Traversing through time and seasons with Rashid Khan’s rendition of the Gaud Malhar raga
It brings back to us everything we know and also what we don’t know we know, as historical beings, about the cultural lineage of the rains in this country.
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I heard this rendition by Rashid Khan of a composition in Gaud Malhar late last night and have probably listened to it five times since. It’s part of a long interview punctuated by performances (a more accurate account of the programme would need me to phrase that the other way round) which – from the appearance of those taking part – must have been recorded by DD Bangla about 20 years ago. Like smoke, grey swirls have surfaced in the singer’s hair; over the years, they will give way to black. Rashid Khan, here, is in the first visible flowering of middle age: it gives his still-youthful face an inwardness and his music serenity. He was in very good voice that day.
Which day it was we don’t know – but, given he’s asked to sing so many Malhars (Miya; Ramdasi; Gaud) – we assume we’re in the rainy season. As the raga is a season- and time-related observance, we know this much when hear a live recording of a khayal performance about...
