“There is no way to Kumarji (Kumar Gandharva), Kumarji is the way,” says Mukul Shivputra, disciple and son of the great maestro Kumar Gandharva. He continues, “Let us assume there is a pond without stairs. No one could ever step into this pond. Kumarji takes the initiative, steps into the pond and there forms the stairs. Everyone follows him down the steps, enters the pond and gets purified in the allegorical musical bath. That is what the Marga Sangeet was in the ancient period. In Marga Sangeet, one has to explore one's own path. This way, Kumarji was the path finder in Indian classical music,” says Shivputra, exploring Kumar Gandharva, his music and his legacy in a novel way.
Shivputra , despite being the disciple of Kumar Gandharva, never copied his father's popular style, yet he is able to uncover several innovative shades of his guru. “He showed us the path. The stream of music was stagnant and waiting for a devotee of classical music, and he came. Most of his listeners focus their attention on his particular style of singing Khayal and bhajan, but I think he used to narrate a Bbandish or a line of a devotional poem to improvise upon its inner truth. That's why when I sing, I never try to copy him but explore the meaning for myself, as he taught me,” says Shivputra.
Recently news did the rounds about Shivputra and his financial crisis. But his friends know the real story. Shivputra lives the life of a Ffakir , and that is his choice. He comes to Banaras to meet with his spiritual brother and a few friends. He does not live like a veteran singer, though the world of Indian classical music is familiar with his outstanding talent. “I wonder why people are so interested in me and keep an eye on where I am staying and wandering. I sing for myself, I live for myself without disturbing any life on this earth. When I feel I have to stay in Pune, I go. If I feel like staying in a cave, I remain there. What is the problem? Now I want to sing Jaijaiwanti.” He starts singing the raga with the words “Palana Garh La…” employing intricate phrasings in bola lap and bol taan.
He is beyond the mundane cares related to his body. He says, “To stay with a ‘sur' (musical note) is enough for me. My appetite is fulfilled when I maintain the accurate note in a particular raga. Now, I try to decipher further meanings of particular notes structured in a raga in order to know the ancient aesthetics sung by the saints and hermits. We vocalists today sing according to the disciplined frame of a raga structured in a particular tala and get the sam or dhruv, but when I imagine how the ancient sages used to render those ragas, that very imagination re-orients my thought pattern. I have to learn more. I have to travel more.”
Shivputra transcends stagnation with every sunrise. He feels the objectivity of a truth lies in repeatability. He is convinced that he can realise the truth of a raga the way his elders realised. A raga itself is a means to salvation for a vocalist, he believes. And he lives what he realises.
