Have you sung Carnatic songs?

I learnt Carnatic for three years when I was young. I won a prize at a national competition, too,  when I was 12 or 13. I could not continue as there were no teachers in Raipur. I learnt music because of my father, and before his death, when I was in Class 9, he introduced me to many genres. I was also introduced to the Veena. My father used to take me to the veena guru’s house, 15km away from our home, on a bicycle. After I took part in competitions, the judges advised me to continue both. Unfortunately, I could not. [M S] Subbulakshmi songs were an integral part of my childhood (sings her favourite ‘Bhavayami Gopalabalam’).

As a person who has learnt both, how do you view the so-called Carnatic-Hindustani conflict?

What is a Carnatic kriti? It expresses emotions towards a deity. Hindustani, too, is emotions — both to a deity and to different human moods. Whatever the genre, it is the soul that is being touched.
In Hindustani, the time theory is more defined. Hindustani concerts are time-based, and raga selection follows that. Nobody will sing Yaman, an evening raga, during a morning concert. In south India, there are no time-based concepts for Carnatic concerts, so they mix and match.
I am, however, for experimenting. I believe you should have a projection of voice strong enough to create that concept of time. If I sing Bhairav (a morning raga) in the afternoon, the listeners should feel the morning dawning. My voice should have that power.

How do you view stories like that of Tansen singing to bring rain?

Being a researcher, I try to understand the basic theory. Such stories are documented. There is always a chance that when you sing Raag Meghmalhar, the situation of rain is created. As I said, it is about creating the mood through music.

I once had a similar experience. When I was teaching on a sunny afternoon, I was singing Raag Bhairav. My eyes were closed, and when I opened them, my students were staring at me. Outside, the sunny afternoon had turned cloudy, dawn-like. Scientifically, it might just have been the weather, but my students still remember that day and often tell me how different that class felt.

How do you look at someone who does not have ‘bhakti’ singing Carnatic?

Bhakti is about emotions. That is why teaching is important. When we teach, the words must be explained. Whether it be Carnatic, Hindustani, Kajri or folk, you need to explain the meaning. If you teach a Carnatic kriti that way, the sense of bhakti will come, whatever faith you belong to. It is about visualising. Even atheists believe in some kind of emotion. If there are no emotions, I do not think they can sing a kriti.

We are referring to people like T M Krishna…

I understood. His way of singing has evolved through several years of practice. And while singing, he connects with some kind of emotion that we may not know. Because without emotion, I do not think anything can emerge in any form of art. There can also be no connectivity with our own self or with the listeners.

Religions may urge us to form communities, but art is beyond community. There is, however, a force — and that force can be felt through emotions while performing. An example is Ustad Rashid Khan, who used to cry while singing a composition on Durga during Navaratri. I teach that connectivity to my students, who come from varied communities.