Gwalior gharana vocalist and teacher Neela Bhagwat digitized 337 of her compositions, totally 66 ragas, for you, the listener
Her eyes glimmered as she elucidated the nuances of Gwalior gharana in Hindustani classical music, when we met her in Matunga; draped in a purple sari, the elegant Neela Bhagwat — classical music performer and teacher for more than five decades — enlightened how she stands out among the accustomed rigid educators at the age of 74.
Neela Bhagwat at her Matunga residence
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A classy portrait of her yesteryears, hung on top of a cupboard looked down as she described her recent project. She has digitised 337 of her compositions, which covers 66 ragas, acquired over a lifetime, setting an innovative benchmark in knowledge sharing.
New DVDs sit atop her old diaries. Pics/Sneha Kharabe
Diaries and notes
Her worn-out diaries carried priceless sets of words tied together (bandish). She thought she would uphold the cultural heritage of the guru-shishya tradition and make her work available online.
“My old books were getting torn and I was worried about the future of the compositions stored in them. My friend Dean Morris (from London University) told me to write a few compositions for him, I wrote the taal and notes. Then, I felt that a bada khayal of 16 beats could not be written on one page with all references underneath, I wrote it separate which Dean thought was a good idea. Later, I thought if I could do it for Dean, I can do it for myself and my students too before the books die,” says Bhagwat, who tours Europe frequently for concerts. The compositions (scanned and uploaded) are available on Wikimedia.
The endeavour isn't limited to texts. With the help of her friends and students, she also shot tutorial videos. The DVD is sold by Underscore Records (on the internet) for Rs 1,000.
“It took me eight years to write and shoot the project. The content comprises bada khayals, thumris, taranas and bhajans. At times, I had to rewrite pages before uploading,” adds Bhagwat, who went to scholars such as Sharadchandra Arolkar and Jal K Balaporia for training (taleem).
Mass communication
Why did she make her lifelong learning available to the masses? "Well, I made it mainly for myself but slowly, I thought I should share it with students. It is going to be of great use to them. The ones who want to learn but do not have access to teachers can seek help from the compositions,” asserts Bhagwat, whose students are spread across the globe, they learn over Skype.
“People can also take print outs and make a book out of it, the DVD was bought from enthusiasts across the world — Kapurthala to USA,” she says.
Many of her students are well-established in the music industry but not all stick to pure classical.
“Gwalior gharana is like a beautiful river where one has to taste the fruits during the course. At times, it is painful but I would like to leave that behind, it is difficult to plan a future like that," says Bhagwat, who emotionally connects to raga bihag.
However, her listeners abroad - after laying their hands on the DVD - were disappointed.
“They wanted more visuals but I told them I was not making a film, it is for an educational purpose. They wanted different visuals with different ragas,” she points.
Currently, Bhagwat is fine-tuning her vocal chords for a concert in Nagpur and she is slated to tour Europe in March next year.
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