A RAAG SO ROMANTIC 

By RAJEEV GUPTA

Yaman is one of the earliest raags that any student of Indian classical music encounters in class.

In India, my teacher introduced the raag through a laskshan geet, which through the bandish (composition) itself introduced the time for singing the raag, the vaadi (primary) and samvaadi (secondary) swars (notes). I learned it both in teentaal (16 beats) and then in dhrupad, a slow and meditative style of singing. 

Some years later, when I moved to Canada and found a teacher in Warren Senders, my first class with him was around 6 pm. I remember how the class began. He said, “It is the time for Yaman, unless you have some other preference”.

It has been nearly two years and I have been practising Yaman with my guru Warren without the raag ever feeling repetitive or boring. That is the beauty of Yaman. It is so expansive that you just keep painting different hues with the basic notes. Other than the Ma being teevra (sharp, referred to as M’), all other notes in the raag are natural notes.

How the notes are allowed to be placed, the combinations that form the distinctive phrases of the raag (also known as the pakad), makes Yaman very satisfying to sing. The combination Ni Re Ga Re Sa straight away announces the presence of raag Yaman in a bandish. A great example of this is Mohammed Rafi’s introductory humming in Zindagi bhar nahi bhoolegi woh barsaat ki raat from the film Barsaat Ki Raat (1960).

As we start the raag, we visit each new note very briefly. My guru gives this analogy: when you are getting know someone outside your family, you talk to them briefly. But soon after, as you include them in your family, you welcome them with extended time.

In the same way, after spending good time with Ni Re Ga Re Sa, I very briefly touch Ma’. But soon after, as I touch Ma’ from Ni, from Sa, from Re and from Ga, I stay on Ma’. It is so satisfying to savour this Ma’ and the feeling of reaching this swar from different previous notes – it derives hues from the preceding note and therefore feels different. I also admire the long stays at Pa and Ma’. The beauty of long stays on important notes is something I learned from my guru.

Another reason for my appetite for raag Yaman is my copious consumption of TV dramas from Pakistan. I have been watching them long before I got to know Yaman so intimately. I was impressed by the background score using the notes of Yaman to amplify the mood of longing or persuasion. Humsafar, Sadqay Tumhare and numerous other television shows had their title song and the background score composed in Yaman in the strong voices of illustrious singers like Quratulain Balouch and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.

Even if the title song wasn’t in Yaman, the recurring instrumental background score would be. In Zindagi Gulzar Hai, for instance, the flute score almost melts you, leaving you wondering why this character doesn’t understand the situation! In fact, Sa Pa Ma’ was a phrase I already had heard in the show and later when I learnt the same phrase in my music class, I connected the two.

During practice, sometimes my Ga and Ma’ would drift down a bit. It wouldn’t become another note or the lower note, but it wouldn’t be exactly Ga or Ma’ either. In such times, Guruji introduced the nom tom dhrupad syllables to me and had me sing long overtones of Yaman in the dhrupad syllables. Singing Yaman with those would bring another level of meditative focus and Guruji would say, “these nom tom syllables are really in agreement with you!”.

Yaman also found its place in devotion, poetry and spirituality. Many qawwalis and poems of the 13th century poet and musician Amir Khusro were in raag Yaman. Any wonder that in many communities, the raag is also know by the Persian name  Ei’man, more so amongst the Pakistani musicians. The iconic bandish Chaap tilak sab chinni re mose naina milaike is as Yaman as it gets. 

Raag Yaman evokes deep introspection at the end of the day as well as a sense of anticipation of the evening ahead.

One version of raag Yaman that I have heard countless times is the sarangi rendition of Ustad Sultan Khan. He has performed this raag as if he is doing self-reflection and introspection.

I’ve a long journey ahead on Yaman – I am thrilled that it has started so well.

• Rajeev Gupta is on the Raag-Mala Toronto team.