Bandish in light classical music (Thumri, Dadra and other varieties)

(Punyswar, 2011: A publication of Lalit Kala Kendra, University of Pune)
Most of the music systems prevalent in various parts of the world are generally divided into two categories, i.e. Classical and Light. [Folk music is a totally separate style, which is typical to the specific groups of people and therefore not included in any Music System as such.] However, apart from these two categories, the North Indian or Hindustani Classical Music System has one more distinctive and attractive type of vocal music, i.e. the Light Classical Music. As the name suggests, it is a combination of some of the characteristics of Classical and Light music styles and has an independent identity of its own.

A short composition, woven in specific swar-patterns, words and rhythm cycle - the Theka, is called a ‘Bandish’ in classical vocal music. One more aspect of the Bandish, which has to be taken into account is that it has to be suitable and in concord with the type of music in which it is to be rendered, e.g. the manner of presenting the swar-patterns - the raag, specific rhythm patterns - the Theka and also to some extent - the Bhav or Rasa, which the particular style is expected to evoke or present. Thus, we have separate types of Bandishes for Dhrupad and Khayal systems of classical music. In the same way, the Bandishes of Light Classical Music are quite different in character and have a separate identity of their own.

The various types of Light Classical Music are Thumri, Dadra, Hori, Chaiti, Kajari, etc., which are emotive in character and Tappa, which is quite aggressive and of a totally different pattern. The Bandishes of each of these varieties differ from each other as per the difference in their rendition pattern. Thumri is the main variety of the Hindustani Light classical vocal music and hence we will begin with the Bandishes of Thumri.

The word ‘Thumri’ comes from the original word ‘Thumakna’, which means to dance gracefully. The roots of Thumri go back to the Raas-Geets of Braj, describing the Raas-Nritya - the typical dance - which Lord Krishna performed with Radha and the Gopis of Vrindavan. These songs were assimilated in the Kathak dance form and were performed along with the dance, depicting the various feelings and emotions.

It was Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, the King of Lucknow, a great lover of music and dance and himself a great artist, who in the 19th century gave full patronage to these dance-songs and operas, which were called Raas. It was during this period that the style of Thumri evolved and got established as a separate style.

With the passage of time, the dance factor got eliminated and the Bhav got expressed only through the songs. Special Bandishes were composed and sung with special style and consequently Thumri got established as an independent style in our music. Thumri is the best example of a very pleasant blend of our classical and Light music. The classical music aspects (similarities and differences) in the rendition of Thumri are :

1) It is based on a raag. But the important difference is that the raag rules are not rigidly followed as in the Khayal. The Thumri singer has the freedom to go out of the frame of the particular raag for a while. This is because in Thumri the presentation of the Bhav is more important than the raag itself. The Bandishes of Thumri, therefore, are not necessarily in the pure form of the specific raag.

2) The Thumri Bandishes are set to specific Taals like Deepchandi (14 beats), Chachar (8), Keherwa (8) and Addha. However, unlike Khayal Bandishes, a fast portion of Laggi is added after the Antara is sung and after an attractive improvisation of this Laggi for some time the Theka returns to the original rhythm and form of the main taal.

3) Just like the Bandish of a Khayal, the Thumri Bandish also has two parts - Sthai and Antara. Improvisation is done along with the first line of the Sthai and Antara. However, the Antara is sung only once which is followed by the Laggi.

The Light Music Aspects (similarities and differences) of the Thumri are as follows :

a) Just like Light Music varieties, e.g. Geet, Ghazal, Bhajan etc. Thumri is full of emotions and hence the rendering is in a soft delicate manner in which there is no place for powerful gamaks, aggressive laykari or acrobatic taans. Various Bhavs are presented through various effective swar patterns.

b) Being emotive in character, Thumri gives great importance to the words of the composition, their pronunciation, placings and presentation. Efforts are made to depict various Bhavs from the same words by weaving them in different swar patterns.

c) However, unlike the other Light Music varieties, the lyric of Thumri is very short - mostly only one line of Sthai and one line of Antara.
Thus, though presentation of ‘Bhav’ is the most important factor in Thumri singing, it is to be expressed in very few words with more stress on the musical aspect. It is this speciality of the Thumri style which has necessitated the composition of exclusive Bandishes for Thumri. Let us now consider the special characteristics of the Thumri Bandishes.

Melodic Aspect

Basically an offshoot of the Khayal, the Thumri bandishes are always based on a raag. However, these are in some specific raags only like Khamaj, Des, Piloo, Kafi, Jogiya, Mand, Pahadi, Gara, Shivranjani Bhairavi. It is because the swaras and the atmosphere of these raags are more suitable for expressing the emotions, mainly ‘Shringar’ - love in its various moods, in a delicate and subtle manner which is necessary for presenting the Thumri. Even the poignant emotions like anger or pangs of separation are expressed in an artistic and soft style in Thumri. Hence, Thumri bandishes have not been composed in raags like Shankara, Marwa, Malkauns, Darbari, Kanada etc. though these raags are very effective in creating specific atmosphere or Ras.

Moreover, the raag in which the bandish is composed is generally that which is suitable for the mood of the lyric. Thus, Thumri bandishes of a mischievous mood, mock anger, appreciative description are generally composed in raags like Khamaj, Mand, Des, Kafi etc. For example,

Sachi Kaho Mose Batiya (Khamaj)
Piya To Manat Nahi (Kafi)

On the other hand, the Thumri bandishes of sad mood - Viraha Bhav have been composed in the raags like Jogiya (Piya se Milan ki Aas), Shiva-ranjani etc. If one sings the Jogiya Thumri (Piya se Milan ki Aas) in raag like Khamaj or Tilang the whole pathos in the words will be completely lost. On the other hand, if the Khamaj Thumri (Sachi Kaho Mose Batiya) is rendered in Jogiya it will be a mockery of the mischievous mood of the words of this composition. Hence, the choice of the raag in which a particular lyric of Thumri is to be composed is a very important factor. However, Bhairavi is an exception to this, in which various types of moods are expressed effectively and hence we find that Thumris of happy as well as melancholy mood have been composed in this raag.

One more aspect of the tune of the Thumri is that many of the Thumris are sung in the Madyamgraam i.e. taking the Madhya Swar of the octave as Shadja. Hence, such Thumris are composed only in half octave - sa to pa - only occasionally going to the higher notes. Such Thumri bandishes have limited scope in respect of the tune of the bandish and are many times similar in respect of the Swar-patterns.
Thumris in Pahadi, Piloo, Gara are of such pattern.

II The Literary Aspect of the Thumri Bandishes

a) The main theme of Thumri is love - with its various shades like joy, satisfaction of meeting the beloved, complaint, doubt, jealousy, anger for he not being loyal to her, melancholy with the pangs of separation, optimistic with the hope of meeting him again... and so on. The few words in the Bandish have to be accurate, expressive, delicate but poignant in emotions. Moreover, the rendition of Thumri is never
done in plain Aakar. It is always done with the words of the Bandish. Hence, these words have to be soft, resonant, extendable with Aakaar, Eekaar, etc.

For example, the words of the famous Thumri in Piloo are -

These have all the qualities, which have been mentioned above.

b) Because of the Raas background of Thumri, the language of the Thumri Bandishes is mainly Braj and its allied dialects like Avadhi, Bhojpuri etc. These languages are well-known for their phonetically rich, soft vocabulary. Moreover, culturally these are very suitable for the themes of the Thumri, which are mainly related to Lord Krishna, the Indian rural culture and to depict family relations etc. That is why we find
that though Urdu is also a language with expressive and resonant words, it has not been used in Thumri
Bandishes.

The following famous Khamaj Thumri Bandish is a good example to elucidate the above-mentioned
points.

One more conducive factor of these languages is that these have many words with a little bit of difference of shades for one main word,
e.g. a lover is Piya, Rasiya, Saiya, Chaliya, Chaila, Chailuwa, Langruwa, sajana, Saajan, Sanwariyan, Balam, Balma, Raja and so on.

Each word has a slightly different shade of meaning or mood and is used in the Bandish accordingly. The theme or the subject dealt in the Thumri Bandishes are many times similar with just a little bit of variation. We will not find any extraordinary imaginative idea or literary qualities in these like the Ghazals or Geet. In fact, it is not necessary also because the Thumri singer has to present the Bhav of the Thumri
more through music with help of a few effective words.

III. The Rhythm and Taal Aspect of Thumri Bandishes:

The elaboration of Thumri is generally in a leisurely manner, in a comparatively slow or middle pace. (Here, we are considering the Poorab Ang Thumri. The pace of the Punjab Ang Thumri is comparatively fast and the taals are also different.)

These Thumris are set to Deepchandi (14 beats) or chachar taals (8 beats).

The theka of Deepchandi taal is

The pause of one matra at the end of each 'Khand' (column) is a special feature of Deepchandi and is very conducive to the leisurely rendition of Thumri.

[Dhamar taal (14 beats) also has such pauses at two places (at 7th and 14th matra). But these are not utilized much during the rendition of Dhamar.]

These pauses give a very smooth and dignified space and in most of the Thumris, these have been used very aesthetically and effectively. One statement in the line ends with one pause in the taal and a new statement begins from the next matra. e.g.

Thus, if the words of the Thumri are placed combining the meaning of the lyric and pauses in the taal it creates a very nice, aesthetical, rhythmical effect. Styles of Thumri and the varied Patterns of Bandishes accordingly:

Just like the different styles of Gharana in the Khayal singing, the Thumri singing also has different styles. These are Poorab Ang, Punjabi ang, Lucknow and Bandish ki Thumri.

i) The Poorab Ang is the main and important style of Thumri singing. Mature in rendition and expression, slow in rhythm with open voice, long melodious meends (glides) and special intonation given to the words. The narration of Bandishes of Thumri uptil now was mainly related to the Poorab Ang and Lucknow style Thumri. The famous exponents of this style from the older generation were Rasoolanbai,
Badi Moti Bai, Siddheshwari Devi, Begum Akhtar.

ii) Made extremely popular by Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khansahib and his brother Ustad Barkat Ali Khansahib, the Punjab ang Thumri is quite different in respect of its musical rendition and rhythm. Replete with intricate and fine ‘murkees’, khatka with delicate and controlled supple voice, and set to a comparatively brisk rhythm, the Punjabi Thumri, immediately attracts attention of listeners and is easily appreciated by a large cross-section of audience. Because of the difference in the rendition style, the Bandishes of Punjabi Thumri are different in respect of the musical aspect. Though the main themes are the same, the style of expressing them is quite different. As the notes are not prolonged much i.e. not much 'Thehrav' on the swaras - the Bandishes are also lighter in character with a faster pace and hence set to the Keherwa taal of 8 beats. All these characters make the Punjabi Thumri Bandishes lighter in character and effect. The famous Punjabi Thumris like
'Yaad Piya ki Aaye' or 'Saiyyan bina Ghar Suna' will make this point quite clear.

iii) Bandish ki Thumri is a totally different style of rendition. More akin to the ‘Chota Khayal’ or Drut Bandish of the Khayal singing, these bandishes are set to Teentaal or Addha and have comparatively more words of lines, in the lyric. 'Bol-Baat' i.e. presenting the words of the lyric in various combinations and patterns of gwa b` is the main feature of Bandishki Thumri. Hence, these bandishes are practically like the Chota Khayal bandishes in drut teentaal. The mood is happy, joy and mischievous, as well as describing the beauty of the damsel on the beloved. These are never in a sad or melancholy mood. The words are intricately woven with the matras of the taal. For
example,

Rang Rangili Rasili Ek Chabili Naar
Wo To Naino ke sainse marat baan ||

or

Aaj Mori Kalai Murak Gai
Mano Mano Mori Baat Kanha
Mori Laaj Lai ||

(Both the bandishes in drut Teentaal)

We, therefore, find that some of the original Bandishki Thumri Bandishes have been now established as Drut Bandishes of Khayal. The best example of this is the famous Chota Khayal Bandish in Raag Bihag

Lat Uljhi Suljha Ja Balam

Thus, the character and format of the Thumri Bandishes change according to the styles of Thumri. A specific style of Thumri has a definite type of Bandish. This is not the case in respect of the Bandishes of Khayal. Same type of Bandishes are sung in all styles i.e. Gharanas of the Khayal.

Bandishes of Dadra

Dadra is a rhythmical and lighter variety of Light Classical music. A younger brother of Thumri woven in Dadra or Keherwa taal, and set to medium or fast rhythm. Dadra is very popular with the listeners. The main theme or Bhav of Dadra is same as that of Thumri, even the raags of Dadra are practically the same. However, the typical rhythmical rendition pattern makes it different from the Thumri Bandish. The
short Avartaans (rhythm cycles) of 6 or 8 matras and the fast pace of rendition makes it necessary to have the words in the Dadra bandishes placed in the 3-3 or 4-4 matra pattern. The distinctive characteristic of the Dadra bandishes is mainly because of this special feature.

For example, Dadra in Dadra Taal.

Chaa Rahi Kali Ghata
Jiya Mora Leharaye Hai

Dadra in Kehrawa Taal

Kaise Kate Din Ratiya, Baalam bin
Niki Na Laagi, Kaunu Batiya, Baalambin

Because of the somewhat fast rhythm, there is no scope to render slow alaap like the Thumri 'Bol- Baant' - singing the words in various swar-lay patterns is the main feature of singing a Dadra. Hence, the words of the Dadra have to be such as can be sung in various groups. In order to prolong the duration of the rendition one or two stanzas are many times added to the main Bandish. These may not be a part
of the bandish. Suitable Urdu shers (couplets) are added as per the requirement. The family topics of various shades of relations, interaction with them, complaints in a lighter mood - all these topics make the Dadra bandishes very lovable and intimate, e.g.

Hamari Kahi Mano Rajaji
Sautan ke Lambe lambe Baal
Ulajh Mat Jana Raajaji ||

III. Other varieties of Light Classical Music

a) Hori, Kajari, Jhoola:

The north Indian folk music is very rich and varied - melodically and thematically. We have specific folk songs for specific seasons, functions and festivals like Hori, Chaiti, Kajari, Jhoola, etc. These folk songs have been inducted and assimilated in our Light Classical Music very aptly - mostly retaining the original tune, words and format. Only the rendition pattern has been refined. Thus, these bandishes have a rustic and original pattern, typical to each variety.

b) Tappa: Tappa does not have any similarity with Thumri Dadra in respect of style and lyrics. It is an independent format with a totally different and even opposite rendition characteristics. Originated from the folk songs sung by the camel-riders of Punjab, the Tappa Bandishes are in Punjabi language. The rendition is quite robust with forceful taans of a typical pattern. Hence, though the main theme of the Tappaa bandishes is 'love', the emotive factor of the other Light Classical varieties is almost absent in Tappaa. Most of the Tappaa Bandishes have been composed by the great Tappaa exponent of the older days, Shori Miyan.

For example, the words of the most popular Tappaa in Raag Kafi are:

O Miya Jaanewale, Twanu Alla di Kasam
Firi Aa Lenu

Though this is a request to the departing lover to come back, the words are woven in fast, forceful taans and khatkas, which are in fact opposite to the Bhav of the lyric. Moreover, the Tappa compositions are set to some specific taals like Adhaa (16 beats), Punjabi (16 beats) and Pashto (7 beats). Thus, the Tappa Bandishes give utmost importance to the musical craftsmanship than emotive expression and hence are totally different from the other varieties of Light Classical music.

To sum up, the Bandishes of Light Classical Music have special characteristics in respect of the tune, lyric and format. There is a wide variety in them because of the different types and styles. The main point in this respect to remember is that, in classical music, different artists can render the same Bandish in their own style - retaining only the main framework of the Bandish. However, the Light Classical Bandishes are
required to be rendered in the typical manner only, retaining their own characteristics and not mixing any features of other format.
Hence, we can say that these are more individualistic and have a specific identity of their own, which has to be maintained and honoured by the singers.

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