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Make no mistake. He is without doubt, the superstar of Indian classical music. Like Basant, the king of seasons, Pandit Jasraj is the monarch of all he surveys. No wonder his fans vie with each other to get their pictures clicked with him and seek his autographs as these were priceless possessions. Youngsters are only too eager to touch his feet as if he were some god. Of course, the man himself is only too aware of his mortality. Blessed with a voice that will go down in the annals of music as a rare repository of sublime beauty, however, he credits all his success to the Almighty. Quiz him about his disciples who have earned a name for themselves and he avers, "It would be pretentious on my part to assume that I groomed them or taught them. It’s God’s will and his mysterious ways for which mortals like me get credit." The humble statement hides his dedication towards his disciples. Till today on stage, he encourages his disciples to sing along. Prod him, and he laughs, "Indeed, my detractors would often say, why go to Pandit Jasraj’s concerts. He takes a class on stage too." Teaching, anyway, he finds, as exhilarating as performing. Unlike other musicians, however, Pandit Jasraj has not gone out of the way to promote his children. Yet he is a proud father who is only too happy with the achievements of his children. On daughter Durga Jasraj, daddy dear says, "She has done wonders both as a singer and an anchor and also runs Indian Music Academy to promote Indian music." He is equally glad that his son Sharang Dev has made his mark as an independent musician and composer. Yet on the niche that the Padma Vibhushan recipient has created, he says modestly, "I am just an instrument in the larger scheme of God." So did music happen to him per chance too? Of course not. Born in Hisar to a family of classical singers of Mewati Gharana, music it had to be. Going down memory lane, he recalls moments when he came to his home state Haryana in 1987. While performing at Kurukshetra, he came face to face with some high ups and their ignorance towards the great art form. But he was not dissuaded or dismayed. He remembers, "I told the now chairperson of the Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi Kamal Tewari, who was a Haryana government official back then that if I have to come to this place to change mindsets even 10 times, I would." Fair enough, next time around, there was a sea change in attitudes. He dismisses sceptical observations that people in India don’t care for classical music. He says, "These are assumptions of sceptics who don’t know the big picture and draw conjectures on their own." Yet another common perception he defies is that that the youth is not interested in classical music. Rather the maestro chuckles and remembers, "Pandit Bhimsen Joshi would always say 75 per cent of Pandit Jasraj’s listeners are youngsters." To his young fans, his advice is, "Respect your parents. Treat them like God." To those who deem him the God of music, he once again brushes aside adulatory superlatives. In his lexicon, it’s almighty alone who proposes. So much so that his unique invention, the Jasrangi style of music too, he attributes to the tradition of moorchana in which a male and a female vocalist sing different ragas at the same time. He avers, "I would often wonder why is it that when God has made men and women as equal, as Shiv and Shakti, their voice ranges don’t match. And then, I discovered moorchana that forms the basis of what people call Jasrangi." While his style might figure on people’s favourites list and is being pursued by his disciples too, he has no favourites. Neither among his shishyas (students), "all are gifted" nor among the prestigious platforms he’s performed at. Whether he sings at Allahabad’s Sangam or in a closed auditorium of Tagore theatre at Chandigarh, he believes, "Each place has its rang (colour)." All set for his US trip and a new album, at grand 83, his flavour and rang remain inimitable.
Date with a view
Today, however, from this basic function, the calendar has moved on to a new avatar. It is today regarded as a style statement rather than a device for viewing dates and months. A Debu Ratnani calendar, for example, with its snazzy, innovative photographs fits the bill. According to Partha Samaddar, an IT professional, subject is the chief factor of this business. "Irrespective of the brand or popular publishing houses, it’s more important what a calendar chooses as its subject. If it is stimulating and invigorating, then only it merits popularity." In the West, the Pirelli calendar is famous for its glamour quotient and restricted availability and is much coveted. Back home, the Kingfisher calendar is in the same category theme-wise with highly publicised model-hunt kind of ‘do’. The calendar has acquired a depth in presentation with an eye to creativity though the ‘usual’ calendar with flowers, scenery or even religious idols is still very popular. Then there are those who take to designing individual calendars to reach out through images. Kolkata’s well-known photographer, Bijoy Chowdhury, has been doing it for several years now, putting together his own calendar to be gifted to a select group of his friends. His 2013 calendar explores the Chinese community of Kolkata through a gamut of images. "I started designing my own calendars with the aspiration to showcase my photography but now my calendar is earning a name for its content," Chowdhury says. According to him, a calendar has to depict a pertinent subject and have a classy look so that it catches attention and evokes appreciation. Generally, upper-end calendars try to highlight a theme. Span calendar, published by the Public Affairs Section of the US embassy highlights different aspects of the country with beautiful photographs. Its 2013 calendar focuses on young achievers. Each cityscape or countryside highlighted in the particular month is where he or she belongs to. For instance, the beginning of the year, January, carried the image of Boston city by night, which was accompanied by photograph of Indian origin Shree Bose, a Harvard student researching on cancer and winner of the first Google Science Fair. The ITC company comes up with some distinct collection of ethnic images and paintings every year. Last year, it chose miniature paintings of the 17th and 18th centuries as its theme. This year it paid a tribute to India’s miniature art. However, producing a classy calendar is not easy as it involves immense production cost. Also it becomes challenging for local publishers to compete with big houses. Often they have to incorporate new techniques, which become too expensive for them to bear.
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