To take her guru’s legacy forward, Rekha Bhardwaj has contributed to a new edition of a landmark book by him
Urmi Chanda (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 16, 2020)

Bongaa: ‘Unmusical’; idiotically out of tune and unaware of it.

Opening a random page of the new edition of The Dictionary of Hindustani Classical Music by Pandit Amarnath, the first word I chance upon is this. Given that it is a ‘book’ about music, this is a most hilarious irony. But I can almost picture its writer, grimly chiding a student and calling him or her “bongaa”. And suddenly, it’s not funny any more. Imagine sitting before a stalwart of Indian classical music and being called that unironically, and finding the insult documented in his landmark book. Almost 25 years after it was first published, it has been revived by Penguin Publications with a short biography of the master — written and edited by his daughters — and a foreword and some additions by his student Rekha Bhardwaj. Mumbai Mirror spoke to the renowned singer about her guru, his book, and the intertwining of life and music.

You’re a classical singer, but also part of the Hindi film music industry where there is little appreciation for classical music at present. Why did you feel the need to revive this book now, when the roost is ruled by remixes, Punjabi pop and TikTok stars?
My roots are in classical music, and just because the current trends include Punjabi pop, remixes or TikTok, it doesn’t uproot me as an artist. And contrary to what it may seem, a lot of young people continue to take up classical music as a profession, it is a popular performance category in music reality shows too. Also, it’s not like the entire Hindi film music industry has forgotten its classical sensibilities. There are still music composers like Amit Trivedi, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Pritam, Sachin-Jigar, who are making music that blends classical tunes with other elements, and I think it’s okay. Everyone has the right to express their musicality and choose the music that appeals to them. As for why now, I think the time is right. Many of the young generation of musicians I interact with seem genuinely interested in knowing more about classical music, but do not know where to start. This book is an excellent starting point for anyone curious about this art form. I feel fortunate to be able to utilise my position and bring the focus back on this important piece of work. As they say, there are only two ways of bringing light into the world — be a lamp or a mirror. I am just upholding a mirror to my Guruji’s luminosity.

In your foreword to the book, you warmly describe your relationship with Pandit Amarnath and the way it embodied the guru-shishya tradition. Have you had such a relationship with any of your students?
To be anything close to what my guru was like, takes immense patience and practice. As a performer and a busy artist, I’ve not really had the time or opportunity to take on any long-term students. I’m still learning myself. But as and when possible, I share my riyaaz with some of my peers and fellow artistes and those are always wonderful experiences. The guru-shishya tradition may not be as common today as it once was, but there still continue to be teachers and schools that uphold those values and teach their students the old way. For example, the respective schools of Pt Hariprasad Chaurasiya and Pt Jasraj, the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in Delhi, and the Gundecha Brothers in Bhopal still teach in the old tradition.

Pt Amarnath’s decision to write this musicological dictionary in English can be said to be a ‘progressive’ step since this is a field where ‘linguistic purity’ is valued over Westernisms. What do you, as his student and an artist, think of that?
I’d just say, my Guru was very farsighted and decided to write this dictionary in English because he knew that would become the language of choice among the youth eventually. He wrote in an easy manner that would help musically even an elementary reader understand it easily. Remarkably though, he chose transcriptions over translations, when it came to describing technical terms. Instead of terms like ‘legato’ or ‘staccato’, he stuck to Hindi terminology that was best understood by practitioners of Hindustani Classical music. No matter what the current trends, this is a timeless piece of work and essential to any serious student and artist.

If you had to pass on one bit of your Guruji’s wisdom to the aspiring students of today, what would it be?
The most important piece of advice our Guruji gave us was “Listen to yourself.” It was meant to be both, musical and life advice, and practicing that sincerely would always ensure we picked the right path. Listening to oneself allows us to see our own weaknesses and strengths, understand the areas that need work, and to know what we truly are and want instead of being told that by society.

What is that one new term/phrase that you would add to this dictionary?
Frankly speaking, I would not dare to add anything to this dictionary, because that would be like sacrilege for me. I’m pretty orthodox in that sense; I take my responsibility of preserving my guru’s knowledge as it is very seriously. All I’ve done is added a very brief foreword and updated the book with some important profiles of musicians who were his contemporaries (he had written only of artists from the earlier generations). All we want is for this book to reach more people, translate it into other languages, and publish some more of his works in the hope that his art and wisdom remain immortal.