'Critically' Attracted

This page was originally meant for Singer's Theorem- "For a C^3 interval map with negative schwarzian derivative, any immediate basin of attraction contains a critical point or a boundary point of the interval "... so I named the page 'Critically Attracted'( you know! trying to be fancy and all). Then today I was listening to a Mishra Khamaj by the great pandit Venkatesh Kumar (I wish to know of an emoji for holding ears) and felt overwhelmed and wanted to write about it. I arrived at my homepage, currently an extension of my persona for the myth I want to create of myself... and found that this particular page is a discarded project, unpublished...  but I saw the title- 'Critically Attracted'. If this rendition of Mishra Khamaj is not 'critically attracting' then what is? [There are quite a few ways to justify this name and I will do none of those, if you want you can go to Cambridge dictionary, find all the meanings of the word 'critical' and justify it, it's not hard, there is always an angle]. One can also call this page a Singer's Theorem, for mathematicians create theorems out of their ideas, Venkatesh Kumar created this rendition out of his ideas, he is a singer, ergo Singer's Theorem.  

I will attach the link to the video. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mfMI5OQ2KE

 This particular treatment of Khamaj is typical to Venkateshji. You listen to two different recitals and you will probably  find similarities in the treatment, say, in using a certain phrase at a certain stage in the rendition and following a similar overlay in unpacking this thumri. It feels similar to someone captivating you while telling a known story.

The bandish that he sings here is set in Deepchandi taal and the words in the Mukhda are-

Ab kaise ghar jaun, 

baat rokat kubr kanhaiya, 

Dekhat sab nari. 

Meaning, Radhika is trying to reach home but Krishna is blocking her path while all her girlfriends are watching.  I once remember hearing Ustad Shahid Parvez say that Hindustani Classical Music is the perfect combination of logic and emotion (heard this in a you tube video, I was NOT hanging out with him). Someone very smart once told me that Venkatesh Kumar often does all these very simple things but it somehow fits. That is the word people: it fits!  just FITS! it is crystal clear! It works! It is the perfect combination of logic and emotion. It is like watching Lionel Messi play and remembering what Cruyf said, " Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is". One has to see it to know it. Or in our case, hear it! Well, it is not only just hearing with Venkatesh ji. If you happen to have the video then it is hearing and seeing. It is almost a complete sensory experience. I once wrote in an you tube comment the following about him (sorry if it is syrupy sweet), 

"He is such an artist ! It's like he has pulled you on the stage  and you can barely keep up with the excitement !  It's infectious ! And what a brilliant rendition of Durga in such little time !!  Its amazing what he can do ! Pranam Pandit ji !! Kya baat hain !😃 Also it's an amazing collaboration ! Hats off ! to all other artistes for weaving such a brilliant story on stage ! It was such a lucid, flowing and outstanding  presentation as a whole !!"

It was a rendition of rag durga, and today was Mishra khamaj. He hit the same points. Also about the collaboration- he really loves to, trying to bring everyone in, giving others space- not just as a courtesy but because he wants to see what they do and use it, incorporate if he can. I remember listening to his Mishra pilu thumri, " Gayo re Madho! Saiyaan bidesh gayo". His student makes a mistake, a khamaj note in pilu, he joyfully picks that up and goes into khamaj, does this and that, comes back to pilu. It is as if it was not a mistake but an idea, an opportunity to explore. Well, raag is probably that which colours the mind,  so it is on the painter what they do if they stumble upon a new colour or a new theme suddenly, how do they react to it.   

Venkatesh Kumar's music is a bit like a Jibananda Das' poem- চিত্রকল্পময়। 

I will not elongate this. As I am writing for some time the intensity of my experience has faded. I wish to go back to the Mishra khamaj. I will probably have something more to say again after listening, till I go to sleep or some unavoidable earthly duties summon me. Till then, I will keep coming back to this. Perhaps, I will keep a semblance of this last paragraph in all of my updates, till it gets out of my system to see that there is no point in writing about what one experienced. But isn't it true that one can only write about what one experiences? But there is no way to communicate the experience that preserves all information.  Someday, when my being absorbs this idea, I will delete this last paragraph. The rest shall be left as debris in a false pretense, as necessary evil in the path of enlightenment. Till then I shall be 'Critically' Attracted to this marvel of a musical creation, only to tell you about it, to whoever listens. 

P.S. For the interval map, this 'critical' attraction typically doesn't stop! The critical point keeps on getting attracted and with each iteration the attraction increases exponentially. But it can never reach the object of attraction, it continues till infinity. Only sometimes it suddenly jumps to the object of attraction after few iterations, like me becoming Venkatesh Kumar after few tries, singing Mishra Khamaj- "Ab kaise ghar jaun".