A folk instrument, the sarangi evolved as an important accompaniment to the music of courtesans in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Nov 16, 2024 02:12 IST First published on: Nov 16, 2024 at 04:12 IST
When sarangi giant Pandit Ram Narayan, a rare musician who could coax magic out of one of India’s oldest bow instruments, passed away last week in Mumbai at 96, the country lost a brilliant musician. The maestro’s demise is also a cause for anxiety about the sarangi’s future. There is no doubt that some of the younger artistes today — Sabir Khan, Kamal Sabri, Suhail Yusuf Khan and Murad Ali — who play regularly as accompanying musicians in Hindustani classical concerts are giving the sarangi its due and also inspiring others to take up the instrument. But the sarangi has been yielding in concerts to the harmonium — an extremely versatile instrument. Add to that, the difficulty of learning to play the sarangi.
A folk instrument, the sarangi evolved as an important accompaniment to the music of courtesans in the 18th and 19th centuries. The anti-nautch movement, which marginalised these singer-performers, also degraded the status of sarangi players. The instrument was resurrected and put on a high pedestal by musicians such as Ram Narayan, Ustad Sultan Khan, and Ustad Sabri Khan. Before them, maestros such as Ustad Abdul Latif Khan and Bundu Khan played important roles in raising the sarangi’s stock. It found status as a solo instrument — this status hangs somewhat in the balance after Ram Narayan’s demise.
A glimpse into the sarangi’s glory days comes to the fore in a grainy video of Abdul Latif Khan — a home baithak, where he plays while holding a cigarette and smoking it at regular intervals. After a particularly captivating glide of the instrument’s strings, a patron takes bundles of cash and showers them over Khan. Such pomp harkens to an era, long lost. However, it will be tragic if the sound that mimics the human voice at its soulful best is lost.
