Welcome to a very special page dedicated to an unrecognized giant in the field of Hindustani sangeet. My families connection with this great personality is through my father Pandit Shiv Dayal Batish. He studied with Guruji and perhaps was one of his most recognizeddiciples. He studied with him till Guruji passed away. Guruji would tell my father "If I had known you would go into the music industry and become so famous I would have taught you some of my more serious compositions" That made my father think of what he was missing out on :) My father was a great devotee of Guruji and and never miss an opportunity to sing his praises. He kept his song book besides him every step of the way although he had memorized these compositions quite thoroughly. he would often sing for us Guruji's songs and sometimes imitate his voice to give us an idea of how it sounded. A great gift was when he wrote down Gurujis songs in Hindi as a personal copy for me so that I may learn these too. I have this cherished copy besides me at all times :)
My most venerated Guruji belonged to a family of
Indian herbalists and used to address himself as Hakim.
After retiring from the service of the maharaja of
Patiala, he opened a shop at his house. Here he kept
various herbal medicines in jars with glass lids. But
his mind was totally on the side of music
compositions. When ever he had some spare moments from
his business activity, he would be composing kritis
in classical music.
Once during the making of a serious raga kriti, he
reached a point of completion. He was tapping the lid
of a glass jar as a rhythmic pointer when, he reached
the final sum (the first beat) and struck the lid
rather heavily. The lid broke and the glass pieces
fell into the jar and over the medicine, much to his
frustration. He decided there and then to close the
shop and concentrate only on his compositions and his
music.
Guruji was about sixty years old when I started
learning from him. Although I do not remember or know
exactly when or where he learnt his art, yet, out of
his vast number of compositions in many languages and
also according to his having told me once himself, I
can vaguely reminisce that his Guru was a sage by the
name of Baba Heeraadaas Chakkrapan. This is also
substantiated by a line in one of his compositions in
which he sang Charan ke Guru baba Heeraadaas
Chakkrapaan.
Known widely in the province of the Punjab and
adjoining areas as far to the East as Uttar Pradesh,
Guruji was endowed with the divine qualities of sages.
He always shunned money or presents from his disciples.
He followed the scriptural injunctions that the biggest
charity that one can give is the gift of knowledge.
Unlike many musicians and gharanas (schools) of that
time, he strictly followed these principles but, at the
same time, he was quite particular in wanting his
disciples to keep regularity in learning and practicing
daily. People from far of places used to come and
prostrate before his feet to learn his incredible art.
Another one of his disciples , the late Shivnath
Raman, who taught Master Mohan and the late Kundan
lal Sehgal, and from whom I latter had the good
fortune of learning Sitar and Dilrubha, ran into me
in September 1936 on the day of my first audition in
All India Radio, Delhi. He was working there as a
staff artist. When he heard me singing one of Guruji's
famous compositions in raga Des Chhana nana nana baaje
mohan paga painjanee he became very happy. The
discovery that we were guru brothers (related through
guruji's teachings) brought us very close. At this same
meeting the famous tabla and mridangam player Khanshahib
Malang Khan was accompany me on the tabla. On
listening to this song he at once started praising my
Guru, who he said admiringly was his most respected
long time friend. To prove this, he started to sing
his famous composition in raga Malhar "Baadarvaa ghira
ghira aaye".
My venerated Guru was a Gharana by himself. But his
simplicity and humility were reflected even in his poet
name Charan meaning "humble feelings towards all".
But, he was truly a Naayak - a complete master
of music, poetry, singing, drama, and musicology. His
own written version of the famous epic Ramayana won
acclaim in Patiala and adjoining cities of Punjab. He
was once specially deputed by the Maharaja of Patiala
to organize a small musical get together for his
esteemed guest, the late Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya,
with his disciples. On this occasion while introducing
me to Pandit Malviyaji, Guruji asked me to sing one
of his recently composed 16 raga ragamala called
Shodashragaavali. I proudly sang this composition much
to the admiration of all assembled and won praise
and blessings from Pandit Malviyaji.
I met Guruji in the year 1932. I was studying at
Mahindra college in Patiala. I had won several first
prizes as a singer during competitions between students.
For my material I used to sing the popular songs of
the famous film actor-singer the late Kundanlal Sehgal
especially his classic "Jhoolanaa jhulaavo aavo ri" in
the ragini Asavari-Gandhari. In the same year the
director of the amateur dramatic club of the then
maharaja Bhupindra Singh of Patiala extended a special
invitation to me to act for a singing role in a
drama named Parivartan. In this drama I was taught
a song by the director named Vijay Kumar. With my
high pitched voice and fresh young energy my singing
of this song used to get almost a dozen encores from
the public. A few friends and admirers from the
dramatic club were so impressed by my performance and
popularity that they thought I should get some serious
training in music. So collectively they approached my
father, the late Pandit Ramgopal and suggested him to
take me to Guruji's house and request him to accept
me as one of his disciples. On seeing so many earnest
well wishers, my father glanced at me with a serious
look and agreed and we all headed for Guruji's house.
We were ushered into his living room and soon after
my introduction, I was asked by Guruji to sing a song
so he may judge and reach an opinion whether to
accept me as his disciple. I readily sang the same
Parivartan drama song. After listening to my voice,
and much to the pleasure of our delegation, he
accepted me as his disciple.
His beautiful compositions fascinated me as I learned
song after song from him. For practice, he used to
hold two open concerts in two separate localities of
the town in two different temples. Here, all his
disciples would assemble in front of a small gathering
of friends and patrons, and sing Guruji's compositions
in turn. The disciples would win praise and gentle
criticism. It all added to their learning experience.
Guruji was a master of the various styles of classical
songs such as thumris, taranas, dadras, prabandhas,
khayals, bhajans, tirvats, chaturangs, khamsaas. The
members of the Patiala gharana, like the late Ashiq
Ali Khansahib, had great respect and admiration for my
Guruji. They would frequently use his music and
expertly written lyrics. One such song which was also
confirmed by the late Dilip Chandra Bedi was a khayal
in raga Basant Yaar bahurangi har rang me hai
rama.
I have recorded most of the compositions I learned
from this great master. It is my sincere wish to have
these available in CD albums soon. Guruji also
published a book of Bhajans which I also plan on
recording. It is also earnest
desire to start a vocal music school under the name
of my Guru Charan Sangeet Vidyaalaya, as a dedication
to him so his legacy may be passed on to the
coming generations.