  Bhajan in QawwaliQawwali which combines elements of music and poetry is typically performed by all-male troupes with a lead singer and several supporting singers backed by percussion and stringed instruments. The lyrics usually are in Urdu. So what a joy it was to hear Meera’s popular bhajan “Saason Ki Maala Pe” rendered by Nusrat Ali Khan.  Syncretism – more than just KabirMusic is a bridge builder across faiths and communities as we’ve experienced through the work of Kabir and Guru Nanak. Singers such as Aseemun of Awadh have continued this tradition well into the 20th century. Aseemun’s life is a tale of singers referred to as mirasins or miriyasins who sang only at private celebratory events. To understand more about the world of mirasins read the article in Scroll here .  Raga corner: DeshDesh is one of the most popular ragas in Indian classical music. In the Hindustani tradition it belongs to the Khamaaj thaat, which corresponds to the Mixolydian scale in Western music heard in popular songs from blues, folk, rock to classical. In the Carnatic tradition raga Desh is a derivative of 28th Mela Raga Harikambodhi. A beautiful rendition of Desh in the carnatic tradition by two young Bangalore based musicians Vaibhav Ramani (violin) and Rakshita Ramesh (veena) in which they blend popular songs can be heard here.  Previous Issues | Raga Ruminations Podcast | RaagTime Radio Show |
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Chitra Srikrishna 