The Hindustani Bandish: Is it as good as you think?

By Charbak Dipta 

In the context of Hindustani classical khyal, Bandish, (etymologically, it means something which is in Bandhan, that is, tied) is a fixed melodic composition around which the singer or musician improvises with vistaar, sargam, taan and so on and presents a complete khyal of their choice of temporal extension. In north Indian classical music—as it is a raga-based system—all bandishes are composed in particular ragas and are complete with Swara, Pada and Taala. Bandishes can be of three types — Vilamvit (composed in slow tempo), Madhyalaya (of medium tempo), and Drut (fast tempo). There can be maximum of four stanzas in classical bandishes—Sthayee/Asthayee, Antara, Sanchari, and Abhog. In khyal music, it is generally limited to the first two.

The romantic and religious themes

Now, coming to the lyrics of the Bandishes of Khyal (literally means imagination)—a comparatively new genre in Hindustani music—it used to be sung in royal courts, darbars.

The lyrics are mostly based either on the love-stories of Radha Krishna or some religious theme. Some composers insert their names in the lyrics (for example, Sadarangand Adarang) in a way to maintain the copyright of the bandishes somehow. Not only in pure classical compositions but in semi-classical compositions too (Thumri, Dadra, Chaiti, Bhajan, and so on.), the lyrics mostly switch between love stories (predominantly of Radha Krishna) and religious themes (Hinduism and Islam). Here too, composers like Meerabai or Haridas Swami inserted their names in the lyrics.

Stuck at fixed themes

Let’s take an example of a bandish, composed in Raga Bihag in Teen Taala which goes like, ‘Pyari Pyari Ankhiyaan Raadhe Ki mana’, a description of Radha Krishna Leela. Another bandish, in Raga Malkauns, goes like, ‘Mandara Dekhe Dare Sudama’, which again revolves around the friendship between Lord Krishna and Sudama. The lyricists of these bandishes never went beyond these fixed subjects. It is often ignored in India that an entire genre of Indian classical music, namely Tarana, has lyrics without any meaning. Its lyrics have meaningless words like ‘Tana Dere Na Ta Dare Dani Dhum Tana Dere Na’.

It is a norm to sing the traditional bandishes. Even when a composer ventures to write a new bandish today, they seldom go beyond these fixed themes, sometimes in fear of breaking the tradition, as Hindustani classical music is known to be conservative. In new bandishes, we do not see reflections of today’s issues. There are no bandish lyrics, say for example, on topics like the current India-Pakistan turmoil, on the Internet, on the Amazon rainforest or on smartphones! There are bandish lyrics on Akbar or Radha Krishna, yet we do not have lyrics on the current ruling government or online dating respectively. A few attempts have been made here and there but they sound so comical, they have not been accepted in mainstream khyal gayaki. The discussion of it or executing it practically sounds funny and bizarre but this is a deep-rooted limitation of Indian classical music.

Apart from modern issues, we are even reluctant to incorporate non-Indian issues in our bandishes. Thus, we do not have bandishes on the Trump government or the IS attacks or any other international themes. Popular music in the west is far advanced in this case. Lyrics of popular genres like rock, pop and even folk sometimes, have changed with time and embraced modern issues. Popular music, at times, has become the arms of protest and social revolution. Hindustani classical music lagged far behind in this case.

Personal interests

The lyrics are based on Hindu or Islamic themes but never on Christianity or any other religion. For example, the famous bandish in Raga Bhairavi goes like ‘Bhawani Dayani Mahavakyavani’ and another in Raga Bihag is ‘Chinta Na Kara Re, Bechinta rahu mana mein Allah Karam Kar…’. An atheist singer is forced to sing Allah or Bhavani (a Hindu goddess) every time he wants to sing a raga. Again, if one has nothing to do with Radha Krishna, he is compelled to sing exactly these things.

Problem of translation

Most bandishes are composed in north Indian languages that are spread across Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, and Rajasthan. Some have experimented by composing bandishes in other Indian languages like Bengali and Oriya. However, there is a huge language barrier. We do not have bandishes in English and other foreign languages. It sounds hilarious if we convert any bandish into English. It may be argued that since they are so pure and original, bandishes cannot be translated. However, we have rock and pop songs in Indian languages everywhere but we fail when it comes to adapting bandishes to the west in their languages. Even western classical opera songs sound suitable in Indian languages. In that case, we can argue it is the merit of the language that it is able to absorb the western melody. On the other hand, Indian classical music is poor and not flexible in this case.

Acceptability

Some complaints are afloat that after ruling India for so many centuries, the Britishers have learned nothing form us. They generalise all Indian dishes to curry, cannot pronounce Indian names and alter Kolkata to Calcutta and Bardhaman to Burdwan. In return, we have learned, accepted, and integrated their culture into ours. Unlike Indians, who play western instruments like guitar and piano successfully and vastly in their music, the westerners seldom play sitar and sarod in their songs. It is their failure. However, when it comes to translation of bandishes into French or German, we Indians cut a sorry figure. The only way out of this problem is the re-invention of the bandish lyrics.

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