family of Calcutta, born to classical musicians and brought up in an environment of Rabindra Sangeet. In fact, she tells about her music training which was more of passive in her early years, “As per my parents and elders I began to sing and hum first the tunes that I heard from my parents, than to talk. My parents made me listen to a lot of classical records, even before my formal initiation to music happened. I began my formal training at the age of 7 years from Smt.Debjani Basu who was the disciple of Pt.A Kananji, at ITC SRA, who later introduced me to the institution, that gave me a strong foundation in Indian classical music.”

Elaborating on her initiation in training at ITC SRA Manali tells, “At that time it had two rounds of screenings which I cleared at a tender age of 9. There were all the stalwarts of Indian classical music world who were there to judge the applicants. There after began my Khyal taleem from my Guruji Pandit Arun Bhaduriji of Kirana Gharana for a long span of 20 years, under strict discipline.Usually students join SRA after completing their schooling, but my guruji permitted me to attend school and also attend classes, and I was the only kid there. My Guruji even used to take so much pain to give me special classes on Saturdays as it was my holiday, although it was his off and I feel so indebted to him, for all the love and blessings he bestowed upon me.”

She added, “ITC SRA prepares professional artists in gayaki, in the Gurukul, Guru Shishya Parampara, while you have Gurus from different gharanas.There used to be raga analysis sessions wherein students were asked to listen to many old recordings of the same raga, on how it's performed in different styles by different perfomers. As guided by the Gurus students are asked to analyse, how is the treatment of a particular phrase in a raga in a particular Gharana and in a particular bandish. Since it's important to learn many bandishes in a single raga, as every bandish showcases the particular phrases of a raga. In fact the word bandish means a bouquet of all good things of a Raga tied together.”

Throwing light on the 1001 Bandish Project and what inspired her to take up the project Manali tells, “ITC SRA has a very rich collection of Indian classical music archives for the scholars to listen and learn. I learnt many bandishes from there which I eventually incorporated in 1001 Bandish project. I started it with the aim to document rare and popular bandishes which are available in these archives. A student of music can learn from the guru, or through the recordings sung by authentic maestros. All the bandishes on the project were learnt during my SRA days,where I also had an opportunity to learn from the maestros like Vidushi Girija Devi, Pt.Laxman Prasad Jaipurwale, Pt.Ulhas Kashalkar, Smt.Malvika Kanan, Us.Mashqoor Ali Khan Saheb, Pt. Kumar Prasad Mukhopadhyay, Vidushi Deepali Nag, Pt.V G Jog, Pt.Vijay Kichlu who literally had the khazana of bandishes. There was a process that you have to learn the best of each and every guru there. There were also Pandit Nivruttibua, A Kanan, and Us. Latafat Hussain Khan Saheb, Us.Nisar Hussain Khan Saheb, before I joined, but we had access to their recordings.”

Apart from Khyal Manali executes par excellent command over semi-classical music forms like Thumri, Dadra, Kajri, Chaiti and Baramasa. She tells, “My extensive thumri taleem started after my marriage from my in-laws. My father in law Ustad Golam Emamji and my mother in law, along with my husband Ustad Amzad Hossain. They all are Gandabandh Shagirds of Pandit Dhruba Tara Joshiji of Lucknow, who was the Shagird of Ustad Inayat Khan Saheb from whom he learnt Sitar. Inayat Khan Saheb, who was the father of Vijayat Khan Saheb considered Joshiji as his son. Joshiji was a brilliant musician and played Sitar initially, but he got paralysed and later switched to vocal music and became the Gandabandh Shagird of Ustad Faiyaz Khan Saheb of Agra Gharana.”

Talking about her musical legacy, she tells, “My husband learnt both Gayaki and Sitar from Joshiji. He also learnt from Ustad Vilayat Khan Saheb and Pandit Suresh Mishraji. He has  transferred this legacy to our son Saptak Hussain, who is trying to incorporate Vilayat Khani  and Inayat Khani Baaz on the Piano and Harmonium as he plays Alaap, Jod, Jhala Vilambit and Drut laya, exactly as it's played on the Sitar in the traditional format. He had his initial training in vocal music from me, which is very important for an Instrumentalist to play the Gayaki Ang.”

Manali was accompanied by her son Saptak Hussain on Harmonium, Sangeet Mishra on Sarangi and Swapnil Bhise on Tabla at a Holi Special Concert 'Hori Ke Rang' held at G5A Warehouse Mumbai recently. Manali presented a bouquet of some exotic Horis, Thumri's and folk music forms of Benaras and Lucknow gharana.Before beginning her concert she said, “The festival of Hori brings the joy and playfulness to the otherwise mundane life. While we sing Hori to commemorate the festival of colours it remains incomplete without Thumri, Chaiti, Baramasa and so I would like to give you all a glimpse into the rich repertoire of these compositions along with presenting some traditional Horis.”

Manali began her recital with a traditional Hori Thumri 'Hori khelan kaise jaun, beech main thare Kunwar Kanhai' in Raga Pilu set in 14 beats Deepchandi taal. She gradually elaborated the composition depicting the Nayika Radha's confused state of mind, as she wonders how to go and play Holi with her mates, as Krishna stands in her gateway blocking it. With subtle murkis and swift phrases she embellished the bandish creating the very mood of Hori in the slow paced bandish.Traversing through the raga, she reached the crescendo pacing with the  laggi along with exotic tabla, sarangi and harmonium accompaniment and then came back to the original laya to conclude the piece.

Hori khelan kaise jaun video link

Her next rendition was the composition of Pandit Laxman Prasad Jaipurwale, a bandish ki thumri in raga Kafi in Teentaal 'Dekho ali hori khelat Nand lal re', sang liye apne kai gwal baal re (shepherds of Braj)'. The bandish is indeed a masterpiece with a unique zig zag rhythm pattern, depicting the playfulness of Hori. Krishna drenches Radha and her mates (Gopis) in the colours of Holi in his eternal love, with his mates gwal baals. Manali too playfully drenched the audiences with her sonorous voice traversing through octaves with smooth glides of Kafi and vakra sargams. She meticulously touched upon the komal nishad and komal gandhar, evoking the sringar bhav, the very mood of the raga, taking the  audiences to a state of absolute bliss.

Video of Dekho ali hori khelat

Explaining the fundamental difference between the thumri and dadra she said that thumri is more deeper with 'Thehrav' and is sung in slightly slow Madhyalaya mostly in 14 beats Deepchandi taal and 16 beats Jat taal. Dadra is more spontaneous 'chanchal and chapal'  in nature, and is sung mostly in Dadra taal of 6 beats. Manali presented the fast-paced Dadra 'Pichkari na maro nandlala re'  showcasing the playful naughty Krishna who's drenching Radha with his Pichkari, while she pleades to him not to colour her new sari, else she would go and complain to Jasoda maiya.

Pichkari na maro nandlala re

Manali added, "While some Hori Dadras are also sung in Deepchandi like 'Main to khelungi unsung hori guiyan' in Raga Mishra Kamaj.The hori depicts Radha who says she will only play Holi with her mate Krishna and non other in the village, and recalls how he embraces her and twisting her wrists forcefully.The composition depicted the love pranks of Kanha, which Manali masterfully crafted in the rendition.

Her next rendition in Raga Sohni was a haunting rendition 'Ka sang kheloon main phag, shyam sundar aangan main nahi aye', which depicts the agony of seperation of Radha, who wonders whom to play Phag with (Hori sung in the season of Phagun is also called Phag).Radha wonders not to see Krishna in her courtyard ( angan), while she reminisces how he would play with her with Abir Gulal and Pichkari. Manali skillfully brought the vipralambha sringar bhav of Raga Sohni in the higher octave, depicting Radha's calling (Pukar) for Krishna.

Her next rendition was a 'Chaiti' which is a folk music genre of Uttar Pradesh.Chaiti, which is rendered in the chait calender of the month. Chaiti celebrates the birth of Lord Rama. In the chaiti compositions we often find the phrase 'Ho Rama' and description of the Koyal (cuckoo bird) and  Mango blossoms. A Chaiti depicts the emotion of Virah as the Priyasi (Maiden) feels restless without her lover (Saiyan) who left in anguish, while the koyal (cuckoo bird) calls him back as presented in the composition 'Sejiya se saiyan rooth gayile ho Rama', Koyal tohe buliya.' 

She further tells how couplets (shers) from the folklore are added in between the chaiti presentations, which is similar to hear in Rajasthan and Bengali folk, which can be sung all day long by adding phrases telling the tales of the folklore which not only enriches the literature of the compositions but also enhances it's beauty. Manali added the phrase in the chaiti 'Nagan baithi raah main ke birahan pahunche aye, Nagan darpaye aapko, birhan dasan jaye' eventually taking the composition to the climax with an excellent laggi on tabla, creating a heartfelt amalgamation of raga, rang and rasa.

Further telling about the Baramasa Manali says, "A Baramasa is another genre from the folk tradition of Banaras, which refers to the 'twelve months' of the year, depicting a maiden's longing for her beloved or husband. While her emotional state mirrors the changing seasons Summer, Winter, Spring and the Monsoons portraying the circle of life. In fact the listeners can identify a Baramasa with the phrase 'guiyan' which is often used in the compositions. She presented the Baramasa in Raga Mishra Pilu 'Ajhu na aye hamare saiyaan, jiya nahi maane, main ka karoon guiyan' depicted the Karuna rasa,as the maiden misses the presence of her beloved while her heart craves for him.

Manali presented a very special composition a Hori- Rasiya, which depicts the playful banters between Radha and Krishna. The composition 'Najo naina re nukeele, nainan khel rahe rang hori'  depicts how Krishna plays colour with his sharp glances, while he drenches Radha in his colour of eternal love.

Khel Rahe Rang Hori video

Manali concluded the recital with the Dadra in Raga Bhairavi showcasing the Shringar Bhava of the Nayika who's angry on her beloved and tells him to leave, 'Ja main tose nahi bolun' while Manali's rendition of the heart wrenching melody left the audiences asking for more!

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