IndiaPost.com - Dhrupad stars perform on Mother’s Day

MONTCLAIR: The Gundecha Brothers preformed at the Ananda Sabha Hall at Vedic Temple on May 11. Their performance was dedicated to Mother Energy and Mother’s Day. The Hall was packed full, and the audience sat with pin drop silence.

The main raga of their Dhrupad recital was Patdeep. The Gundecha brothers began with an impressive alaap. In the sthai and antara, an extensive delineation of the lower and higher notes was presented. The abhog and the sanchari added to the fullness of the alaap.

There is now a growing audience for Dhrupad throughout India and abroad,’’ the Gundecha brothers say. The brothers Umakant and Ramakant Gundecha are stars of dhrupad, the oldest style of singing still surviving in northern India.

After studying music at the Madhav Music College in Ujjain, the brothers were trained as dhrupad singers by the well known singer Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar and his elder brother, the veena-virtuoso Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar in Bhopal.

The vilambit, madhya and drut laya (slow, medium and fast pace) were demonstrated with the words. During the second half a spiritual mood was set by the composition in praise of the Mothers by presenting three compositions in Raga Durga, Shivranjani and Bhairavi.

A Akhilesh, the youngest of the three brothers, accompanied them on the pakhawaj, Aruna Gundecha and Anant Gundecha on the tanpura. The Gundecha Brothers are outstanding representatives of the northern Indian dhrupad way of singing.

This Hindustani song-tradition reaches back into Vedic times, and the Gundecha Brothers’ special contribution is cautious innovation. Dhrupad music’s origin is linked to the recitation of the Sama Veda it is-the oldest classical form of music of India.

The nature of this music is spiritual, it can be a prayer, seeking not to entertain but to induce deep feelings of peace and contemplation in the listeners.

"I listened to the ragas with my eyes closed, and slipped into a space where I became one with the music, it was very meditative" said Ma Ananda Vibhooti. The word Dhrupad comes from ‘Dhruva,’ meaning fixed or steadfast, and Pada, which means word or composition. The language of composition changed from Sanskrit to Brijbhasha between the 12th and 16th centuries.

The brothers, born in Ujjain, have started the Dhrupad Institute in Bhopal to train talented people. "Any talented person is welcome to join the institution. We also welcome talented people from Kerala between the ages of 15 and 30. We have residential facility for students in India and abroad. We want to bring out accomplished singers from this institute,’’ they said.

The Gundecha brothers have made certain experiments, such as singing the new poems of the famous Hindi poets, including (Suryakant Tripathi) ‘Nirala,’ in Dhrupad style. But they are averse to bring out a music album, such as those in vogue. "We can consider bringing out an album in pure Dhrupad music," they said in response to a query.