The suspected killers in all cases happened to be Hindu extremists or, as Romila Thapar rightly calls them, terrorists. The reason I am recalling this story is that the other day I went to a meeting in Delhi, which was dedicated to the memory of three martyred rationalists - Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and M.M. Just as there are separate venues for qawwalis and shabad singing, there were formats and gatherings for abhang and bhajan. Her morning melody in Raag Asaavri celebrates Mata Bhavani very evocatively.īut bhajan was not for the concert floor. It is not that she was averse to traditional raag compositions with references to Hindu gods. Gangubai, of the exploited Devadasi extraction, unlike her predominantly upper-caste colleagues, had a problem with that. Without leaning excessively on this incident, I do believe that devotional singing in a classical concert is a relatively recent innovation, and it has become a fixation with deepening religious revivalism. If you wish, you may sit down and listen to some classical music’.) Pakka gana sunna hai to baith jaao,” she roared. Most indulged him, but when he approached Gangubai Hangal and whispered his standard request, she used the microphone to discipline him. Any vocalist, man or woman, was requested to sing a bhajan after the main recital. A certain municipal commissioner had his cultural constraints. COME winter in Delhi and the municipality hosts some fabulous classical music concerts at the manicured Nehru Park.

Early morning bhajan