RMIM Archive Article "412".

From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian
#
# RMIM/C Archives..
# Subject: Raga Charukeshi
#	(Series on Hindustani ragas inspired by Carnatic ragas)
#
# Posted by: Rajan Parrikar (parrikar@spot.colorado.edu)
# Author: Rajan Parrikar 
#
#



Subject: Bandish in Raga Charukeshi


Namashkar.

It is known to every child (even women!) that 99.9998% of all Indians
(100% in bongland) have zero knowledge of music, but that they have
"tremendous respect" for musicians. With bandish in one hand and a
glass of orange juice (freshly-squeezed) in the other, we invite our
Indian berthers, behens and all the beloved hindustani hags to
consider joining the remaining 0.0002%.

Humbly yours, I remain


r - your friendly and lovable (not to mention charming) correspondent.

On to the music now:

Raga Charukeshi is a relatively recent import from Carnatic
music. However, in its Hindustani manifestation it has assumed a form
all its own. The scale is heptatonic and employs the (see key below) S
R G M P d n swaras. Flavours from a few popular Hindustani rAgas are
recruited pari passu and integrated seamlessly.  However, Charukeshi
is no hybrid; it is an original, with solidity of form and
character. Some sample phrases include:

S R, R G, G M, M (G)R   ---> note the Nat-like patterns
S (n')d', d' n ' S R S  ---> D-Kanada anyone?
G R G M P, P d (n)d (n)d n S" ---> latter half reminiscent of Jaunpuri.
S G M (M)n d P, d (P)M, M P (M)G, M G R S (n')d' and so on.
Important swaras (for nyAsa) are R, G and P. n is kept weak.

This is an exquisite bandish and its key musical content can be
extracted easily from the notated version below. It does, of course,
take some familiarity with the rAga and musical maturity to supply the
nuance since it is not immediately evident from the notation.

I suspect the text is from the Guru Granth Sahib but I am not sure. The
style is certainly reminiscent of many a shabad therein. 

Raga: Charukeshi
Tala: Madya/Drut laya Teentala


kAhe manA tu jag bharmAyA (O Mind, why are you so disoriented?)
param-maram ko samajh na pAyA (You grasped not the essense of the Highest Truth)

neh kiyo nA Hari-nAma so (By not contemplating on the Lord's name)
janam ganwAyo kanchan kAyA (You've rendered this life worthless)

Key:
- All shuddha swaras in caps; komal in small case.
- The " mark following a note denotes the tAr saptak, the ' mark denotes
  the mandra saptak.
- Swaras enclosed in parenthesis are grace/shade notes.
- Special nuances are marked under the text below and are self-explanatory.


Asthaie:
1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10    11    12    13    14    15    16

							 S"    n     dP    MP    M
 							 kA..........he.....     ma
                                                         ^^^^^^^<---slide


G    -    -  (G)M   G    R    S    R    Sn'  d'n'  d'  (n')d' (n')d' n'    -     n'
nA.........     tu  ja...ga   bha..ra...mA.........yA      pa.....ra.ma.....     ma



S    S    R  (n')S  S   (S)G  M   (M)n (d)   -     P
ra...ma   ko......  sa.....ma.jha    nA pA.........yA
          uuuuuuuu<---meend             $$<---shake on the note d




antarA:
1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10    11    12    13    14    15    16
                                                         
                                                         M     P   (n)d  (n)d    n
							 ne...........ha.....    ki



S"   -    -    S"  R"G"  S"   -    R"   n    S" (S")d  (d)P    P     P    (P)G"  G"   
yo.........    Ha..ri..........    nA........ma     so.....    ja....na......ma  gan
               ^^^^^^^^^^<--->slide^^^^^^^^^^^


M"G" R"   S"n (n)d  dn   S"R" S"   R" (S")n  S"  (d)P
wA........yo......  kan.......cha..na     kA........yA
          ^^^^^^^^<---slide 

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From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian