Music is a very possessive art: Begum Sultana

Noted Hindustani classical vocalist Begum Parveen Sultana knows how to cast a spell on her astute audiences with her khayals and bandishes. Recently she performed at the annual Kala Mandir Sangeet Festival in Kolkata, wielding her magical vocal powers once more. Having received taalim in mausiqui under both Patiala and Kirana gharanas, the songstress stresses on the importance of teaching shastriya sangeet from a tender young age to grow an intense level of interest in the genre. She expresses satisfaction over the Gen-Y musicians taking recourse to classical instruments like the tabla, sitar, flute, harmonium, tanpura, khol, dhol and pakhawaj.

“It’s good to see today’s younger generation picking up classical music,” shares the veteran artiste. “Nowadays, many young musicians are showing a keen inclination and skills towards instrumental music, especially in the percussive craft.

And often, they are choosing it as their profession later in life which is a good sign. From tabla to semi-classical, serious students of music are learning the ropes very diligently and that is something to feel relieved about and pride over,” she says.

For her, music imparting is all about tajurba. “I don’t run any music school but can only teach through my years-old experiences that I have acquired through my musical education,” she insists. “Just the way a mother feeds her little child with milk and knows very well that the liquid is an essential nutrient to its body, similarly, a seasoned guru is intuitive about the necessary requirements of his pupils to assimilate the said discipline,” she says. The Bharatiya taalim is based on guru shishya parampara (master-disciple tradition), she says.

“Hence, face-to-face interactive learning is important here. And that is the true method of rehearsing music I must say,” assures the queen of shastriya sangeet, who was born in Nagaon, Assam to Ikramul Mazid of Afghanistan and Maroofa Begum of Iran. Her grandfather was Mohammed Najeef Khan and husband Ustad Dilshad Khan of the Kirana gharana is an eminent musicologist and her foremost guide and guru as well.

“One thing that disturbs me is that most girls lose touch with music soon after they are married off. Now this is very disappointing. I mean society and parental responsibilities must empathise with a girl child, her basic needs and the well-being of her future,” she says.

Among the institutions that promote classical music, SPIC MACAY and the St Xavier’s College propagate Indian classical music, she concedes. “More and more private organisations should come forward to uplift music with a non-profit, non-commercial motive. Ideally, a raw talent should be spotted at a formative stage in life. Tutelage should start from pre-primary standards,” she remarks.

Coming to TV-radio channels, she agrees that although government conduits broadcast classical music, private electronic media hardly slot time to disseminate the genre. Yet at the same time, she understands the economics aspect that is governed by the TRPs which popular tastes and culture claim. “In that case, you come across ad breaks even in between news headlines. Don’t you? So I can’t really blame the channels entirely. They do have specific policies to follow at their end,” she says. She finds the trend of private channels promoting raw talent through talent hunts very positive. “But the naturally gifted participants should utilise their potential and the platforms given to them well and first and foremost, learn music properly to consolidate their foundation,” is her earnest advice. “My humble suggestion is don’t just blindly ape or copy the yesteryear established voices. Make your own identity and focus on originality. Take lessons from your guru irrespective of the area you’d like to specialize in, be it ghazal, bhajan, kirtan, classical ragas, film music or modern songs,” she says.

Technology is fine but teaching cannot be conveyed via a digital mode, she thinks. “Well, I don’t subscribe to the online mediums like Skype as that doesn’t lend me any sort of hope. In fact, students must enrol for serious classes instead. Moreover, in India the Internet network is really bad. And music is all about practical applications. Period,” she says. “Like in the West, people tend to work round the clock and live life in the fast lane. So adopting such techniques of teaching automatically breaks the mood and rhythm once you disconnect and switch off. Iss tarah se toh gaana bajana mushkil hai. Music learning is an interpersonal affair and is infeasible through CDs and computers,” she elaborates.

By her own admission, she is grateful to her great lineage as a descendant and her life partner Ustad Dilshad Khan who also happens to be her murshid (teacher). “My father was a student of the Patiala gharana and I later on took formal training under the aegis of Pandit Chinmoy Lahiri of Bengal who in turn again learnt from nine gharanas under nine different gurus,” she shares.

According to her, music is like a fathomless ocean and one needs to dive deep into it to fish out some precious pearls from its bed. “Treat it like an empty canvas to let your hand employ the paintbrush with your personal import of palette. The result is to get your talent noticed and visibly polished,” she says. “Dekhiye kalakaar paida hote hai. Maalik unko banakar upar se bhejte hai (a true artiste is born. God creates them in heaven before sending them down on earth. Music is a very possessive art. You can’t be preoccupied with something else while indulging in it,” she attests. Conversing about film music, she says that today it is more sequence related and dance numbers are back again with all guns blazing.

“That’s on public and market demand. Even the script’s dictates need to be catered to at times. However dhrupadi sangeet flows on its own. It has a gulabi nasha (addictive rosy haze) and enjoys a discreet class of sunkars (listeners) thereby creating a rich maahol (milieu). There is bhakti (devotion) and divinity in this kind of music. It is God’s one of the most aesthetic and captivating creations,” she says.

Having playbacked in several Hindi movies, Kudrat’s semi-classical melody Hume tumse pyaar hai kitna stands out prominently. Composed by R.D. Burman, the number is a timeless superhit. “Burman and Dilshadji were close friends and the former once came to our place asking my husband to request me to sing for him. He pleaded very sweetly saying, ‘Boudike please bolona’. Initially, I was pretty apprehensive as I wasn’t really comfortable with the idea of light filmi scores. The song was a romantic, soulful thumri tuned to raag mishra bhairavi. Its Bengali version ‘bedhechhi bina’ was tuned to mishra tilang,” she gleefully recalls.

Currently settled in Kandivali, she describes the legacy of music as a “gift in blessing from Maa Saraswati and all its practitioners its pujaaris (devotees) who wish to impress the goddess of speech, learning and different branches of art.”