THAKUR JAIDEVA SINGH (1893-1986)

A Savant Of Manifold Achievements

/magine afCower, brilliant even

as a bud, blossom-ing to reveal many petals and myriad colours, spreading its fragrance wide and staying fresh for a long, long time.

That would be a simile for the life, career and accomplishments of Ihaf&r Jaideva Singh, a great savant of India, a scholar of integrated vision, and a towering figure in the domain of Indian scholarship during this century.

A versatile scholar, he utilised his knowledge and insights to promote better understanding of philosophy, which was the primary field of his scholarship, and of music, which was his lifelong passion.

\ He pursued learning s without expectation I of rewards or | honours, though 1 they came seeing 1 him.

He was an ardent teacher, guide and exponent, a votary of vidya-daan.

He wrote many booths andnumerous articles and shared his perceptions at a great many seminars and meetings, eager as he Was to distribute the fruits of his learning.

Ht re-formed the music programmes of Sill India fyidio even though he served that institution for a brief period only. jl man of discipline and regular habits who believed manifestation of anger was self-destructive,^ he lived to be 92— and carried on his labours of love till the very end.

PART I OF A BIRTH CENTENARY SPECIAL FEATURE

P R O F I L E

A Great Savant Of India This article was written by DR. M.R. GAUTAM, Hindustani vocalist and a scholarwho knew Jaideva Singh intimately.

T hakur Jaideva Singh was a greatsavant of India, a towering figure

in the world of scholarship who hasleft indelible footprints on the sandsof time. Manifold are his achievementsin different fields, as an erudite scholarof several subjects, as a teacher ofphilosophy, as a distinguished authorin both English and Hindi and as per-haps one of the most eminent musi-cologists of the world. One had onlyto broach some topic pertaining tophilosophy, or English, or Sanskrit, orKashmir Saivism, or Buddhism, orKabir, or music, and Thakur Saheb, ashe was respectfully called, would givea professional discourse on it, draw-ing on his vast reservoir of knowledge.His greatness and uniqueness restedon his original approach and interpre-tation of texts already commented uponby other scholars. He had an infinitiveinsight into the implied meanings ofwords and sentences. His versatilescholarship had endowed him with a synoptic vision and comprehensionwhich he brought to bear in his delin-eation of any subject. He could tra-verse easily from one subject to an-other and relate them together in anepi stemological sweep. He was indeeda man with an integrated vision.

Thakur Saheb died at the ripe oldage of 92. If he had lived on, he wouldhave completed a hundred in Septem-ber 1993.

His life had begun on 19 September1893 in the princely state of Shoratgarhin Basti district in what is today calledUttar Pradesh. He was born into a well-to-do family. His grandfather UditNarayan Singh was a Thakur or a smallchieftain of the kshatriya or warriorcaste. The British beheaded him sincehe was among those who fought themin 1857, and also decided that hisentire family should be eliminated.Jaideva Singh's father Gopal NarayanSingh was only two years old then buthis mother saved him; leaving all theproperty behind, she hid him under

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burnt wheat chaff in the village whereshe had taken refuge. Subsequently too,Gopal Narayan had to be in hiding for a long time.

Jaideva Singh was the only son of hisfather. The latter, not too keen on edu-cation, wanted him to become a farmer.But, fortunately, he did not force hiswish on his son who studied to acquiremaster's degrees and, by securing thefirst position in every examination hetook, earned a reputation as a brilliantstudent.

Jaideva Singh's initial education wasin Shoratgarh. But when the first rail-way line was laid in U.P., in 1906, hemoved to Gorakhpur to continue hisstudies. He remained there for threeyears and thereafter went to Varanasiand got admission in the Central HinduHigh School in the VI standard. Heobtained the 'first class first' position inboth the high school and the college-level Intermediate examinations. In 1913,when studying in the high school, hetook the Akhil Bharatiya Dharmasastraexamination and secured again the firstrank in the whole of India. His bril-liance in studies, especially in the fieldof religion, endeared him to Annie Besant,

who was then the Principal of the school.A theosophist, she was also an advo-cate of freedom for India, He cameunder her influence and also under theinfluence of Babu Bhagwan Das, thegreat savant and scholar. Thanks to theinfluence of these two great personali-ties, he became a vegetarian despite hislove for non-vegetarian food and gaveup even onions and garlic for the rest ofhis life.

Jaideva Singh passed his B.A. in firstclass in 1917. After this, there was a gap of 11 years before he took the M.A.examination in philosophy. As usual,he secured a first class and the top ranktoo. He was an ardent student of phi-losophy and used to visit Kashmir dur-ing the summer recess. On one suchvisit, around 1930, he accidentally meta German who was also holidaying inKashmir and who turned out to be notonly a scholar in Oriental and Occiden-tal philosophies but also a scholar inSanskrit. When he found that ThakurSaheb had not studied the Sanskrit textsin the original but only their Englishtranslations, he reproved him for hav-ing done so and thus missing the glori-ous beauty and profundity of the greatSanskrit language. He counselled himto study them in the original. JaidevaSingh was cut to the quick by theGerman's observation and, immediatelyupon returning from his holiday, beganstudying Sanskrit. In 1934 he took hisM.A. in Sanskrit and, as was his wont,obtained a first class and the first rank.Thereafter he studied all the works inSanskrit in the original and acknowl-edged his deep gratitude to the Germanscholar. He narrated this incident tome during one of my classes with him.

After taking this additional degree,Jaideva Singh joined the D.A.V. Col-lege in Kanpur as Professor of Philoso-phy and English. He served here till1945 when he accepted the principalshipof the Yuvaraj Dutta College (Y.D.College) in Lakhimpur Kheri, Oyal, U.P.He built up this college from theundergraduate to the post-graduate level,improved the calibre of tuition, thor-oughly streamlined the administration

21

Speaking at the Y.D. College

and transformed the college into aninstitution of repute.

Jaideva Singh became passionately fondof music even in his childhood. Thispassion was appreciated by his uncleThakur Gurudin Singh who was anaffluent zamindar and a grand patron ofmusic. This led to numerous opportu-nities for the young lad to listen toseveral eminent musicians, includingPandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar,Beenkar Murad Ali and Ustad AllauddinKhan of Maihar. Later he was able tolisten to Ustad Faiyaz Khan also sev-eral times, as well as thumri singers likeBari Moti Bai and Ga,uhar Jan. In fact,he was able to meet many of thesemusicians and, over time, he becameclosely associated with some like FaiyazKhan.

Jaideva Singh's deep interest in mu-sic was nurtured further by the regularand rigorous training in music receivedby him.

While at Varanasi, he heard PanditSrikrishna Hah Hirlekar, the seniormostdisciple of Pandit Vishnu DigambarPaluskar. This prompted him to seekhim out and Hari Hirlekar agreed to behis guru. Later, when he went to Kanpur,he became a disciple of PanditNanubhaiya Telang who was a recognisedexponent of the Gwalior gharana. Helearnt from him for seven years, from1925 to 1932. He had developed into a good singer but, all of a sudden, hissinging voice was adversely affected—and permanently so— by a mysteriousillness. Consequently, he was compelledto give up singing. But he could teachyet. During the course of my studyunder him for over 16 years, he taughtme several thumri-s, dadra-s and a few

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khayal-s. Despite his age and despitehis handicap, his voice was yet pliantand sensitive and he could convey thesubtle graces (gamaka-s) with surpris-ing precision.

In 1956, after he retired from theY.D. College, Thakur Saheb was in-vited to deliver a lecture in Delhi on'The Problems of music facing the coun-try'. Dr. TJ.V. Keskar, who was then theMinister for Information & Broadcast-ing, was among the audience. He wasso impressed by Thakur Saheb's talkthat he offered him the post of ChiefProducer of Music in All India Radio.Thakur Saheb accepted the offer andmoved to Delhi. There he did not haveperfectly smooth sailing but he devel-oped a close rapport with the Ministerwho was a connoisseur and ardent pa-tron of classical music. This enabledhim to notch up a few creditable achieve-ments. With the Minister's support, hewas primarily responsible for the pro-motion and propagation of Indian clas-sical music. During his tenure from1956 to 1962 he introduced severalnew programmes, including a few whichwere in incubation when he joined.Among them:

* The singing of Vandey mataiarn daily at the beginning of the morningtransmission.

* Mangal shehnai vaadan, daily inthe morning following the rendering ofVandey mataram.

* National Programme of Music (live).

* Radio Sangeet Sammelan, like theNational Programme, live and conductedbefore an invited audience and broad-cast directly.

* Establishment of an archival tapelibrary to preserve classical music andold compositions for posterity.

* Establishment of an InstrumentsMuseum, containing about a hundredmusical instruments.

* Start of the preparation of a Dictio-nary of Music.

One of his outstanding contributionswas the streamlining of the working ofthe Music Auditions by creating boardsfor local and final audition for the propergradation of artists. In the beginning,the final auditions were live. Later on,recordings were made locally and lis-tened to by the Central Audition Boardin Delhi.

He was also responsible for startingthe Tansen Music Festival in Gwalior.

After Thakur Saheb left All India Radioin 1962, he settled down in Varanasi,where he had built a spacious bunga-low, and continued his favourite occu-pation— study and writing. It is herethat he began studying various aspectsof tantra and yoga under the guidanceof Mahamahopadhyaya Pandit CopinathKaviraj. Scholars referred to Panditji as'Adhunik Abhinavaguptacharya' becauseit was widely acknowledged that Indiahad not produced a Tantrik scholar-yogi of the calibre ofAbhinavaguptacharya (1 Oth century) tillthe advent of Copinath Kaviraj (b. Sep-tember 9, 1880). Pandit Kaviraj livedin Ratha Yatra Chowmani, SiddhagiriBagh; and Thakur Saheb built his housetoo in Siddhagiri Bagh, very close toKaviraj's house. Thakur Saheb consid-ered Kaviraj as his holy Ganga and LordViswanath. He used to go to him atleast three times a week to study. Henarrated to me several marvellous inci-dents regarding Kaviraj's staggering schol-arship and told me how Panditji wouldexplain and elaborate all the esotericsections of tantra and yoga from hisown personal experience, which wasbeyond the scope of the most outstand-ing scholars, and quote extensively frombooks and manuscripts which he hadread just once 50 to 70 years earlier!Thakur Saheb studied with Kaviraj tillthe latter's demise in 1976.

Apart from Pandit Kaviraj, he hadanother guru in Swami Lakshman Joowho was the living authority on Kash-mir Saivism and, like Pandit Kaviraj,was a great yogi too. Swamiji was in

fact the last in a line of pandit-yogiswho had specialised on Kashmir Saivism.Every summer Thakur Saheb used tovisit Kashmir where Swamiji lived, tostudy and comprehend some of theimportant works on the subject. In theevent, Thakur Saheb wrote authentic,authoritative and scholarly commen-taries in English on some of the mostwell-known works on the subject.

Thakur Saheb's love for music neverwaned. Every year during Holi, heorganised a musical soiree in his housein which several top-ranking musiciansparticipated— without remunerationbecause of their respect for him. Onthat occasion he hosted a grand lunchto all the members of the audience, aswell as to the artists. Earlier, when hewas teaching, he had organised musicfestivals every year, first at the D.A.V.College and later at the Y.D. College.

Indeed, Thakur Saheb's Varanasi resi-dence became a place of pilgrimage toall students of music, philosophy, Hindi,English, musicians, scholars and peopleof distinction.

In Varanasi, Thakur Saheb led anactive life which, from the very begin-ning, was very regulated and disciplined.He got up daily at 5 am and after hisyoga exercises, he sat for meditation.After meditation he began his study. At9 am, he had his bath and breakfast. At10 am he again sat for his study which

During holi function at Vishram Kuti

continued until 2 pm. He had hislunch between 2 to 3 pm. This wasfollowed by a siesta between 3 to 4 pm.From 4 pm, he continued his study till10 pm. During this segment, he metpeople, taught students, replied to let-ters and attended to his social engage-ments. He was a fastidious stickler inthe matter of diet and maintained a very rigid menu for his breakfast, lunchand dinner. His breakfast consisted offive almonds, an apple or any seasonalfruit, a glass of cow's milk and a tea-spoon of finely sieved myrobalanpowder. His lunch consisted of twopieces of roti, a little rice (Basmati), dal(Bengal gram), two vegetables, and freshcheese. Throughout his life he neverate any food which was not cookedin pure cow's ghee. The ghee was

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regularly supplied to him by the Rajkumarof Shoratgarh. For dinner he took onlyfruits and milk. If he had to travel healways carried a supply of cow's gheewith him.

In 1972 he lost his wife. Thereafterhe was well looked after by his grand-nephew Sanjai Singh and his wife tillhis death.

In 1961, Thakur Saheb led a delega-tion of musicians to Japan to partici-pate in what was billed as the East-West Encounter. His opening speechon the uniqueness of Indian music washailed by all the scholars present as oneof the best ever made by an Indian.

In 1973, Thakur Saheb was offeredthe chairmanship of the U.P. SangeetNatak Akademi which he accepted and

At a Sangeet Sammclan organised by Ceetika in March 1986, Also in picture: Sushila Rohatgi and P.V. Narsimha Rao

served for a term of six years. As Chair-man, he introduced the annual awardsfor the best vocalist and instrumen-talist in U.P. The awards each carried a cash prize of 2000 rupees and an in-scribed bronze plaque. He also intro-duced the guru-sishya scholarshipwherein the guru and the sishya werepaid monthly stipends for a period oftwo years initially and, in some deserv-ing cases, upto four years. Thi9 schemeworked successfully as long as he wasthe Chairman. He also initiated a schemeto record the rich folklore of westernUttar Pradesh.

In 1974, the President of India con-ferred the honorific of Pad ma Bhushanon him. The Sangeet Natak Akademiawarded him its fellowship. Otherhonours presented to him were: BanarasHindu University— honoiary degreeof D. Litt.; .the Indira Kala SangeetViswavidyalaya, Khairagarh— SangeetaVachaspati; Sangeet Vidyapith,Bombay— Saiangadeva fellowship;Kanpur University— D. Litt.; MadhyaPradesh Government— Tansen Sammanin 1983. While the U.P. Hindi Sansthanhonoured him with the SaraswatiSamman, the President of India gavehim a special award in 1986 in recogni-tion of his outstanding scholarship inSanskrit.

Thakur Saheb was a voracious reader.His thirst for knowledge was so greatthat he wished to study the great worksof renowned scholars on mysticism,music, philosophy and other subjectsin their original versions. Therefore Belearnt Greek, Latin, Persian, French andGerman in addition to English, San-skrit, Pali, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi,Gujarati and Urdu.

At a BHU convocation with M.S. Sabbubksbmi and Mother Teresa

1*hakur Saheb was a prolific writerand speaker. He authored a number ofbooks in Hindi and English.

Thakur Saheb, at the time of.'hisdemise, was engaged in writing twoother books- Bharatiya Sangeet ka Brihad Itihas (Hindi) and The History of Indian Music (English). Regrettably,these books could not be publishedduring his lifetime. But they are to bepublished soon, as edited by Dr. PremLata Sharma.

Another book, Bharatiya Darsan ki Samanya Viseshatayen, is due to bepublished, too.

Apart from these, he wrote severaltext-books, in English, for Intermedi-ate, B.A., and M.A. classes on philoso-phy. He wrote numerous articles on

Books Of Thakur Jaideva Singh

HindiPascbatya Darsan ki Mukhya

Awadharnayen; Samkalecn Darsan; Kabir Vyangmay (four parts); Kabir Vani-Piyoosh; and translation of Pratyabhijna-Hridayam (basic book dealing withKashmir Saivism).

English

An Introduction to Madbyamika Philo-sophy/ Conception of Buddhist Nirvana (edited); Shiva-Sutra-s (English transla-

tion and notes); Vijnanabliirava (Englishtranslation and notes); Spandakarika-s (English translation and notes);Pratyabbijna-Hridayam (English trans-lation); and Para-Trisika Vivarana (English translation with notes andintroduction).

Not Yet PublishedBharatiya Darsan ki Samanya

Viseshatayen (Hindi); Bharatiya Sangeet ka Brihad Itihas (Hindi); The History of Indian Music (English); and The Secret of Tantrik Mysticism.

varied subjects, which encompassedphilosophy, yoga, Buddhism and otheraspects of Oriental mysticism as well asmusic. Unfortunately, even a completelist of all the articles he wrote is notavailable.

According to Sanjai Singh, ThakurSaheb's personal library consisted of6000-7000 rare books. Of these some1500 very rare books have been turnedover to the Indira Gandhi NationalCentre for the Arts in New Delhi wherethey are maintained distinctively as partof the Thakur Jaideva Singh Collectionwhich also includes several manuscriptsof Thakur Saheb's writings,, his per-sonal diaries and note books, and sev-eral recorded tapes of his talks, alsogifted by Sanjai Singh.

Thakur Saheb was an engaging speaker.More, he was an orator trained in allthe rhetorical devices by none otherthan the great Annie Besant. When hespoke on any subject, usually extem-pore, before long he would cast a spellon the audience with peerless choice ofwords, appropriate quotations and voicemodulations. He presided over a largenumber of seminars, all over the coun-try, organised by various institutionsand societies like the Sangeet NatakAkademi, All India Radio, and univer-sities. Taken together, his talks andobservations constituted a magnificentand mighty compliment to the corpusof published works on literature, spiri-tualism, mysticism, philology and soon.

It is not surprising that Thakur Sahebwas considered a living encyclopaediaand an institution by himself. Therewere several exemplary facets in hispersonality. He was very simple andaustere. He was very humble andunobtrusive about his scholarship andwould not reveal it until one proddedhim. He would open out only after hewas convinced of the other's genuineinterest in learning. He believed invidya-daan (teaching) and never chargedanything for his tuitions. He waseasily accessible and obliging whenever

anyone wanted him to give a talk. Attimes he would forget to ask theorganisers of such talks to provide himwith conveyance and would reach thevenue at his own expense. He wasbereft of guile and was unaware of theart of putting on airs.

I had the enviable good fortune ofsitting at Thakur Saheb's feet andstudying musicology for 16 years,from 1964 to 1980. Even afterwardsI used to go to him to clear my doubtson music, musicology, philosophy,

philology, Sanskrit, yoga, epistemology,ontology, etc. He was my ready-reckoneras it were and the answers I got fromhim could not have been improved uponby anyone else.

Thakur Jaideva Singh was a truescholar, unconcerned with and unatta-ched to the mundane allures of nameand fame. He was, indeed, a greatsavant. With his death on 27 May 1986,the world lost one of its most distin-guished scholars and philosophers anda great original thinker.

Tfiakur SaheB As I Knew Him Tliis was written by DR. SAAtAR BAHADUR SINGH, formerly Deputy Director-General of All India Radio and at present Principal of Manas Sangeet Sansthan, Lucknow.

My association with Jaideva Singh,whom we affectionately addressed

as Thakur Saheb— was both long andintimate. We were colleagues, first, inAll India Radio; then, I was Secretary ofthe U.P. Sangeet Natak Akademi whenhe was its Chairman. Even apart fromthese official relations, I was quite closeto him. True, our domains of speciali-sation were different— his was phi-losophy, mine medieval Indian history—but we had common aptitudes. Musicwas a passion with both of us. Spiri-tual pursuit was another unifying bond.Literature, broadcasting and yoga alsofascinated both of us.

It was in the late forties that I firstsaw Jaideva Singh. He had come toparticipate in a seminar, organised byProfessor D.P. Mukherji in the Univer-sity of Lucknow, where I was a researchscholar then. The topic under discus-sion was 'Concept of Thumri inHindustani Music'. Then in his mid-fifties, thinly built, fair, with agreeablefacial features and of medium height,and dressed in a Jodhpuri suit with capon, he looked every inch a scholar.And my presumption proved right whenhe took the platform to expound thetheory and practice of this romanticlight classical song-form. His perfor-mance was really superb. His deepunderstanding of its nuances and subtle-ties, his heart-touching illustrations andhis rare eloquence— all these left anindelible impression on my young mind.As the years rolled by, this distant

acquaintance steadily developed intostrong affinity.

Yes, Thakur Saheb was a scholar inthe truest sense of the term. His house'Vishram Kuti', in the Siddhagiri Baghlocality of Varanasi, had become anabode of learning— a real temple of'Saraswati, veena pustak dharini', whereveena and pustak both flourished. Seatedon one side of his spacious drawingroom, on a wide wooden takht (plank)with a small chauki (stool) in front, a supporting pillow behind and lot ofreference books scattered all around,Thakur Saheb would spend almost his

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entire day reading and writing. When-ever I went to see him, I would invari-ably find him thus seated. Upon myarrival, he would look up, extend anaffectionate welcome and ask me to sitin the nearby armless chair. For formalvisitors, there was a sofa set too. Sens-ing his mood, I would broach sometopics of mutual interest and, oncearoused, he would keep pouring out hisinexhaustible knowledge and experience,till some other visitor stepped in. Fore-noons, normally, he would devote tohis own studies, but in the afternoon,he would meet visitors of all kinds.

Though not very affluent, ThakurSaheb would purchase a few books al-most every month. As a result, he hadbuilt a huge library which included rarebooks on philosophy, music and someother subjects. The maintenance of a library of such dimension needed con-stant care which Thakur Saheb couldill-afford, more so in his old age. Once,some of his valuable books were eatenby white ants. He grieved the lossimmensely. He conveyed his agony tome in a heart-rending letter. His at-tachment to his books was as intense asthat of a parent to his progeny. Once I asked him: "What would happen tothis library when you are no more?" "Ihave already made a provision in myWill that this should be donated to mycollege, which I founded and nourishedat Lakhimpur," replied he. I under-stand that the house of Thakur Sahebhas been sold after his demise and thata part of his library was shifted toLakhimpur while the remaining bookshave been donated to a cultural institu-tion in Delhi.

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Thakur Saheb did his routine writingwith his papers on the small chaukiplaced in front of his seat. But when-ever he had to write something special,he would sit in his library, in the ad-joining room, where he had a smalltable and a chair for the purpose. I would often watch him working at thistable, even in the twilight of an evening,under a lamp shade. Later in his life,when severe cataract had impaired hisvision, he read and wrote with the helpof magnifying glasses.

Thakur Saheb's devotion to his self-allotted task was exemplary. A singleinstance should suffice to prove it. Hewas deeply interested in Saiva philoso-phy. He had undertaken the transla-tion of the Shiva-Siitra-s when he wasapproaching 90. To seek personal guid-ance from an expert, he would go toSrinagar (Kashmir) every summer andstay there in a small room for aboutthree months. He would cover theentire journey from Varanasi to Srinagarby rail and road, travelling in secondclass and from Jammu onwards by bus.In Srinagar, he would devote all histime to this translation, under the guid-ance of an expert swami. At that ad-vanced age, he would sleep on the floorand eat whatever the boy-escort couldcook for him. No discomfort, no physi-cal disability and no hardship, coulddeter him from his chosen path.

Jaideva Singh's dedication would of-ten remind me of my grand-guru Dr.Jadunath Sarkar, the famed historian ofMughal times. He too, while in hiseighties, would undertake similar ardu-ous journeys from Calcutta to a placenear Poona, stay there for months, lead-ing almost a life of recluse, in the pur-suit of knowledge of medieval India.

The motivating force behind these twogrand old men was their burning desireto contribute something substantial tothe cause of learning, before they wouldfall into eternal sleep.

'Style is the man'— so goes the say-ing. Jaideva Singh too had a style of hisown which was marked by simplicity,matter-of-factness and elegance. Hedid not believe in verbosity or orna-mentation. His hand-writing was well-set, with small, beautifully-shaped let-ters woven into appropriate words andphrases. In his communications— hewould mostly write on post-cards— hewould be brief, business-like and for-mal, never being too intimate or effu-sive. He had commendable commandover three languages— Hindi, Sanskritand, of course, English. His transla-tions from Sanskrit to English, withapt annotations, bear testimony to hisdeep understanding of the theme. Onthe immortal poet Kabir, he had planneda series of six volumes in Hindi, ofwhich, only three could be publishedduring his lifetime. In between, hewould contribute articles also, to vari-ous standard magazines.

Though essentially a man of reservednature, Jaideva Singh was an excellentorator. Gifted with a resonant voiceand an acquired Oxonian accent inEnglish, he would keep his audiencespellbound, while his speeches in Hindihad a charm of their own. I had theprivilege of hearing him when he deliv-ered a long lecture on 'Arvind Darsan'(thephilosophy of Aurobindo), organisedby the U.P. Hindi Sansthan, Lucknow,in the early eighties under the presti-gious 'Ram Dhari Singh Dinkar VyakhanMala'. His mastery over facts and lan-guage, his lucid exposition of the intri-cacies of Aurobindo's philosophy with-out reference to any written notes, andhis forceful delivery were really amaz-ing. Clarity, logic and eloquence werethe hallmarks of his speeches.

Jaideva Singh had a spiritual bent ofmind. His study of philosophy hadgiven it an added thrust. Early morningand late evening everyday he would,unfailingly perform meditation, for halfan hour each time, sitting in Siddhasanaand facing the east. His process ofmeditation had three phases— aspira-tion, rejection and surrender— as pro-pounded by various saints. He wouldadvise me not to meditate for too long

since it consumed a lot of psychic en-ergy. He would also do 'upamsu japa'—repetition of the name of Ram using thetongue and lips but without utteringany sound. This, according to him,energised his nervous system and gavehim immunity from common ailments.

Thakur Saheb believed in the essenceof religion, never in its rituals. Thoughsettled in Varanasi, he would seldom goto bathe in the Canga or offer prayersin temples. He would not undertakeany religious fast either. He was anardent devotee of the Gita and tried toreflect its teachings in his conduct. Hewas an embodiment of peace and seren-ity. No provocation, howsoever seri-ous, would disturb the balance of hismind. Once I asked him: "Thakur Saheb,how is it that you never lose your tem-per?" And he replied quickly: "Anger issuch a deadly poison that it kills thedoer himself. So why should I indulgein such a foolish act? The motto whichguided him was: "Detached performanceof duty, without hankering after re-sult".

But Thakur Saheb was a man of prac-tical wisdom too, with an uncommoncommonsense. An astute administra-tor and a shrewd observer of humannature, he could sense how far to goand where to stop while dealing withmen and matters. He was an adept inthe art of winning friends and influenc-ing people. He achieved excellent rap-port with his colleagues— both seniorand junior.

Despite being busily engaged in hisacademic and spiritual pursuits inVaranasi, Jaideva Singh would, often,find time to go out to attend meetings,participate in seminars and fulfil otherpublic engagements. Once I pleadedwith him not to undertake such fre-quent tours, after crossing 90 years ofage, and that too without any escort.Dismissing my plea, he remarked: "InVaranasi, I remain so occupied with mywork that I get hardly any time to breathe.These tours provide me an opportunityto relax, to refresh myself and thusenable me to attend to my tasks withrenewed vigour and added zeal after myreturn."

Thakur Saheb was a real rasika atheart and an ardent admirer ofbeauty in art and literature. He laidgreat emphasis on the aesthetic aspectsof musical performance— voice

production, musical intonation and cor-rect pronunciation. He felt unhappythat later-day musicians had a predeliction for speed without master-ing the essence of swar and taal. A comment he often made was: "Thekhayal is being butchered on thealtar of taan-s and dhrupad on the altarof taal."

About a year before his demise, JaidevaSingh came to Lucknow and stayed withme for a week. Then I had the chanceto observe his routine. He would get upat dawn, and, after the ablutions, per-form meditation. He would then takesome Ayurvedic mixtures and, after a relaxed bath, take his breakfast whichinvariably consisted of one apple, a fewalmonds in paste form and a cup ofcow's milk. Then he would go out tofulfill his various engagements. Afterreturn, he would take his lunch whichincluded two small chapatis, pulse, a quarter plate of rice, cooked vegetablesand a cup of milk. After meditating for30 minutes in the evening, he wouldhave his supper which consisted of justtwo bananas and a half-litre of milk.He would conclude his meals with a spoonful of myrobalan (amala) powder.He would never take any snacks inbetween his meals. His explanationwas that snacks would disturb the pro-cess of digestion. Tea and coffee henever touched, but he would occasion-

ally take chhena (Indian cheese) sweets.After reaching 90, he had given up hismorning walk, which he had been tak-ing regularly for an hour daily on thelawns of the Theosophical Society inVaranasi.

Once, out of sheer curiosity I askedhim: "Thakur Saheb, what is the secretof your radiant health and longevity?"His response: "Fifty per cent I owe tomusic, and the rest to my regulated lifeand, of course, to the regular intake ofamala [myrobalan]. Music is a mentaltonic to me."

In a radio talk, captioned 'Whatlife has taught me', Thakur Saheb,once revealed that, in his earlier days,he had suffered from three major ail-ments— nervous breakdown, leningitis,and an intestinal affliction he calledsangrahini. No medicine of any systemcould cure him completely. The morehe consumed them, the more ineffec-tive they became. Ultimately, he said,he realised that only a well-regulatedlife and a balanced diet could rid himof his persistent suffering. After that,if he had to take medicines, hepreferred homeopathic and ayurvedicremedies.

Jaideva Singh, though always happyin the company of books, was ratherlonely in his old age. His wife had diedbefore him. His grand-nephew lookedafter him, but his only progeny— a

daughter— lived with her husband, of-ten far away. He would meet his ex-penses from his savings and the casualincome he earned from time to time.He was particular in maintaining anaccount of his income and expenditure.He would always advise me: "Neverenter a shop unless you have to pur-chase something specific; or else, youwould be wasting money on things need-lessly." He kept his requirements tothe minimum, but he would bring pre-sents to his near and dear ones, when-ever he visited them. He was lavish inpraise, but seldom critical of others.

Jaideva Singh died full of years at 92.He remained active and alert till theend. But for the complications arisingout of his prostrate operation, he mighthave completed a century. Age had, nodoubt, started telling on his body, butnot on his spirit. At times he wouldsay: "My body is now gradually wear-ing out but my mission still remainsunfulfilled." Once he confided in methat an astrologer had predicted hisdeath in his 94th year, but without anyserious disease. The prediction provedalmost true. Did this prediction weakenhis will to live on? Who can say?

"Find out thy job, and work at it likeHercules." This was his advice to allwho came in contact with him. Nonetranslated this advice into action betterthan he did. D

This article was written by DR. BHANU SHANKAR MEHTA, a clinical pathologist, a keen student of music, drama and litera-ture and an author of many books.

Patriot

Born in a family of revolutionarypatriots, Thakur Jaideva Singh in hisyouth was an active sympathiser ofthe revolutionary movement. He helpedthe heroes of the Lahore ConspiracyCase and similar other causes. Heremained a staunch patriot all hislife.

Philosopher

Thakur Saheb studied both Indianand Western philosophies beforedelving deep into Buddhism andKashmir Saivism. He was also an

Two philosophers: Dr. S. Radhakrishnan andThakur Jaideva Singh

ardent student of theosophy. He couldspeak with authority on the Upanishads,AurobindoorJ. Krishnamurti. He spokewith scholarly insights on the Advaitaphilosophy of Sankara and with equalease on Visishtadvaita or Pushtimarg.In discoursing on Kabir, the nirgun-margi saint, he was head and shouldersabove virtually all others.

Musicologist & Music Historian

As a scholar of Indian music and itshistory, Thakur Saheb studied theancient literature on it, specially theNatya Sastra and Abhinavagupta's com-mentaries on it, and came to certainconclusions:

• Indian classical music is a continu-ous stream, which started as Sama gana;

27

and then passed through Candharvagana, Dhruva gana and Prabandha geetaand has now come to dhrupad and khayalgaayan.

* Music is not static but evolves con-tinuously. It has already assimilatedlighter music-forms like thumri, dadraand kajri. It is sure to change furtherand it might encompass geet (poems)also in the near future.

Thakur Saheb had a deep insight intofolk music as well. At one seminar, heably demonstrated how the chaiti, a folk melody-type, was adopted by clas-sical singers. He believed that the folktradition had much to contribute toclassical music.

Thakur Saheb firmly believed thatthe pursuit and practice of music willlead to Naad, also called Brahman inthe sastra-s. Thus, for him, the way ofsur (swara) was a way of worship. Hemaintained, taking a line Abhinavaguptahad clarified, that there are only threediscreet notes: sa, ri and ga, and thatthe rest are only multiples or fractionsof these. He considered the madhyama[ma) as the great balancing note. Simi-larly he asserted that there are only twotala categories— the trayasya (3, 6, 12,24 and so on) and chaturasya (4, 8, 16,32 and so on).

Thakur Saheb took active part in thedeliberations of the first ever seminaron the Natya Sastra which was held inCalcutta and was followed up bysimilar seminars in places like Ujjainand Varanasi. Everywhere he left inde-lible impressions of his mastery of thesubjects.

T e a c h e r & E d u c a t o r

Thakur Saheb aspired to be an idealteacher. He believed that a teachershould learn many languages to widenthe horizons of his knowledge and thathe should learn to use correct terminol-ogy. He would be upset by wrong us-ages and terminological inexactitudesin translations. He himself learnt San-skrit, Pali and Hindi, and then he learntBengali, Cujarati and Marathi and com-pleted the 'saptak' by learning Urdu.But he knew knowledge cuts across

boundaries of countries as well as statesand so he added virtually another 'saptak'to his repertory by learning French,German, Latin, Creek and Arabic, inaddition to English. Given time, hewould have completed the 'saptak' bylearning Spanish or Syriac or even Tulu.His career offered proof that a scholarshould learn all those languages whichare needed to study works of interest intheir original versions.

As a teacher, Thakur Saheb presidedover the Music Teachers' Conferencein Jaipur (1964) and Indore (1974).

Thakur Saheb was successful in per-suading the board of education to in-clude music as a curriculum subject inschools, colleges and graduate classesin U.P. This, in turn, created employ-ment opportunities for musicians.

Rad io Execut ive

As Chief Producer of Music in AllIndia Radio, he succeeded in obtaininga proper place for Indian music in thebroadcast programme. It is a wonderone man could do so much.

C o d e Of Hi s Life

Synthesis was the code of his life. Hearticulated this in a talk on 'Philoso-phy and Music' he delivered at theBanaras Hindu University. In summary,this is what he said:

* Without philosophy, music is blindand without music, philosophy is lame.

* Sur is the mysterious energy whichholds the key to the secrets of the uni-verse. Our rishis called Brahman Naad—and Naad Brahma and Sabda Brahma.

* Modern science now admits thatsound is a part of the energy spectrum.

* Naad is of two types— aahat andanaahat. Music is running after aahat(impact) but anaahat is really the ulti-mate sound which is generated withoutimpact (swayambhu).

' Vaak has been accepted as a sourceof geetam.

* Our speech is limited to vaikhari.What is behind vaikhari we don't know.

We do not know about paravaak,pashyariti , madhyama and theirpowers.

There are many technical terms likegamaka which etymologicalry means 'tolead to'. Musicologists gave up musicand musicians were not literate and sothey misinterpreted gamaka and said—that which oscillates is gamaka.Parsvadeva in Sangeeta Samayasaara says gamaka is that which leads fromthe shadow of one note to that of an-other note. Another definition given isthat gamaka is one that leads from thevisible to the invisible.

This is how philosophy contributesto music.

We know today's world is out of tune(besur). Here also, music and philoso-phy come together. Shall we limit our-selves to samvaad (harmony) in musiconly, or seek it in life also. Philosophysays that unless there is samvaad, therecannot be any progress. So we have tosearch for samvaad (harmony) in lifeand music.

Often people say music is entertain-ment (sing-dance-jump-play) but cer-tainly philosophy is not entertainment.Darsan carries you towards brahman.And, according to Sarangadeva, the es-sence of taal and sur is that they leadto salvation. What does it mean? Well,if you can understand the mystery ofsur, you will understand music andphilosophy both.

In Old Age

Even in old age, Thakur Saheb wasyoung in spirit. He was an eternalstudent. His hunger and thirst forknowledge and information remainedundiminished. He was looked uponas a living encyclopaedia, a walkinglibrary of philosophy, history andmusic.

The great saint-poet Narsi Mehta, inhis famous bhajan Vaishnava janato— Gandhi's favourite— has enumeratedthe qualities which a Vaishnava (gentle-man) should possess. A study of ThakurSaheb's life will prove he was a trueVaishnava. He led a life of high think-ing and simple living. n

WRITER & AUTHOR

Jaideva Singh' s Two Books On Music This article was written by DR. PREM LATA SHARMA, scholar, musicologist and teacher.

T hakur Jaideva Singh has authoredmany books and articles. His

English translation of Pratyabhijna-Hridayam of Kshemaraja was first pub-lished by Motilal Banarasidass in theearly sixties and ran into several edi-tions. A Hindi version prepared by himwas brought out by the same publisherin 1973. His translation of Para-Trisika of Abhinavagupta was published, alongwith his commentary by MotilalBanarasidass in 1990, after his passingaway. Dr. Bettina Baumer edited thiswork. Both these works have beenwidely acclaimed. He edited, and trans-lated into modern Hindi, the poeticcompositions of the medieval mysticKabir and wrote an elaborate commen-tary on the same, along with Dr. VasudevSingh. This work was published inthree volumes in 1974, 1976 and 1981,by Vishwavidyalaya Prakashan, Varanasi.A cash prize of 15,000 rupees wasawarded by the U.P. Hindi Sansthan,to this work. The first and third vol-umes have come out in a second editionin 1993.

In music, Jaideva Singh's thoughtsand observations became public throughhis lectures, talks, articles, papers con-tributed to seminars, private interviews,etc., both published and unpublished.His two major works in this field, bothdevoted to the history of Indian music,will soon be published for the SangeetResearch Academy of Calcutta, undermy editorship. One of the two works isin English and the other in Hindi. Thecontents are similar, but not identical.A brief critical survey of both theseworks is presented below.

The English work entitled The His-tory of Indian Music runs into sevenchapters covering 500 typed pages. Themajor bulk is formed by the last twochapters— the sixth and the seventh—that contain biographical accounts of370 authors, composers and musiciansbeginning with the 9th century and

endingwith the 20th century. The sixthchapter, covering the 9th to the 16thcenturies, contains 67 items while theseventh, covering the 17th to the 20thcenturies, contains 304 items.

The first five chapters run to only 96pages in all. There is an Introduction of9 pages. It does not say anything aboutthe scheme of the work, nor about theidea of history. Most probably, the au-thor planned to write another prefaceor some such thing for this purpose. Asit is, the Introduction is a general essayon the definition of swara, the threequalities of musical sound (pitch, loud-ness and timbre) and the names of suddhaand vikrita swara-s in Hindustani andCarnatic usage, as well as the names ofWestern notes. It ends with a plea forthe adoption of Hindustani swara-namesin Carnatic music.

The first chapter is entitled 'IndusCivilization and the Vedic Period'. Thecontroversy as to whether the Induscivilisation precedes or succeeds theVedic one has been mentioned in justone sentence, but its pros and conshave not been discussed at all. Theremains of the Indus civilisation havebeen mentioned in brief insofar as theirconnection with music and dance isconcerned and characteristics of musi-cal pitch in Vedic recitation have beentaken up immediately after this. Thename of the musical instrument, varna,mentioned in Rig Veda is picked up fora brief discussion with regard to itssimilarity to the Egyptian been otbeent. Other instruments like dundubhi (drum),nadi, tunava and sankha (wind instru-ments] are also briefly described. Someterms of the music of Sama Veda con-cerning the parts of a saaman song be-ginning with prastara and ending withnidhana and the modifications that gowith the text are also mentioned. Thenotation of Sama music is also describedbriefly. Expressions like Vedic period,Pratisakhya period, Siksa period, bearthe resonance of a linear approach tohistory which is rather disappointingbecause the Indian situation does not

lend itself to this approach. Overlappingsand concurrences are far too many tojustify it.

After the descriptive account of SamaVedic notation, the paraphrase of someportions of Naradiya Siksa follows. Thechapter concludes with the expositionthat the Vedic period evinces the gradualevolution of "folk music into formalis-tic, systematic art-music." It would bepertinent to remind ourselves here that,in Indian thought, the music of theVedas forms part of the Revelation thatis comprised of both text and music. Itcould, however, be said that Revelationitself is conditioned by time and spacein its process of manifestation. Theprocess of development from the use ofthree notes to four and five notes and tofinally six and seven notes in SamaVeda has been said to have come aboutin three stages.

The second chapter is entitled 'Post-Vedic Period— 600 BC to 800 AD'.It is divided into eight sections asfollows:

* The Epic Period, covering Ramayanaand Mahabharata;

* Music in the Buddhist and Jainsources;

* Ancient music in Tamil sources;

* Music as described in Natya Sastra— the development of Gandharva Music;

* Music in the Pauranic sources;

* Some ancient musicologists (con-taining short notes on Tumburu, Tandu,Narada, Kohala, Dattila, Nandikeswaraand Kasyapa);

* Music in Kalidasa's works; and

* Kudumiyamalai inscription.

The method of treatment is narra-tive and each section stands almost byitself.

The third chapter is entitled 'Char-acteristics of the Trends of the Musicof the Post-Vedic Period'. This chap-ter, in a way, recapitulates, elucidates

Tliakur Saheb and Prem Lata Sliarma

or supplements the content of the fourthsection of the second chapter, that is, itconcentrates on the Natya Sastra andgives more details about jati-s, grama-sand also about the veena-s mentionedin Natya Sastra along with the dhatu-s(high-low, long-short in phrases andtechnique of playing) and the 10 nirgeeta-forms (instrumental melodic composi-tions devoid of text).

The title of the fourth chapter is'Forms and Instruments'. It starts witha rather confused description of asarita and vardhamana. The asarita that is a type of nirgeeta (a form free of meaning-ful text) and the geetaka (song withmeaningful text) named asarita are mixedup. This account is followed by a de-scription of dhruva which is a metricalcomposition to be sung within a dramaas a commentary on a given situationor as a filler of gaps. This much aboutforms. The section on instruments dealswith aerophones and membranophones;the veena-s have already been dealt within the preceding chapter. There is nosection on the idiophones (ghana vadya-s). But the elements of the ancient talasystem have been described under thesection on membrano-phones. The con-tent of Natya Sastra and Sangeeta Ratnakara are mixed up in this section.

The fifth chapter is entitled 'ForeignInfluences?' It is a small chapter

running into sevenpages. The possi-bility of Greek in-fluence on Indianmusic is negated onthe basis of extractsfrom Fox Strang-ways, F. Pococks,Sisir Kumar Mitraand Curt Sachs.

The notion ofF.W. Galpin that theRig Vedic vana orbana was an imita-tion of S umerian ban or pan, meaningbow, is discreditedon the basis of theantiquity of theVedic civilisation.The birthplace of thebowed instrumentviolin is also said tobe India and the

same is said of qanun and santur.

The sixth chapter begins with a noteon Desi music and goes on to presentaccounts of authors, composers andmusicians of the 9th to 16th centuries,beginning with Matanga and endingwith Srikantha. The names seem to begrouped century-wise. No other pointof affinity is visible. Sanskrit authors,Amir Khusro, Baiju Bawra, Bakhshoo,poets of ashtachhaap, Tansen, SurajKhan, Chand Khan el al, all come inone strain. Talking of ashtachhaap(the eight musician-composers amongVallabhacharya's disciples), only threeof the eight, namely, Surdas, Parama-nandadas and Govindaswami are des-cribed! no reason is given for the drop-ping of the other five.

The seventh chapter contains biogra-phical information on 304 musicians,composers and musicologists. In somecases this is complemented by assess-ments of contribution. In some casesagain, the account is as brief as three orfour lines; in other cases, it is quitelong, which is natural on account ofthe relative importance of the namesconcerned. But the criterion of selec-tion is not clear. Sometimes, impor-tant names have been given cursorytreatment— Pannalal Gosvami of Delhi,the author of Nadavinoda. The same istrue of Abhinavagupta. Some glaring

omissions also attract one's attention,for instance, Acharya Brihaspati, VinayakRao Patwardhan. It is possible that theauthor proposed to revise this listwhereby some names would have beendropped and others would have beenadded. He could not, perhaps, findtime to make this revision.

The editor of the volume will takecare of the few repetitions, but the se-lection of names cannot be revised now.Both the chapters under reference con-tain a lot of useful information, but thelack of a visible order in presentationdoes distract and disturb. A posthu-mous publication like this has to betaken on its own terms. These ac-counts do form a part of history, butthey lose their punch for want of theirplacement in a proper perspective. Allthe same, the putting together of thislarge bulk of information under onefold has its own value for research.This value will be evident as and whenresearchers use this material. For ex-ample, the references to master-musi-cians visiting Varanasi for various rea-sons will provide valuable material forsomeone working on the importance ofVaranasi as the meeting place of musi-cians from all parts of the country. Thelabour that has gone into the compila-tion of all this material deserves deepappreciation, specially in view of thefact that the author accomplished thisfeat at a very advanced age, perhapsafter completing 90 years. Nothing butadmiration is evoked by this act of tapas(rigorous pursuit).

The Hindi work entitled Bharatiya Sangeet ka Itihas seems to be incom-plete as it bears the heading Part I,which suggests that Part II was alsoplanned. The available volume goesupto Natya Sastra. Dr. Deepti Singh,an old student of the Department ofVocal Music, Faculty of Performing Arts,B.H.U. and at present working as myResearch Assistant, was asked by TliakurSaheb to assist him in his work of writ-ing. She went to him for only two daystowards the end of April 1986 afterwhich he took ill and was hospitalised.Unfortunately he could not recoverfrom this illness. She says that she sawa heap of notes and photographs in hisstudy, which he probably wanted to usein the second part of the Hindi workunder reference.

32

The available Hindi volume runs into540 typed pages and is divided into 18chapters, excluding an introductory essayentitled 'The Origin of Sangeeta'. It isalready in the press.

The introduction begins with thedistinction between musical and non-musical sound. Musical sound has beengiven the name nada in current Hindibooks on sound physics. Our authorhas identified this nada with the nadathat is said to be of two types— ahata(struck) and anahata (unstruck) men-tioned in older texts on yoga and tantra.Really speaking, this is confusing be-cause the nada of yoga texts is notrestricted to musical sound. Rather, itencompasses the whole gamut of inar-ticulate sound. Again nada is identi-fied with 'vak' which is more compre-hensive, encompassing both inarticu-late and articulate sound known as nadaand varna respectively.

The second chapter is entitled 'ThePrime Sources of Inspiration in IndianMusic ' and deals with the divinesources of music, like Siva, Brahma,Saraswati and semi-divine beings likegandharva-s and kinnara-s.

The title of the third chapter is 'In-dian Music in the Period of IndusCivilisation'. Here the question as towhether Indus civilisation is pre-Vedicor Vedic, is raised and a few names ofscholars holding one view or anotherare cited.

The third and fourth chapters dealwith 'Vedic Music of the SamhitaPeriod'. Rig Veda, Yajur Veda andAtharva Veda, all three are covered inthe third chapter and the fourth one isdevoted exclusively to Sama Veda. Thesetwo chapters contain valuable informa-tion and are also marked by a criticalapproach.

The fifth chapter again is devoted tothe Vedic period, covering Brahmana-s,Aranyaka-s, Upanishads and Sutra-s andpresents a few musical references fromthese texts, which are interesting andeducative.

The sixth chapter is devoted to theperiod of Siksa-s and Pratisakhya-s. Itintroduces the importance of thedevelopment of phonetics in early timesin this country. It contains valuable

references and citations.

The seventh chapter examines thequestion of contacts of India with othercountries in the Vedic period. Thischapter also contains valuable facts andreferences.

The eighth and ninth chapters dealwith music in the Epic period, theformer being devoted to the Ramayanaand the latter to the Mahabha rata. Thesetwo chapters profusely quote Sanskritverses from the respective epics for pre-senting the musical material availabletherein. This presentation will be in-teresting for the lay and enlightenedreaders alike.

The 10th chapter speaks of music inHarivamsa which is considered to bethe appendix of Mahabharata and the11 th chapter takes up music in thePuranas. Vayupurana, Markandeya-purana and Vishnudharmottarapuranahave been taken up as these three con-tain the maximum number of referencesto music. These references have beenused by other authors also.

The 12th chapter is devoted to musi-cal references in Panini's Ashtadhyayiand contains interesting discussion onsome points. It is a very small chapterof only three pages.

The 13th and the 14th chapters dealwith literary and archaeological evidenceon music in the Buddhist and Jainatraditions. The information may beavailable elsewhere, but the discussionshaves a freshness about them.

The 15th chapter speaks of someancient authorities of Indian music.As a prelude to the subsequent chap-ters on Natya Sastra, a brief analysis ofthe beginning of the first chapter ofthis text is presented here and notes onBrahma, Siva, Narada, Svati, Tumburu,Kohala, Sandilya, Dattila, Visakhila,Visvavasu and Arjuna are given.

The 16th chapter contains a treat-ment of the music of the people in theperiod preceding Natya Sastra. Thepurpose seems to be to investigate ref-erences to music in the pre-Natya Sastra period. Incidentally, the antiquity ofBharata as a class and as an individualis thoroughly examined.

The last two chapters, the 17 th and

the 18th, are exclusively devoted toNatya Sastra. The nature of the text,whether or not it is a sangraha or com-piled text, the relative antiquity of itsvarious components like arya-s, anushtupverses, prose portions, etc., are exam-ined in the 17th chapter and the opin-ion of P.V. Kane that the text was readyin its complete form between 350-450AD is accepted. The author is also inagreement with the view that this textwas not composed at one time, but is a compilation of components composedover a fairly long period in one and thesame tradition of the Bharatas. Thechapter closes with an excellent accountof the editions of the text, first at-tempted in fragments by European schol-ars in the 19th century, the firstKavyamala edition of the complete textpublished in 1894 and later Indianeditions.

The last chapter deals with the musicdescribed in the above text. This is thelongest chapter. The topics of swara,sruti, grama, moorchana and jati arecovered extensively. Here and there,the opinion of Sarangadeva is also cited.The chapter ends with a rough com-parison of moorchana-s with Greekmodes.

It appears that the author wanted towrite on the post-Bharata period, butas said earlier, he could not write thesecond part of this work. He wanted towrite a preface to the first part, whichalso he could not do.

As between the two works, the one inHindi is more thorough and much bet-ter documented. Dr. Deepti Singh saysthat Thakur Saheb had told her that hehad found the writing in Hindi moreinteresting and enjoyable.

It is difficult to say as to which oneof the two books was written earlier;perhaps both were written simulta-neously. The paper of both the manu-scripts is equally old; it is so brittle thatit seems to be more than 20 years old.He was telling all of us for many yearspast that he was engaged in writing a history of Indian music. In view of thecondition of the paper of the manu-scripts, it appears that he had writtenout the two works quite long ago. Thefact that he did not give them forpublication suggests that he wanted to

PHILOSOPHER

A ScfioCar Who Was An Eternal Student The following article was written by DR. BETTINA BAUMER. a European scholar of Hindu philosophy who is now a Project Coordinator in Banaras foi the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.

I must have met Thakur Jaideva Singhfor the first time in 1970; I was

introduced to him by my music teacherwho had told me about him as the finalauthority in Varanasi as far as the cor-rect interpretation of classical musicwas concerned. All the great musiciansand music guru-s in Varanasi were look-ing up to him for guidance and appre-ciation. The very first meeting estab-lished a bond of everlasting friendshipbetween us. To my pleasant surprise,Thakur Saheb turned out to be not onlya great musicologist, but a philosopherand specialist in Kashmir Saivism, anda person of great human qualities. I wasstruck by his innate simplicity andhumility, his sincerity and frankness,and his inborn qualities which madehim a teacher who gave his knowledgeselflessly to whoever asked for it. I wasespecially impressed by his readiness tolearn, even upto the ripe age of 90! Thetrue sign of a scholar is that he or shenever ceases being a student.

Thakur Saheb became a sincere fa-therly and spiritual friend, what the

Buddhists call kalyanamitra. There wasno one-way relationship in the give andtake of knowledge. He soon called him-self my student, because I was teachinghim German and French. He was asthorough a student as a teacher. Westarted reading children's books andlater books on mysticism in these twolanguages. His childlike innocence al-lowed him to extract as much philoso-phy from children's boeks like The Little Prince, as he did from the San-skrit texts in which he was all the timeimmersed.

My interest in Kashmir Saivism wasalready awakened before meeting him,but my association with Thakur Sahebgave it a new impetus. Occasionally hewould read a text with me, or we woulddiscuss about the basic principles andinsights of Kashmir Saivism. He sharedwith me his experiences with his guru-s: his Sufi master in Kanpur, PanditGopinath Kaviraj in Varanasi and thegreatest living authority in KashmirSaivism and yoga, Swami Lakshmanloo of Kashmir. Whenever he went toSrinagar to sit at the feet of SwamiLakshman Joo, who taught him the mostimportant texts of the school, he wouldwrite to me and tell me about his workand experience. Unfortunately we could

never go to Kashmir together, whichwas my dream.

He often told me that his books onmusic were lying incomplete, but hewanted to devote all his time and en-ergy, in those last years of his life, tothe study of Kashmir Saivism and tomaking its mystical-philosophical textsknown by tanslating them. He found inthis school of thought and spiritualitythe culmination of the entire Indianphilosophy and yoga, including the artsand aesthetics. He did not hesitate tocriticise Sankara's Vedanta, which hasbeen hailed as the quintessence of In-dian thought, and he thus contributeda great deal to rectifying the image ofthe various schools of darsana-s. Hiscomparative lectures on Sankara Vedantaand Kashmir Saivism at the RamakrishnaMission in Calcutta certainly raisedsome controversy, but he could estab-lish the importance of this school in itsphilosophical, mystical as well as aes-thetic dimensions.

It should not be forgotten that, be-fore he made pioneering translations,hardly any text of this school.was knownor had been translated into English.(The French translations by LilianSilburn, and the Italian by Raniero Gnoli

revise or supplement whatever he hadwritten. At one point he was trying tolearn Persian, probably to be able toconsult primary sources of medievalhistory.

In a way, the two works in Englishand Hindi, taken together, completethe story of Indian music from the an-cient to the modern times. But thetransition from the ancient grama-moorchana system to the medieval Melaor Thata system has not been discussed.Each 'period' seems to be independentby itself. The need for a fresh approachto periodisation, eschewing the linearapproach,remains unfulfilled and thetask of discovering links of continuityand identifying vicissitudes of change,

could not be undertaken, for whateverreasons. In spite of this, the two worksdo advance the existing knowledge aboutthe history of Indian music. They willalso provide impetus and material forfurther research and this is more thansufficient for establishing them as land-marks in the endeavours for reconstruct-ing a history of Indian music. The taskis stupendous indeed and no single in-dividual could accomplish it by way ofsaying the last word.

I would like to conclude this analysison a personal note. The deep involve-ment of Thakur Saheb with scholarlypursuits will become clear from thisincident. I met him at his residencejust a few days before his passing awaywhen I had come to Varanasi from

Khairagarh for a short visit. He hadcome back from the hospital, but wasextremely weak and restless. He said tome in a feeble voice: "When are youcoming back from Khairagarh?" Thatwas my first year at the music univer-sity in Khairagarh. I asked him: "ShouldI come back soon?" He said again: "Iwant that this happens, because I amconcerned about the dictionary of mu-sic that you were planning to compile."In those moments of extreme agony,the dictionary was uppermost in hismind! He did not utter a word abouthis suffering. I was deeply moved andsaid: "Sir, I will surely try my best toreturn soon." He was mightily pleased.I will never forget that glow on his paleface. D

Thakur Saheb with (L to R) Vinaychandra Maudgah/a and SunilBosc at festival organised by ShannoKJiurana in 1982

were partly earlier, partly contempo-rary). His contribution to a re-evalua-tion of Indian thought in the light ofthe "discovery" of Kashmir Saivism isthus unique. It has not only philo-sophical implications, but it will haverepercussions in the fields of spiritual-ity, aesthetics and even social life. Itwas certainly in Abhinavagupta thatJaideva Singh could find a perfect linkbetween philosophy and music, his twoloves.

I would like to mention here anotherlittle known aspect of Thakur Saheb'sgenius. Being a true philosopher, artistand a spiritual person, he was open toother philosophical and spiritual tradi-tions. He was an assiduous student ofBuddhism, which proved to be usefulin his studies of Kashmir Saivism. Hehad. learned Persian and read Islamictexts on Sufism and music. When hestudied German with me, we read textsof German mystics such as MeisterEckhart in the original. He found a striking closeness in spirit betweenChristian and Hindu mysticism, as alsoSufism. His mind was thus marked bythe openness and universality whichare the signs of great spirits. Being rootedin his own tradition, he accepted thetruth, from whichever source it came.This, his openness, was also connectedwith the fact that he was deeply influ-enced by the thought of A.K.Coomaraswamy, with whom he enter-tained correspondence, as well as byRene Guenon and the traditionalist

school. Besides, he was a theosophistof a very free and non-sectarian type.

Whenever Jaideva Singh participatedin seminars, his frankness was refresh-ing and the depth of his knowledgeenriching. The last seminar to which I had the privilege of escorting him, wason his Guru, Gopinath Kaviraj, in Jaipur,in March 1986. In spite of his old age,his mind and his voice were clear andhis contribution could clarify manypoints.

Thakur Saheb was so much devotedto his work that it was his desire tocomplete his unfinished books beforehis end came. He did not fear death, buthe wanted to complete his tasks as faras he could. He left four books almostcompleted, but unedited— two bookson the history of Indian music (in Hindiand English), one book on Kabir, andwhat was most dear to his heart, histranslation of Abhinavagupta's greatwork Para-Trisika Vivarana. When askedon what he was working during the lastyears of his life, he used to reply "onMantrasastra", by which he meantAbhinavagupta's magnum opus. He hadstudied it word for word at the feet ofhis master Swami Lakshman Joo inKashmir and worked very hard to putAbhinavagupta's mystical and denselanguage into readable English. It wasmy privilege that this unfinished textwas entrusted to me for editing, since I had often discussed it with him whilehe was working on the text. To me, this

text proved to be a real initiation intothe secrets of Kashmir Saivism, andhelped establish a deep communion withits author who was no more in thebody.

While fully acknowledging the hu-! man, spiritual and scholarly greatnessof Jaideva Singh's genius, I may be al-lowed to express some constructive criti-cism. Thakur Saheb was an educator,administrator, artist and scholar, as wellas a connoisseur of Indian music(sahridaya in terms of aesthetic theory).He could communicate all these as-pects in his lectures, in seminars andpersonal discussions. But, in his publi-cations he did not sufficiently establishthe interconnections between, say mu-sic and philosophy or aesthetics andspirituality. He knew all that, but hedid not express it adequately and com-prehensively.

As far as his translations of KashmirSaiva texts are concerned, they certainlyfulfilled an urgent need and constituteda pioneering task. He was very particu-lar to be faithful to the Sanskrit origi-nal and to the traditional interpreta-tion received from his guru. But from a scholarly point of view, the introduc-tions do not always satisfy the curios-ity of the reader, and he did not givesufficient cross-references and otherreferences to primary and secondarysources. In the translation he has oftenincluded the commentary in the sutraor the karika, without distinguishingthem by brackets. These may be con-sidered minor weaknesses when takinginto account the amount of painstak-ing work that went into these books.

This criticism also implies that ThakurSaheb was more than his books andthat he knew more than he wrote. Thatis why it is important to collect what-ever memories and notes one can layhold on before it is too late. In our ageof specialisation in every field, his per-son is a powerful reminder that Indianculture and thought cannot becompartmentalised, that we do notunderstand music unless we understandits underlying philosophy and perhapsvice-versa. If it is rare to find a multi-faceted genius of his kind in our presenttime, he should remind us that only aninterdisciplinary approach can do jus-tice to the richness of Indian thought,and that art cannot be separatedfrom spirituality, nor philosophy fromeducation. D

THAKUR JAIDEVA SINGH(1893-1986)

MUSICOLOGIST

An Outstanding Scholar & Exponent The following article was written by DR. SAMAR BAHADUR SINGH.

Music to Jaideva Singh was a passion, no doubt, but never his

profession or main occupation. He wasessentially an academic with philoso-phy as the subject of his specialisation,but with varied interests. Paradoxi-cally, though a distinguished scholar,he neither obtained any researchdegree, nor did he ever adorn thefaculty of any university. He remaineda college teacher, all through, first atthe D.A.V. College, Kanpur and then asthe founder-principal of a degreecollege at Lakhimpur, U.P. Late in life,his scholarship was duly recognised andthree universities including the BanarasHindu University conferred on himthe honorary degree of D. Litt. As anexecutive of All India Radio he wasmainly an administrator or supervisorframing policies and ensuring their ef-fective execution. He was neither a plat-form performer nor, to the best of myknowledge, did he ever claim to be a composer. As such Jaideva's real emi-nence lay in the domain of musicology,which he enriched and interpreted,often, through his captivating discoursesand through his scattered wri t ings-books, articles and broadcast scripts.

About two years before his death,Jaideva, in a lengthy talk captioned Meri Sangeet Yatra (My musical journey)broadcast from the Lucknow Station ofAIR, had given a detailed and absorbingaccount of his lung and intimate asso-ciation with this 'Divine art' which, ashe put it, was a 'mental tonic' (manasikrasayan) to him— more so during hisold age. According to him, his motherwas an exceptionally talented folk

vocalist and had a rich repertoire of sea-sonal songs. Duringthe Holi festival, sheused to compete withher male counter-parts in singingappropriate songs,of course, frombehind a purdah.Jaideva inherited hertalent and, to quotehis own words:"My mother mixedmusic with her milkwhen she breast-fedme."

Jaideva receivedhis initial trainingin classical vocalmusic while pursu-ing his academicstudies at Varanasi.The musical atmos-phere of this holycity provided anadded impetus to theboy in the pursuitof his hobby.

In the year 1911,Jaideva, then a teen-ager, happened tol i s ten tO a VOCal ThakurSahebbcinglionouredbyKapilaValsyayanoftheSangeetNatakrec i ta l by P a n d i t Akademi at the inauguration of a dhrupad festival in Brindavan, in 1979.VisllllU D i g a m b a r Standing: Dr. Ranganayaki Ayyangar of SNA and Sri vats Coswami ofPaluskar. Panditji's Brindavanexposition of the morning melody,Asavari, made a tremendous impact onthe impressionable adolescent andwhetted his appetite for advanced learn-ing. Giving a vivid account of thatrecital, Jaideva once told me: "Digambar'spowerful and melodious voice, moving

majestically in all the three octaves, hissystematic delineation of the raag, hisfast, colourful and varied taan-s, hisastonishing command over laya and taaland, above all, his soulful rendition,moved me so deeply that I felt, almost,hypnotised. No vocalist, before or

PART II OF A BIRTH CENTENARY SPECIAL FEATURE

after, could match this peerless per-former." "Not even Tansen?" I inter-jected. "No, not even Tansen," he re-plied and added: "The latter's geniuswas mostly confined to the princelycourts, whereas Digambar moved themasses—millions and millions of them."

Jaideva was equally, if not more, de-voted to his studies also. To maintainhis top rank in the post-graduate class,he would, more often than not, burnmidnight oil. This had an adverseeffect on his health and he fell a victimto insomnia. No treatment could proveof any avail. Then, one day he met a sanyasi who advised him to listen tosober classical music before retiring tobed. Jaideva acted accordingly. On thevery first night, when he listened to analapa of raga Pooria, he slept like a logfor five hours. From then on, musicbecame his constant night companion.

After obtaining a Master's degree inphilosophy, Jaideva came to Kanpur tojoin the D.A.V. College, as a lecturer.His passion for music continuedunabated. Though busily engaged inhis teaching profession, he always foundtime to pursue his study of music. Soonhe became a hub of musical activities.In 1927, he founded the Sangeet Samajwhich gradually blossomed into a pre-mier music institution to cater to thetastes and needs of this industrial city.An eminent vocalist, NanubhaiyaTelang, was brought from Gwalior toserve the Samaj; and Jaideva obtainedadvanced training in vocal music fromhim. Jaideva's skill as an indefatigableorganiser came to the fore when hestarted holding All India Music confer-ences under the auspices of the Samajevery year. The then top musicians ofthe country— vocalists, instrumental-ists and dancers— all, attended theseconferences. Ustad Faiyaz Khan wasone of the regular participants. Jaideva,thus, came into intimate contact withthe cream of Hindustani music andgreatly benefitted from that.

While Jaideva was blossoming as a musical flower, an accident occurredwhich proved a turning point in hiscareer in music. Jaideva was very fondof ice, and, at times, took it, rather, inexcessive quantity. This scalded hisvocal chords. The damage was so severethat he could not even speak. He wasunnerved. No treatment of any systemof medicine could cure his Meningitis'.Ultimately, he went to Calcutta forfurther treatment. There, somehow, heregained his power of speech, but notthe capacity to sing. Jaideva, often,

ThakurSahcb inaugurating music festival, 1982

regretted this loss with a deep sigh:"Since that time the divine language [ofmusic] has been denied to me. Now, I only listen. I just can't sing." Jaidevawas in his early forties then.

But this tragic turn proved a blessingin disguise. Realising his incapacity tobe a practical performer, Jaideva nowtook to musicology. His intimate knowl-edge of Sanskrit language and litera-ture, stood him in very good stead. Itwas about this time that he came intocontact with V.N. Bhatkhande, thecodifier of modern Hindustani music,and became his collaborator. Jaidevatook to intensive study of the old San-skrit works on music in right earnest.In an illuminating article, he not onlyenumerated these works, but also fur-nished gists of each for the benefit ofthose who could not have access tothese texts in the original. Jaideva'sdeep understanding and authoritativeinterpretation of Bharata's Natya Sastra, Naradiya Siksha, Matanga's Brihaddesi and Sarangadeva's Sangeeta Ratnakara, all belonging to the ancient period-were revealing and amazing. His schol-arly, thought-provoking and highlyabsorbing lectures, at times, illustratedthrough demonstrations, and hisnumerous published articles, proved,beyond any doubt, that as a musicolo-gist, he was head and shoulders aboveall his contemporaries in the field.

Jaideva wrote extensively on a vari-ety of musical themes— ranging fromrasa and raga to the various forms ofmusical compositions such as dhrupad,khayal, thumri and tarana. Jaideva'sfirst love, of course, was philosophy,religion and spirituality and naturallythese claimed his prior attention. Hiswritings on music were, by and large,

> restricted only to the articles which he£ penned, at the request of the editors of3 various standard journals. To the best^ of my knowledge, he wrote only com-£ missioned articles, and never on hisp. own. His broadcast scripts on different0 aspects of music also contain a wealth1 of information. Some of these have been

incorporated in compilations publishedby All India Radio.

At the request of Dr. B.V. Keskar,who was then Chairman of the Na-tional Book Trust, Jaideva had plannedto write a book on Indian music, forpopular reading, but, somehow, it couldnot be taken in hand. Jaideva was toopreoccupied with his other commit-ments— English translation of Shiva-Sutras, commentary on Kabir's works,etc.— to spare time for this book.However, at our repeated requests, dur-ing the closing years of his life, heundertook to write two books— one, a short history of Indian music, in En-glish, and the other— a Hindi work tobe called Bharatiya Sangeet Ka Brihad Itihas. Unfortunately, he died beforethese two works could be completedand published. I learn that these booksare due to be published shortly.

Jaideva Singh joined All India Radioas its first Chief Producer of Music in1956, (almost the same year, when I .too joined this organisation). He was inhis mid-sixties then.

Those were the formative years ofthis medium. A galaxy of luminaries,representing various branches of learn-ing and culture, had come to adorn itsstaff. Besides Dr. B.V. Keskar, then theMinister for Information & Broadcast-ing, Secretary of the Ministry, P.M.Lad and Director-General of AIR J.C.Mathur, though belonging to the In-dian Civil Service, were both essen-tially men of culture. Jaideva, there-fore, found a very congenial companyin his new calling. Since he enjoyed thetrust and respect of the Minister, aswell as his immediate bosses and col-leagues, he was given a free hand inshaping the musical policies of this far-flung organisation and ensuring theiractual implementation.

But Jaideva's most notable contribu-tion to All India Radio, as a musicolo-gist, was the symposium which washeld every year on the eve of the annualRadio Sangeet Sammelan. Thus, he re-vived the.long-forgotten tradition ofBhatkhande, who used to hold similarconferences to discuss and settle thecontroversial aspects of raga-s, etc.Jaideva would not only select the

subject for discussion, but also deliverthe valedictory address. He would keepthe audience spellbound by his schol-arly presentations, enriched with wide-ranging quotations and penetrating in-terpretations. Some of the papers, pre-sented on these occasions, have sincebeen published.

Jaideva was deadly opposed to theuse of the harmonium in All India Radio'sprogrammes. So long as Dr. Keskar wasMinister, he did have his way. But inthe changed regime, his pleadings provedof no avail. In the event, the harmoniummade a triumphant re-entry, thoughonly in a limited manner.

When Jaideva settled down in Varanasiin 1963 his house became a centre ofpilgrimage for the devotees of music.Scholars from far and near would visithim to seek his expert guidance on thethemes of their research. In the spa-cious hall of the house, music sittingswere held, particularly during the Holifestival, when top-notchers of the city—both vocalists and instrumentalists,would give their performances. Most ofthe writings of Jaideva, both on phi-losophy and music, were done in thishouse.

Jaideva was the Chairman of the U.P.Sangcet Natak Akademi for six longyears. I was the Secretary of that insti-tution during the later part of his of-fice. Jaideva, played a pivotal role, inthat capacity, to revive, propagate andpreserve the traditional music— bothclassical and folk. The archives, whichcame into existence during his tenure,have since become a proud possessionof the Akademi. Under his inspiringguidance, several books on the variousfacets of music, such as dhrupad, thumriand sarangi as also on kajri and chaiti,the two popular and peculiar folk songtypes of U.P., were written and laterpublished. Jaideva's illuminating lec-tures, delivered on different topics ofmusicology, in the seminars held by theAkademi from time to time— record-ings of some of them may have beenpreserved in the archives— bore testi-mony to his praiseworthy scholarship.

In his lecture-demonstrations, Jaideva,would very often lay emphasis on theaesthetic aspects of music. Speaking ina seminar organised on the golden jubi-lee of the Prayag Sangeet Samiti— a premier music institution of Allahabad,on Sangeet inein rasa latva (The rasaelement in music), he said: "Today,our main concern in music is swarand laya (melody note and rhythm).We do not pay requisite attention to

Heine honoured, on another occasion. Also in picture: Sushila Kohalui

the essence of our music, namely, itsaesthetics, its emotional appeal. If I had my way, I would issue instructionsthat all music students should, first,complete a course in aesthetics and onlythen sing or play. Our musical systemsabound in elements which can makeour performance really moving, but un-fortunately, we seldom employ them."

In a paper on the concept of rasa,read out at the music symposium heldat the time of the annual Radio SangeetSammelan in 1956, Jaideva remarked:"I do not know if there is any word inany other language which can bring outthe import of the word %rasa' in itsfullness. Perhaps artistic experiencewould be the nearest equivalent of thisword in English. The musician has to.become ' tanmaya', or one with the ragabhava or spirit of the raga in order to beable to express rasa and so also thelistener has to become tanmaya in or-der to enjoy that experience. It was forthis purpose that raga dhyan was com-posed by our old masters."

Jaideva pointed out, rather repea-tedly, in almost all his discourses, thatthe soul of our music is alapa, the expo-sition and development of the raga.In this, due care should be bestowedupon appropriate voice production-

its flexibility, and swarochchar— cor-rect, subtle and appealing intonation ofeach swara— which though the samein all the raga-s, is actually peculiar toeach melody. In composition singing,due at tent ion should be paid tosabdochchar— the enunciation of eachword of the song in such a way that theaesthetic aspects are augmented. In sum,an impressive and enchanting perfor-mance must have a happy blending ofboth 'kalaa paksha' (artistic aspect) and'bhava paksha' (the emotional aspect).

In a scholarly and well-documentedessay titled The Origin, Evolution and Decline of Dhmvapad, Jaideva proved,conclusively, that this form of song wasevolved out of the 'salagsud' variety ofthe ancient Prabandha. This song-formwitnessed its hey days, both at theprincely courts and in sacred templesduring the 15th and 16th centuries,but later it somehow started losing popu-larity. The learned author also diag-nosed the disease that had started eat-ing into the vitals of this, otherwise,robust form and offered suggestions,for its revival and rejuvenation.

In yet, another equally well-docu-mented article, Jaideva argued, very ablyand convincingly, that the popularstyle of khayal is perfectly indigenous,

R A D I O E X E C U T I V E

Admira6Ct Rofe At All India Radio This article was written by DR. SUMATI MUTATKAR, vocalist, scholar, former AIR executive and former Professor and Head of Department of Music, Delhi University.

Music was for Thakur JaidevaSingh a delighting and soul-up-

lifting force. Pandit Vishnu NarayanBhatkhande and Pandit VishnuDigambar Paluskar, the two great vi-sionaries who with their life-long dedi-cation had brought about a veritablerevolution by restoring the divine art ofmusic to its high status in the socialand cultural ethos, were held in greatveneration by Thakur Saheb. With PanditBhatkhande he was in close touch, en-riching his knowledge and total per-spective of music. He frequently vis-ited the Marris Music College, Lucknow,and learnt the subtleties of many diffi-cult and complicated raga-s both fromPandit Bhatkhande and from Dr. S.N.Ratanjankar. Beginning in the nineteenthirties Thakur Saheb worked constantlyfor the cause of music, its all-roundpromotion and the welfare of musi-cians. With his respect for traditionalmusicians and his encouragement ofthe emerging community of talentedmen and women from the cultured

intelligentsia who were taking to musicat the professional level, he earned therespect and goodwill of all.

It was at the Marris College around1945 that I was introduced to ThakurSaheb by Guruvarya Pandit Ratanjankar.Thakur Saheb liked my serious anddevoted approach; and he was also im-pressed by my talent and attainment.He said that my example signified thatclassical music was coming out of itssmall professional coterie and reachingdevoted people outside, people whowould come to be its leaders. A bond offilial affection and musical resonancewas struck between us that was to last.

I joined All India Radio in 1953, aspart of the dynamic scheme of Dr.Balakrishna V. Keskar, Minister forInformation and Broadcasting, for thetotal betterment of radio programmes,which included imparting an Indianidentity to AIR. Eminent musicians,playwrights and literary personalitieswere being appointed at radio stationsas producers and advisors. P.C.Chaudhuri, Secretary, Information andBroadcasting, told me that myappointment would be only on an experi-mental basis, to assess the usefulness

or otherwise of specialists like me atAIR headquarters, and asked whether I was interested in taking up the assign-ment. I thought he was trying to in-timidate me; but I nodded affirma-tively. He smiled and asked how I wouldlike the desi gnation of Director of Music,adding in a lighter vein that D.M. couldalso mean District Magistrate.

I joined with some trepidation andstarted applying myself wholeheartedly.With help from some senior officers I acquired an understanding of officialprocedures. There were discussionsamong AIR bigwigs about the duties tobe assigned to me. After a preliminarydiscussion with me, the Director-Gen-eral adopted a simple formula. Barringadministrative matters like appoint-ments, salaries, etc., every paper con-cerning music was to be referred to theDirector of Music "for comments".Papers started pouring in, leaving melittle breathing space. To acquaint myselfwith the history and background, theproblems involved, and so on, I adoptedthe policy of asking for "relevantpapers". This stood me in good stead.Gradually I acquired a grasp as well assome confidence. I also learnt the

developed from the forms and modesenunciated in Sarangadeva's Sangeeta Ratnakara. "It is the finest flower ofthe garden of Indian music, and isnot at all an exotic plantation," heobserved.

Similarly, in another scholarly articleon Amir Khusro, the literary and musi-cal genius of the medieval times, Jaideva,while recognising the valuable contri-butions made by this poet-musician,also exploded several myths associatedwith him. He asserted that the taranaform of singing had evolved out of theancient Indian composition Nirgeeta,though Amir Khusro gave it a distinctcolour of his own.

And what about thumri, the roman-tic dance-song? According to Jaideva,this too had its origin in one of thevarieties of the ancient SanskritPrabandha, titled Prasadini. Its inhe-rent beauty caught the fancy of imagi-native artists who experimented and

developed it until it acquired its presentidentity. A rasika in the truest sense ofthe term, Jaideva had a natural fascina-tion for this style. Both in public andprivate gatherings, he would, duringthe course of his discourses, recitevarieties of thumri-s, and explain theirnuances and subtleties. He oftenregretted that this romantic style, sofull of charm and sensibility, is gradu-ally losing its appeal, mainly becausethe performers, either due to ignoranceor incapacity, are not able to convey itsemotional ethos in the desired manner.Once, after listening to the thumri re-citals of the two ustads— Bade GhulamAli Khan and Sharafat Hussain Khan--in a Radio Sangeet Sammelan sessionin Delhi, he was so overwhelmedwith joy that he composed his ownthumri, to convey his deep feelings.The lyric: Kaisi thumri sunayi, smlh-budh bisrayi (What heart-touch-ing thumri-s they presented, I lost all

sense of time, place or even of mybeing).

Summing up his observations on thevarious song-forms presently in vogue,Jaideva aptly and lucidly commented:

"In all arts, there are classical andromantic forms. In Hindustani music,dhruvapada is purely classical; thumriand tappa are purely romantic; khayalis classico-romantic, and this is thesecret of its appeal, for it caters to bothtastes— classical and romantic."

And he composed a couplet to de-scribe the unique character of Indianmusic: fahaan yog tahaan bhog nahin, jahaan bhog nahin yog/Sapta suran ke mel mein, yog bhog samyog.

Translated from the original Hindi,it reads: Yoga (spirituality] and bhoga[sensuality] do not co-exist. But in theblending of the seven swara-s, bothspirituality and sensuality can embraceeach other. Q

studio technique— handling the con-trol panel, balancing, etc. My work wasappreciated and my usefulness at head-quarters established. I was accepted inthe fold.

I had no idea of the future; but I wasmoderately happy with my achievement,which turned out to be an asset whenlater I came to work with Thakur Sahebas his deputy.

Thakur Jaideva Singh was alreadyassociated with AIR as a member of theMusic Audi tion Board and of some con-sultative committees. He also gave talks.I therefore met him on more than oneoccasion.

In December 1955 Thakur Saheb cameto my Pandara Road residence to meetme. He announced that he wanted totalk to me about a matter of crucialimportance. Dr. Keskar, he said, hadhad a long talk with him and had askedhim to take up the post of Chief Pro-ducer (Music) at AIR headquarters. Theneed for appointing specialists at theDirectorate had been accepted. Theidea under consideration was to have atheadquarters a central music sectionheaded by a Chief Producer and as-sisted by deputies and so on.

In the view of the Minister, given thecircumstances of the time and the pre-vailing musical milieu, an eminent per-forming musician who owed allegianceto one particular gharana or school wouldnot, for various reasons, be a properchoice for the key assignment. A per-son with a deep knowledge and appre-ciation of music combined with a solidbackground of high overall learning andculture would, he felt, be better suitedand more effective. Dr. Keskar hadprobably had his consultations on thematter before concluding that ThakurSahe,b would be very well suited to thischallenging job.

In all sincerity Thakur Saheb said tome: "You know that I am not inter-ested in the least in any job at this stageof my retired life. In fact I have beforeme valuable works in Sanskrit on Kash-mir Saivism to be thoroughly researchedand published. I also plan a book onmusic. This work, or even part of it,which my heart craves to do, will takewhat remains of my lifetime. To takeup anything else would mean wastingthe limited life-span at my disposal,which I can ill afford. I explained allthis to the Minister in declining hisoffer."

"Countering my plea," Thakur Saheb

continued, "the Minister argued thathe had started working in a big way forthe total uplift of music, literary andother programmes of AIR. He is facingdifficulties and controversies from allsides. He tried to persuade me bysaying that he would very much appre-ciate my help and co-operation in thisventure."

After some moments' silence he said:"So that is how things stand. I am ina fix. If I do accept the offer, can I counton your wholehearted support and as-sistance? You have acquired some graspof AIR's functioning and its problems.And you know that I trust you."

I assured him of my support and saidthat it would be a privilege to workwith him. I added that the new ar-rangement would also be a great reliefand help to me.

In a few months' time Thakur JaidevaSingh joined All India Radio as ChiefProducer (Music). My designation nowchanged from Director of Music toDeputy Chief Producer.

This is how Thakur Saheb came tojoin AIR. The spicy story put about bythe gossipers' clan was very different.According to it Thakur Saheb was look-ing for a cushy post-retirement job. Hewas well-known to the Minister forInformation and Broadcasting, Dr. B.V.Keskar. Therefore, without botheringabout his qualifications and suitabil-ity, he was appointed Chief Producersolely on the personal preference of theMinister. He was a 'minister's man',placed to support his mentor and posthim with information.

Could disfigurement and distortionof reality be so total?

Soon after he joined AIR, ThakurSaheb and 1 sat together and listed theimportant aspects concerning the di-verse types of music programmes beingbroadcast by the growing network. Therewas classical music, both vocal andinstrumental, of the Hindustani andthe Camatic traditions; light classicalmusic; light music; folk and regionalmusic; devotional music,- and the muchdenounced but by far the most popularfilm music. There were also musicprogrammes, directed to special audi-ences such as those for women,children and the troops; the ExternalServices' broadcasts; and music in theradio plays, title music, filler music.Music— music everywhere. Musicseemed to permeate the gigantic edificeof broadcasting. Thakur Saheb was

astounded. He said he had never imag-ined that music in the radio could havesuch diverse forms and enormous pro-portions.

Files concerning all aspects of AIR'smusic programmes were called for.Thakur Saheb studied them seriouslywith his incisive vision, taking writtenand mental notes. An 'at a glance'working chart was prepared. Policies,planning, production, procedures, prob-lems— every aspect unfolded and a clearerpicture emerged. It was indeed a formi-dable roll-call. Foremost was therealisation that music was, by its verynature, the commodity most 'broad-castable'; and that AIR was the unique,single organisation which acquired anddisseminated in its daily functioningsuch a large and varied fare of music.

Thakur Jaideva Singh started inright earnest. There were frequentmeetings, apart from the weekly PRP(programme review and planning) meet-ings that the Director-General had withhis programme officers to discuss vari-ous programmes and their problems.Thakur Saheb made it a point to pre-pare compact, systematic notes on theitems concerning music to be discussedat a meeting. Generally, on the previ-ous afternoon we would thrash out theinformation available on the subjectand prepare a kind of working paper tobe placed before the meeting. This de-vice— and there is nothing unusualabout it— proved effective. Wh en, withhis studied grasp and his masterly ora-tory, Thakur Saheb presented a point,without looking at his written notes,people came under a spell of surpriseand admiration.

The Director-General, J.C. Mathur,himself an outsider to broadcasting,showed deference to Thakur Saheb. Inthe attitude of many of the programmeofficers, however, I felt there was a tinge of derision in the early days. Whatcould Thakur Saheb, neither a musi-cian nor a broadcaster, do here with hisknowledge of philosophy? Thakur Sahebcould not have failed to notice this; buthe never showed that he did. In a veryshort time this somewhat slighting at-titude was replaced by a respectful re-gard. People at all levels not only beganto give due regard to his views andsuggestions, they would also ask for hisopinion. His notings on files were sig-nificant not only for their succinct na-ture, full of meaning, but also for hisbeautiful, compact handwriting.

In the winter of 1955-58, before

Thakur Saheb joined AIR, I went to theroom of Dr. B.S. Mardhekar, Directorof Programmes, to congratulate him ona poem of his, probably Christ Comes Again, which had appeared in the Illus-trated Weekly of India. Mardhekar wasa well-known poet and author who wroteboth in Marathi and in English. He wasalso known for his attractive, smallhandwriting. Although not very sociable,he was a fine person and a true intellec-tual. He said he was happy I had readhis poem and liked it. Then he pickedup a file and placing it before me said,"Have a look at this note that ThakurJaideva Singh sent to the DC. Theconsistency and clarity of his thoughtare most remarkable. I sense a philo-sophical strain in the background ofthe note. His shapely, diminutive hand-writing is also a striking feature. Don'tyou agree?"

I said that I agreed wholeheartedly,and that Mardhekar, who possessed thesame qualities in profusion, was theappropriate person to appreciate them.He laughed, a little embarrassed, andasked if I had met Thakur Jaideva Singh.I told him that I had known ThakurSaheb for years, that although his dis-cipline was philosophy, music was hisfirst love; and that there was a possibil-ity of his joining AIR as Chief Producer(Music). Mardhekar said with feelingthat that would be very good. Unfortu-nately, he himself died later that year.

Thakur Jaideva Singh was with AIRfrom 1956 to 1962.1 worked with himfor over two years before leaving theorganisation for personal reasons. Evenafter leaving, I remained in touch withhim all along. At this distance in time,it is difficult to remember details withclarity, and there are hazy spots. Yetmemories of some events, of his style offunctioning, his manner of dealing withpeople and with problems, his favouritetopics in conversations with musicians,his powerful oratory, his efforts to stimu-late in AIR an overall concern and re-gard for our glorious traditions andmusical values, all these are engravedupon my mind. It is some of thesememories that I am going to narrate.

Thakur Saheb was aware that certainself-styled experts on broadcasting askedquestions about him like, "What doeshe know of broadcasting? What guid-ance can he give us?" On one or twoopportune occasions he declared: "I haveno illusions about myself. I have noknowledge of studio techniques, bal-ancing, control panels, and so on. Thatis the job of the technicians and the

broadcasting experts. But I know mu-sic and musical values. I know theglory of the classical traditions, I knowmusicians, and I can recognise and en-joy good music when I hear it. Myrelevance in AIR derives from my un-derstanding of the content and presen-tation of music. My job is to deal withthese facets of broadcasting and to makesuggestions and guidelines for theirimprovement and enrichment. This I am trying to do to the best of myability."

This statement was circulated, and I think it had its effect.

In those days the National Programmeof Music was broadcast live. Every weeka prominent artist, Hindustani orCarnatic, would come to AIR-Delhi.The artist was expected to arrive theday before the broadcast to finalise thedetails, see to accompanists, etc. Myrapport with musicians was excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed and valued thisunique opportunity to come into per-sonal contact with such a galaxy ofmusical eminence, learning, expertiseand aspirations. I enriched myself inmany ways.

It was Thakur Saheb's practice tospecially meet prominent musicians;although, of course, he was available tomusicians in general. Standing instruc-tions were given to the Delhi stationabout this. In the early days sometimessenior musicians were hesitant. Theywondered what they might talk aboutwith so learned a person and feared fortheir dignity. I would assure them thatthey too were learned in their art andthat Thakur Saheb had great regard forartists.

Once the ice was broken, these meet-ings became lively and informative. Thereis a famous recorded interview by ThakurSaheb with Ustad Bade Ghulam AliKhan in which there is an enchantingdemonstration of the affinity betweensome classical raga-s and folk tunes.This interview was the sequel to aninformal conversation between the two.

On one occasion, Ustad MushtaqHussain Khan, encouraged by ThakurSaheb's appreciation, sang an inspiredand extensive full-throated akara tanawhich covered three octaves and reachedthe tonic with grace. Suddenly he said,with great conviction: "This akara tanais a devotee's call to his God, to hisAllah, calling to him to come near: "a'means 'come, come'. And sura is nei-ther Hindu nor Muslim, nor Sikh norIsai— sura is verily isur (eswara)."

I remember the episode of ThakurSaheb's long discussion with C.N.Balasubramaniam, probably then sta-tioned at Madras as Deputy Chief Pro-ducer (Carnatic music), who was on a visit to Delhi. Thakur Saheb asked GNBfor the secret of his tremendous popu-larity. GNB smiled in modesty and said:"Perhaps it is my pleasing, facile voice,my good sampradaya and manodharmasakti; and above all, it is Divine Grace."After some talk about the stylistic fea-tures of the GNB bani, Thakur Sahebasked pointedly: "And the Divine Grace?How did it descend?" GNB said: "I ama Srividya upasaka with proper initia-tion from a guru. Each day I practise mymeditation and worship." After ThakurSaheb asked some further questions,GNB said: "We are not supposed toreveal these things to anyone, but youare a different kind of soul; you radiatea spiritual light." I was just watchingthem communicate.

Afterwards I invited GNB to my resi-dence. He came, and also taught me a Sadasiva Brahmendra kriti, Smara varam varam. It was in Sindhubhairavi, hesaid, and as that corresponded withBhairavi in the Hindustani system, I should have little trouble with it.

I remember Pandit Anant ManoharJoshi, who was staying with us for a month, having a relaxed, intimate meet-ing with Thakur Saheb. He sang a fewof his own compositions cast in theGwalior mould but with a new andbeautiful stance. On being asked byThakur Saheb he said:

"My ishtadevata is Matangeeswari. I am her initiated devotee and owe every-thing to her grace. My son Gajananhaving gone away, I was left totallyalone. For several years I lived in a small temple in Aundh doing nothing,totally out of touch, away from mymusic and all else. Unexpectedly, I received a contract to broadcast fromthe Bombay station (probably at theinstance of Shri M.S. Kanetkar). At firstI was nonplussed. I felt that I had for-gotten all my music. I thought of look-ing for a person who could write a letterfor me in English, regretting my inabil-ity to perform. But then I found that I had the urge to sing; and this seemed anopportunity sent by a divine hand.

"I strongly felt that if I prayed hardenough, my goddess would come to myrescue, pardon me for my indolence,and give me back my music. With fulldevotion and intensity I started myworship and sadhana. I also made aneffort to remember and sing the raga-s

and khayal compositions that I hadlearnt under my guru, Pandit Bala-krishnabuwa Ichalkaranjikar, on theweight of which I had earned a namedecades earlier. In a few days' time themiracle happened. When I tried to singI felt an unseen hand opening my throatand making my voice fall upon tunefulsounds. I went on singing and graduallybegan to hear and comprehend my ownsinging. My music had returned to me.I offered my heartfelt gratitude and joy-ful obeisance to Matangeeswari, who I felt had showered me with her graceand blessings. My broadcasts began again.From darkness I emerged again into thelimelight. I received the Sangeet NatakAkademi award. I am featured in theprestigious programme of All IndiaRadio and in music conference. I couldnot have imagined this. I sometimeswonder whether this is happening tome or to someone else."

Thakur Saheb inspected the archivalcell and set out his views on the func-tion and purpose of the archival preser-vation of Indian music and the criteriafor the selection of material. He dealtwith other points of importance to bedealt with by technicians and engineerson a priority basis: the ideal conditionsof storage, proper maintenance, the needfor up-to-date equipment, and so on.Also covered were matters like cata-loguing, indexing, and the adequate useof archival material in broadcasts.

Constant efforts to enrich the ar-chives were important, he felt. He gaveinstructions in this regard to the musicproducers at AIR's stations. By assign-ing these tasks to individual producers,he obtained for the archives recordingsof rare compositions like the thumri-sof Kunwar Shyam and Lalan Piya.

Going somewhat out of his way, hegot the approval of the Minister for hisscheme for building up a Radio Dictio-nary of Indian Music and launched theproject, although some others associ-ated with AIR objected to it as beingirrelevant to broadcasting. In one viewit could have had value and utility asarchival material. About half a dozentapes containing definitions of techni-cal terms followed by illustrations wereprepared by Pandit Ratanjankar anddeposited in the archives. The idea wasto prepare a working base, afterwhich a committee of experts wouldbe appointed to take over further deve-lopment.

When Thakur Saheb left AIR, theproject was automatically abandoned.One does not know what happened to

the tapes in the archives.When Thakur Jaideva Singh joined

AIR in 1956, a change was graduallybeing introduced from live auditions tothe playing of candidates' recordingsfor the Audition Board with anonymitymaintained. These sessions were chairedby Thakur Saheb and I was also oftenpresent.

By its very nature the process of au-ditioning is delicate and complex. Onthe one hand there are genuine difficul-ties in the qualitative assessment of a creative and dynamic art like music.On the other, problems can be pre-sented by the gharana affiliations orstylistic preferences of members of theAudition Board who might at times belacking in musical sensitivity and inobjectivity.

Thakur Saheb never tired ofemphasising to the Board's members,in his persuasive style, the need for a balanced and catholic approach. Whenthere were sharp differences stemmingfrom the inability of a member steepedin one tradition to recognise merit inother styles, his handling would be tactfuland would make possible a fair and justevaluation. Attending sessions of theBoard chaired by Thakur Saheb was anenriching experience for me.

For quite some time, Minister Keskarhad been receiving requests from SouthIndian quarters, including some impor-tant persons, to give equal representa-tion in the National Programme of Musicto Hindustani and Carnatic music. Theargument was that Carnatic music wasan equally great system of music andenjoyed prestige equal to that of theHindustani system; and for this reasonthe programmes in the two should be inan equal ratio.

The Minister sent the proposal andthe correspondence to the Chief Pro-ducer (Music) for his observations andrecommendations. Thakur Saheb gavethe matter a great deal of thought andwe discussed it with the Director Gen-eral. It was agreed that initially somefacts should be collected: the area, ex-pressed in square miles, in which eachsystem predominated; the number ofmusical forms, including both vocal andinstrumental music, in the two sys-tems; and the number of eminent musi-cians in each system eligible to appearin the National Programme. When com-parative statements were prepared, theprevailing inequality between the twosystems became obvious.

It was agreed that the Carnatic

system was as great and as prestigiousas the Hindustani system. In relationto broadcasting, however, the pointson which facts were collected shouldbe the deciding factor in determiningthe ratio between the two systems. A detailed note was prepared for theMinister, and after a discussion withhim, the question was resolved.

Dr. Keskar's strong dislike of filmmusic and his public condemnation ofit had created quite a furore among anoverwhelmingly large number of listen-ers. Some angered film producers wantedto discontinue their agreements withAIR. Although it was declared thatthere was no ban on film music, itsbroadcasts were drastically reduced. Thegeneral impression was that Dr. Keskarwould stop its broadcasts altogether.

It was the renowned Hindi poetNarendra Sharma, a highly placed pro-ducer in AIR and also well-known infilm circles, who made efforts to easethe situation. Dr. Keskar realised thathis stand was rather extreme and im-practical. He liked the liberal and prac-tical approach of Narendra Sharma andthe measures suggested by him. Filmproducers were appeased. Screeningcommittees were quickly formed withwell-known musicians as members, toscreen film songs in different languages.I was in touch with Narendra Sharma,who gave me all this information.

But protest meetings, press commentsand tirades against the Minister con-tinued. The problem was placed beforethe Chief Producer (Music). On study-ing the background and the current situ-ation, Thakur Saheb said there was a need to place a positive picture beforethe public. He said that he himself,along with many other educated people,had been under the impression thatfilm music was banned in AIR!

I told him how Prime Minister Nehruhad, on one occasion, chided me onthis point. The PM asked me somewhatangrily: "Yeh filmi sangeet radio sey band karney ka kya tiik hai jif Janata filmi sangeet chahati hai. Kya sabhi filini geet ghatiya hotey haint Kuchh geet achchhey bhi to hotey hongey!" (Where is the sense in banning filmmusic from the radio? The people wantfilm music. Are all film songs bad andcheap? There must be some good filmsongs as well). I replied in all humility:"]i haan, kuchh filmi geet bahut achchhey hotey hain. Unka chayan karney ka kaam tezi sey chal raha hai aur filmi sangeet ab achchhimatra mein

prasarit honey lagega. " (Yes, sir, somefilm songs are indeed very good. Theselection of these is proceeding apace,and soon a good deal of film music willbe broadcast). Saying: "Achchha, yeh to theek ho raha hai " (Well, that's allright then), Nehru left. Thakur Saheblaughed heartily and said: "Indeed,Nehru is a great, a most lovablepersonality."

Information was collected about musicin films, about the film musicprogrammes of AIR, and about the mea-sures taken for the proper screening offilm songs. The overwhelming popu-larity of film music was taken into ac-count, as was the importance of filmmusic for AIR. AIR's plans to offer thebest in film music were well laid out.There were plans also to start a regularservice of variety entertainment pro-grammes including film music. ThakurSaheb prepared an extensive note cov-ering all these matters and submitted itto the Minister. In a long discussionwith the Minister he also suggestedthat Dr. Keskar himself should listen tosome good film songs.

I feel that all this had the effect ofplacing film music in a balanced per-spective which countered the Minister'snegative attitude towards it. From thispoint on, in his public speeches as wellas in discussions, Dr. Keskar was ami-able and tactful in tone; and thiscalmed the hostility that his earliercondemnation of film music had engen-dered. Perhaps he realised that, in hiscrusading zeal to destroy a monster, hemight instead harm the very edificewhich he wanted to flourish.

Units were set up at stations to pro-duce light music of high quality, whichDr. Keskar hoped would succeed in dis-placing film music. Narendra Sharmatold Thakur Saheb that the scheme wasworthwhile and that some fine songshad been produced. AIR, he said, couldcertainly make a valuable contributionto non-film light music. However, itcould not think of competing with films;the basic objective and scope for musicin films was very different; and withthe very limited means at its disposal,AIR could not hope to attain the re-quired technical quality. The efforts ofthe Minister were of course sincere. Inhis own interest and in that of AIR,Thakur Saheb tried to explain the real-ity to him.

It must be conceded that the tremen-dous popularity in India of Radio Ceylon

turned out to be a blessing in disguise.The idea of AIR's starting an alterna-tive variety entertainment channel wasborn initially as a strategy to counte-ract the ever-growing popularity ofRadio Ceylon. Subsequently, however,it emerged as a most positive and desir-able proposition on its own. In 1956,preparations for the new service werein progress. The venture demanded animaginative and dynamic approach. Itwas agreed that short items would beappropriate for lighter, popular listen-ing; no item should be longer than 15minutes. Narendra Sharma wasorganising the programme planning inconsultation with Director-General,Mathur. I was also involved, mainlybecause a predominance of music wasenvisaged.

When Thakur Jaideva Singh joinedAIR, he also took an interest in theplanning. The new channel was toprovide mixed fare— spoken word itemssuch as humorous playlets, skits, sto-ries, glimpses, etc.; and music, whichwas to be the mainstay. Non-film musicvarieties of light music produced by thelight music units of AIR would be in-cluded, as well as other light musicitems from the stations. There wouldbe some folk music, a little classicalmusic in small 'nutshell' slots, and a liberal quantum of approved film mu-sic. Thakur Saheb made a systematicand useful appraisal and gave manysuggestions for improvement. Songs weregraded according to lyrical content,musical setting, actual rendering andtechnical quality. We used to listen toa lot of AIR's light music productionsand were happy to note that some ofthem were excellent. Their general stan-dard was high and they differed fromfilm songs. They fell short, however,when it came to technical quality andfinish.

Narendra Sharma used to come upwith fancy titles for the various items:Gajra (songs), Harsingar (light music),Hawa Mahal (saucy playlets), Chitrashala(film music) Jharokha (summary of thenext day's programme), Jhankar (instru-mental music), and so on. The wholelayout looked bright and attractive. Thetitle of the new service, Vividh Bharati,was finally selected by the DirectorGeneral, Narendra Sharma and ThakurSaheb, with the approval of the Minis-ter. Pre-recorded capsules were pre-pared at Bombay by an AIR team. On 3 October 1957 the much-awaited All IndiaVariety Programme of AIR was launched.

In 1962, Dr. Keskar lost his seat in

Parliament and Dr. B. Gopaia Reddi • became Minister for Information andBroadcasting. Thakur Jaideva Singhdeliberated within himself. He hadjoined AIR at the instance of Dr. Keskarto assist him in his plan to raise theoverall quality of radio programmes. Hehad co-operated and contributed ac-cording to his lights. With Dr. Keskar'sdeparture from the scene he thoughthis obligation was at an end. With thesefactors in mind he had decided to de-cline any proposal that might come upfor the renewal of his contract, whichwas due to expire shortly.

There were other forces at work.Proposals for full-fledged ghazal con-certs in the National Programme byMohammad Rafi and Talat Mahmoodstarted coming in from ministerial quar-ters. Thakur Saheb could not possiblyagree to these. He had to record hisdissent, which would probably displeasethe Minister, who was fond of Urdupoetry and ghazal-s. Such a climate ofdiscord would have been totallyuncogenial to Thakur Saheb. He toldme later that he had decided to meetB.P. Bhat, the then Director-General ofAIR, and tell him that he was not inter-ested in the renewal of his contract.

Before Thakur Saheb could do this,however, he received a telephone callfrom an official of the Directorate Gen-eral. He was told that his services wereno longer required and that he need notcome to office from the very next day.This was shocking. The content of themessage did not trouble him as he hadalready decided to leave. It was theunceremonious and insulting mannerof its delivery that deeply hurt him. Noregard was shown for his seniority asan officer and his standing as a learnedand respected person. The general feel-ing was that the Ministry's decisioncould have been conveyed to him withgrace and courtesy.

Although initially disturbed, ThakurSaheb soon regained his natural equa-nimity. He said: "After all, it was inconformity with Government procedure.Where is the place in the bureaucracyfor values like learning and academicand artistic excellence? I am not af-fected. My status and prestige, such asthey are, are intact. This only reflectstheir hollowness and discourtesy."

Thus ended Thakur Jaideva Singh'sAll India Radio chapter.[The passages appearing in this article as direct quotations are paraphrased' reconstructions from memory —S.M.J.

COMPOSER

Songs Of Rich Content This article was written by DR. SHANNO KHURANA, scholar and Hindustani vocalist.

T hakur Jaideva Singh was not a full-time composer, nor did he aspire

to be one. His creative impulses, how-ever, surfaced at intervals and he com-posed a few khayal-s, thumri-s, dadra-s and chaiti-s. In between his heavyschedule of working on philosophy andmusicology, composing was perhaps anoutlet to satisfy his inner need for giv-ing vent to his feelings through poetryand swara. His amazing mastery overliterature in Hindi and Sanskrit, andhis rigorous training in vocal music inthe early years of his life, had endowedhim with a rare ability to compose musicof rich content, with the lyrics and themusic fitting one other like a hand inglove.

Thakur Saheb crafted his music care-fully, fastidiously and meticulously. Hewas very conscious of both padya- rachanaand swara-rachana, and he weighed theword and the note, the chanda, theupama alankara, the rasa-s and the tala.The choice of a raga was always accord-ing to the theme of the song and itslyrical content. As the theme was veryoften that of antargyan or antar bodh,

Thakur Saheb chose raga-s like Jaija-wanti, Darbari Kanada or Bagesri. Hehas composed Sakhi mama vyatha inSanskrit in Jaijawanti raga/vilambit Ektaal.

Sakhi mama vyatha kasmai mvedayem

Vasanta aagata swajana naagata

Vihasanti pushpani nrityati same era Uddipayanti eva ye ley bhrisam dasam

(My friend, to whom shall I speak mysorrows? Spring has arrived but my be-loved has not come to me. Flowers areblooming, smiling and dancing in thewind, but these are only increasing mydistress).

In a kliayal composition in raga DarbariKanada, the words as well as the musicmake the listener very conscious of theintensity with which the composer haspoured his heart out. The turbulence ofemotions, the poignancy and then thepensive serenity with which the entirecomposition has been composed, leavesan everlasting impact on the listener.This was composed by Thakur JaidevaSingh on the death of his wife.

Toot gaye been ke taar Leen bhayo alaap taan

{L lo R) Thakur Saheb, N.K.P. Salve, Shanno Khurana and M.C. Bhandarc

Naad chhaye rahyo akaas may Raag nahin naasvaan

(All the strings of my veena have snapped.The alapa and the tana-s have disinte-grated. Naad pervades all over (and thesareera is gone), but raga— the atma—lives forever).

Folk melodies of Uttar Pradesh neverceased to attract Thakur Saheb. Hehad a lot of rhythmic drive in him andhe set many thumri-s and dadra-s tomusic.

Bhairavi, Khamaj, Manj Khamaj andKafi were some of his favourite raga-sfor the light-classical variety. He appre-ciated the use of band-s or couplets inUrdu and Persian, though they werenot his subjects. He felt they added tothe flavour of the form.

I had the good fortune of singing a few of his compositions in various sabha-s and have also put them on paper innotation form. These are given below:

Sakhi mama vyatha in Jaijaiwanti/vilambit Ek taal; Kathai naatha katham in Jaijaiwanti/madhyalaya Jhap taal;Sainya jaayi hey bhor pardes. a thumriin Misra Khamaj in Deepchandi taal;and Aaj jaagey morey bhaag, a dadra inBhairavi.

SANGEET NATAK AKADEMI

TEACHER & RESEARCH GUIDE

Guruji: Friend, Philosopher & Guide In this article, DR. M.R. GAUTAM dwells on Jaideva Singh in his role as a guru.

The term 'guru' means, essentially,a dispeller of the darkness of igno-

rance. And in the true sense, a gurumust be an acharya who practices whathe preaches. Thakur Jaideva Singh em-bodied both these definitions. His dailylife reflected the essence of what hetaught: control over the senses, disci-pline, sense of austerity in dress andeating habits, sense of punctuality,wisdom.

I first met Thakur Saheb in Novem-ber 1956 when I went to Delhi onofficial business; I was then Producer(Music) at the Indore station of AllIndia Radio. We became closer ac-quainted when he later visited Dharwarfor inspection of the AIR station there.His interest in me increased when helearnt that I was a keen student of J.Krishnamurti.

After my stint in All India Radio, I was selected in 1963 to serve as Readerin Vocal Music in the Banaras HinduUniversity. If Thakur Saheb was at-tracted to settle down in Banaras be-cause of the presence ofMahamahopadhyaya Pandit CopinathKaviraj, I was keen to go to Banaras tosit at the feet of guruji and drink asmuch as possible from the inexhaust-ible fountain of his knowledge. I wasparticularly happy and motivated thereforto accept the BHU appointment.

Guruji was once a good musician. Hehad a fine repertoire of khayal-s, andtarana-s. He had also learnt thumri-s,dadra-s, kajri-s, chaiti-s and items inother similar song-forms, from their bestexponents like Janki Bai of Allabahad,Malka Jan of Agra, Soni of Kanpur andBhaiyya Ganpat Rao of Gwalior. Hisuncle Thakur Gurudin Singh was a greatpatron of music and Guruji would per-suade him to invite the above musi-cians to his court. Each time any ofthem visited, he or she would stay onfor a few months and Gurudin Singh,because he was very fond of his nephew,would request the musician to teachhim. Thus Guruji acquired an enviable

Thakur Saheb with his students

repertoire of all the above forms of lightclassical music.

Guruji believed in teaching every-thing as thoroughly as possible. Whilebasically it was musicology I learntfrom him, he also led me into otheravenues of knowledge like philosophyand yoga. For instance, when we werestudying Sama Veda, he went into theetymology of the word 'Sam'. Sam heexplained, means 'to be on the level','in unison' in Sanskrit; the other mean-ing is just 'a song'. We took up thestudy of the liturgical music of someother important cultures of the worldand discovered that the same terms wereused. We found that the term for litur-gical music in Hebrew was sama. InArabic also the same word was used. InGreek and Hebrew, the connotation ofthe word sama was 'to listen'. In Latinalso the word was used in the samesense. But the greatest surprise was tofind that the English word for spiritualhymns was 'psalm'! Thus it was thrill-ing to discover the philological linkamong the important cultures of theworld in liturgical music. This is justone example.

Guruji, being a linguist, was alwaysinterested in researching parallells inother languages. His other abiding, ab-sorbing interest was examining themetaphysical aspect wherever possible.Since he was a scholar in both Orientaland Occidental philosophies and histo-ries, he would suddenly indulge in a dumbfounding digression while discuss-ing swara and its musical and meta-physical meaning and in one sweep coverVedanta, Saiva Siddhanta, its closenessto Visishthadvaita and quote breath-

COURTESY: MANJUSHRI SINGH

taking parallelisms from Descartes,Thomas Aquinas and others.

Every lesson with him was an enor-mous, almost an onerous, enrichmentof knowledge. He was against takingdown anything in writing when he wasteaching. To me it was a tremendousordeal to remember what was taughtbecause my none too enviable memorycould not always retain all the detailsand quotations he offered with splen-did profligacy. The result was that, bythe time I reached home and begantranscribing what he taught me, morethan 50 per cent would be lost.

Guruji was meticulous in whateverhe did. Firstly he was a stickler forpunctuality. Whenever he found hewas unable to keep to the schedulefixed for my lessons, he would tele-phone to me in advance and tell me notto come and also give an alternativetime. Despite his thorough knowledgeof the subject he was teaching, I used tofind that he had made special prepara-tions for the particular portion he in-tended to teach me at any one sessionand made a few important notes. Hewas a very serious, conscientious teacher.He used to get so fully engrossed in histeaching and the lessons were so ab-sorbing that not only he, but also I,used to forget the passage of time. Some-times the lessons would go on pastmidnight, and his lady cook, who hadserved him for over 45 years, wouldbarge in and scold him for his inconsid-erateness!

Guruji used to divide his lessons intomusicology and music. After studyingmusicology for an hour and a half,he would teach me thumri-s, dadra-s,

chaiti-s or kajri-s for another hour. Hewould explain in detail the meaningsand implications of the texts of thecompositions so that I could infusefeeling while singing them.

Guruji, to me, was not just a teacherof musicology and music; he was myfriend, philosopher and guide. Therewas no problem in my life, be it famil-ial, economic or professional, whichwas not known to him and which hedid not help in solving. His house wasopen to me all the 24 hours of the day.I basked in the psychological comfort of

having a mentor who was ever ready toshare his bounty of wisdom for mybenefit till his demise. The bereave-ment caused by his death made me feelorphaned.

He was a teacher worthy of emula-tion in all respects. He belonged to a different generation and genre. The senseof dedication and commitment he hadin his work can hardly be seen in theteachers of today at any level. Neitheris there the solid, profound scholarshipbefitting a professor nor the genuineinterest in the welfare of the students

or in the profession, that existed inpersons like Guruji in his generation.

In the present age of jets, supersonicspeed, sophisticated electronic technol-ogy and equipment, ubiquitous violenceand all-round economic crunch, thepossibilities for the efflorescence of thekind of scholarship and learning thatcharacterised Guruji appear remote be-cause they require leisure, peace, quietand economic adequacy. One can onlywistfully hope that such conditions willemerge again at some time in the futurebefore long. D

This article was written by SHANNO KHURANA.

T o view Thakur Jaideva Singh as a scholar or research guide in isola-

tion is a very difficult task. He was a true representative of Indian culture, a scholar, musicologist, musician, philoso-pher, mystic and a guru. These aspectscomplemented each other so much, thatthey blended into one. It is therefore,not easy to segregate aspects of such a genius and view them in isolation.

In this article, my effort will be toproject Thakur Saheb as I had knownhim, as a scholar, research guide, as a true guru in music and musicology, andas a father figure that he was to me fornearly 30 years. I have treasured theletters he wrote to me over those years;they show how knowledgeable, upright,disciplined he was, and yet remained a simple human being. Thakur JaidevaSingh's passion for music, was natu-rally cultivated and he went on to re-ceive rigorous training in both, classi-cal and light classical music. He wasfortunate in having guru-s like PanditHari Hirlekar, and Nanubhaiya Telang.This multifaceted and abundant expo-sure, allowed him to imbibe from themand yet develop his own independencein expounding an original interpreta-tion. Propelled by his persistent desireto quench his eternal thirst for knowl-edge, Thakur Saheb delved into everynook and corner of musicology, spiritu-ality, philosophy and history, that wasopen to him. Upright and greatly disci-plined, he was a true karma yogi withhonours aplenty showered upon him,till the end of his 92 years. These he

accepted, silently, gracefully in his stride,and yet, he pursued his search for knowl-edge, with unflinching vigour. In hisold age, his eyes gave way and he suf-fered attacks of cervical spondylitis, butnothing could deter him from his dailymeditation, the yoga, which kept himalert and agile, nor could anything keephim away from the magnifying glasswith which he used to pore over hisbooks. One of his letters to me is repro-duced below (see box).

I remember in 1960, when I was leav-ing to give concerts in Greece and theMiddle East, he wished me to bringhim the works in French of Dr.L. Silburn,a French scholar on Kashmir Saivism.He, in fact, revived his French to beable to read the works. He also kept

in touch with Dr. Andre Padoux,Director of the National Centre for Scien-tific Research in Paris, and a scholar ofKashmir Saivism.

I also remember discussing with himonce the concept of rhythm and tala inour music. The discourse was most fas-cinating not only because he was soknowledgeable, but also because he hadgone so deep into the topic and inter-preted it uniquely. He said the word'sama' is most significant. It is a wordof Indo-European origin, finding itsroots in Latin as 'summa', in French as'samma', in old Saxon and Gothic as'sama', and in English as 'sum', and'same', all cognate words for theSanskrit word 'sama'. He furtherelaborated that the word and could be

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27

In discussion with Shanno Khurana

interpreted in essentially two ways.Firstly, it means a complete whole, wherethe artist and percussionist perform to-gether in complete sets of beats. TheLatin, French and English 'sum' fit inthis category. In the old Saxon, Gothic,Danish, Swedish and English 'same',the drummer and performer become thesame and synthesise.

Be it sargam, khayal, thumri, dadra,tappa, or hori, Thakur Saheb had anabundant collection of each of them. Soknowledgeable and particular was he,that he would always insist on coaxingthe minutest nuance in a note. Fromthe right sruti in komal gandhar ofDarbari Kanada, Mian-ki-Todi or inMian-ki-Malhar, to adhering to therhythmic curves, pauses, breaks, behlava,murki, jhatka or zamzama in a thumrior dadra. He explained in detail themeanings of 'kaku', of 'lolo-patapayo'(flexibility of voice), 'uptap' (emotionalexpression), the subdivisions in Bol-bant-ki-thumri. It was awesome to seehow learned and profound he was inevery facet of music.

Singers who did not abide by tradi-tional norms, and yet through propa-ganda and self-projection gave them-selves the self proclaimed status of'ustads' and 'pandits' upset him greatly.The state of the music world disturbedhim no end. Here is what he said in a letter he wrote me in February 1978:

"I am very pessimistic about thefuture of khayal. About 90 per cent of

COURTESY: SHANNO KHURANA

our khayal singers go completely out oftune in the tana-s. These become allnoise without a trace of musicality.Can't they make a distinction betweennoise and music?"

Upon retiring to Varanasi in 1962,Thakur Saheb found, while unpacking,that some of the trunks containing bookshad been infested with and damaged bywhi te ants. These books had to be burnedto protect the rest of his extensive li-brary. The bonfire of his greatest trea-sure upset him so much that he wroteto me the same evening: "Today wasthe darkest day in my life".

His contributions to the literary worldwere no less. He produced a plethora ofcomprehensive texts. He translated fivewell-known Sanskrit works on Kash-mir Saivism. Of them, Pratyabhijna-Hridayam, was prescribed as an essen-tial text at the Department of Religionand Philosophy of Oxford Universityand at McMaster University in Canada.His introduction to Madhayamika Phi-losophy is internationally known. Hisfascination with Kabir resulted in threeexhaustive works— Romaini, Sabad, and Sakhi. under the heading of Kabir Vyangmay. Thakur Saheb's interpreta-tion of the chapters on music in theNatya Sastra and the Sangeeta Ratnakara are enlightening.

Musicology, according to ThakurSaheb, is a great tool for augmentingand refining our artistic sensibilities. Itgives us an understanding of the full

ethos of our music. The study of therelation between the various soundsand notes and the rasa-s; of the naksha-tra-s, jati-s, nada, sruti-s, and moorchana;and of the great seers, their grantha-s,and the composers gives us an insightinto the subtle nuances that go into themaking of our music. A musician shouldbe aware of all these to become a holis-tic, rounded artist.

Though a believer and propagator ofthe old guru-sishya parampara, Gurujigave modern learning concepts due re-spect. He treasured and respected theold ethics and the system of our music.The remarkable fact was that, aware ofthe changing times, understandiqg thechallenges present musicians face, hesuccessfully attempted merging the tra-ditional system with modern education.

I was already a performing artist whenI first met him, and I remember one dayhe said that being a musician was notsufficient. He felt that I should takeexaminations in music to add to myknowledge. He went on to suggest thatI should study for a Ph.D. At the time,to study even for a Sangeet Visharadseemed an impossible task to me. I hada family and I could not shirk my re-sponsibility to it. It was tough to fol-low his advice, but Thakur Saheb's wordwas law. So I commenced my doctorallevel studies with his unending guid-ance, and with cooperation from myfamily and well-wishers, and after a decade of scholastic pursuit and rigor-ous practical training, I secured thedegree of Sangeet Acharya.

If it were not for Thakur Saheb show-ing me the way through every obstacle,I would never have been able to com-plete my study. The following letterstands testimony to this:

"I am pained to find that you aredeppressed because you are unable torealise the ideal of art. But that is thebeauty of an ideal, Shanno. The mo-ment you have completely realised anideal, the zest of pursuit is gone, andyou are left without any stimulus inlife. That is an ideal which recedesfurther the moment it seems to be withinyour grasp. And that exercises themuscles of the soul. A man of strongwill falls but to rise; he will never aban-don himself to despair.

And so Shanno, it would not be rightto give up your research work for the

thesis. The thing is worth doing for itsown sake."

When my plate was already full withresponsibilities towards my family, dailyriaz as a performing artist, and the addedpressure of my academic endeavours,Thakur Saheb also insisted that I travel.He sent me to Khairagarh to meet Dr.S.N. Ratanjankar, who he felt, had a unique command over the performanceand theoretical aspects of music to beable to explain the true concept of a raga. In the period of my field work forthe research in Khayal Gayaki Mein Vividh Gharaney and Rajasthan Ke Lok Sangeet, Thakur Saheb opened doorsto various aspects of the subjects. Hecleared the cobwebs in my thinking,patiently unearthed points that had neveroccurred to me, and yet encouraged meto form my own points of view. Whenwe were in Rajasthan, we heard at leasta hundred singers and instrumental-ists, and he made me see the emphasison their tala-s and folk melodiee, juxta-posing them with our classical raga-sand the richness of the lyrical and liter-ary aspects of the songs. Travelling,visiting temples (to infer from theiriconography that which pertained tomusic), listening to the musicians, study-ing their instruments, recording theresearch— we were working 14 hours a day, nonstop! Till one day, he said:"You better call it a day, Shanno, forone lifetime is not enough to cover thismusic. You will have to be reborn tofinish the present work!" He felt clas-sical musicians should go into the de-tails of our folk music. In this context,he was very impressed with extensiveresearch carried out by Kumar Gandharvain Malawi folk songs and the conse-quent growth in his repertoire.

To strengthen my further training invocal music, Thakur Saheb introducedme to Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan,the stalwart of the Rampur gharana anda great master. He said: "Khan Saheb,this is my daughter. Please accept heras your sishya". Promptly Khan Sahebreplied: "Thakur Saheb, if she is yourdaughter, she is mine too." A simple

ganda cermony' followed for whichThakur Saheb specially travelled fromVaranasi. What followed in the nextfew years was a period of formidable,vast and exacting training. ThakurSaheb insisted that I learn all thatKhan Saheb had to offer, rangingfrom dhrupad, dhamar, khayal, tappa,tarana, Bol-bant-ki-thumri, and dadra

Research NotesExcerpts from a letter written by Thakur Saheb to Shanno Khurana.

* In all countries, folk music is theirnatural, spontaneous music. It has beenso in India also.

Music consists of notes and rhythms.

* The first thing that led to the evolu-tion of classical music was the recogni-tion of the seven notes or swara-s. Folkmusic generally used 3 to 5 notes.

Sama Vedic music, which was the firststep towards the stylisation of folk mu-sic, discovered the intervals and pitchesof the notes involved in folk music.

Sama Vedic music, which was the ini-tial classical music of India, at first used3 to 5 notes in its songs. Gradually itfound out the other two notes, and somemantras or hymns of Sama Veda haveused seven notes.

* The notes were arranged in a defi-nite scale, called Grama.

* Once the seven notes were recognised,permutation and combination of thosenotes according to certain rules started.This gave rise to jati singing which laterdeveloped into raga singing. The rulesthat were mainly observed were:

(i) There cannot be a good melodicform with less than five notes, for theremust be some notes in the lower tetrachordand some in the higher tetrachord. Sothe minimum member of notes to beused must be five.

(ii) There may be more than five notestogether with their vikrita or modifiedform.

(iii) There must be onedominant noteknown as amsa or vadi in one tetrachordand another consonant note or samvadiin the other tetrachord.

(iv) The melodic form or jati or ragamust end on a final note, known as nyasa.

(v) Which particular notes would go

soon. Thakur Saheb felt that I shouldconsider myself fortunate to be able tolearn from Khan Saheb.

From practical training in music,Thakur Saheb introduced me to aca-demics, to research and field work andled me to great masters. He felt that ourrich traditional musical heritage could

with which particular notes, known asthe principle of swara-sangati.

* A number of different scales wereevolved out of the fundamental scale, bymaking the different seven notes as thestarting or key-notes, known as moorchanaor modal shifts. This made it possible tofind out other notes than those used inthe fundamental scale.

So far with regard to notes andtheir combination that made it possiblefor classical music to arise out of folkmusic.

Now with regard to rhythm.

* Folk music used simple rhythm withbeats of either 2 or 3 . The rhythmbased on the principle of 2 beats is knownas kaharwa, and the rhythm based on 3 beats is known as dadra in folk music.Classical music took up these basicrhythms and began to experiment withvarious combinations of 2 and 3 beats.All rhythms in the world are eithermultiples or combinations of 2 and 3 beats.

Side by side with the combination ofbeats, classical music evolved certainother features, namely, the principle oftime cycle, that is, returning to the samebeat from which the music started, knownas sama, and the principle of stressedbeat and unstressed beat, known as bhariand khaali. Thus started tala in classicalmusic in India. This also is a stylisationof the simple rhythm of folk music.

Thus we see that the evolution andstylisation of the notes and rhythm usedin folk music led to classical music.

* The very names of some of theraga-s or melody-types of classicalmusic in India betray their folkorigin. Multani raga shows that thiswas evolved out of the folk tunes ofMultan. Bengali shows that this ragawas evolved out of the folk tunes ofBengal. Soratha shows that this wasevolved out of the folk tunes ofSaurashtra. Gurjari shows that this wasevolved out of the tunes of the Gurjartribe, and so on.

be imbibed through modern techniquesby the study of musicology. He felt thatthis research should be extensive andmultifaceted and yet should go deeplyinto each of the facets. The academicstudy, he believed, went hand in handwith practical, performing accomplish-ment. And above all, with spiritual satis-faction, which leads to self realisation.