Raag Yaman ..the evening ambrosia

Pandit K G Ginde used to say that Raag Yaman is the king of all Raagas . In Indian classical music one rarely finds a Raag like Yaman that lets a performer take so much liberty with it. In short, it maintains its identity even when it is being handled by amateur singers . If you are blessed with a good range of voice, and you have acquired sonority and control over rhythm, it’s difficult to go wrong with Yaman. If you know how to take Pa –Re coupling and have a good sense of movement across Ni and Ga the raga shows itself easily. Begin the Kalyan celebration by garlanding mandra nishad with beautiful colourful flowers of Mandra swaras. Enjoy the nectar of Yamanic Gandhar and Madhyam with a bit of rest on Pancham. Keep Dhaivat at bay and gently enter the antara after a leisurely development on Nishad . And lo! The edifice of Yaman is erected.
You may or may not want to cross the orbital of ordinariness, and you can still enjoy Yaman. Staying comfortably within our limitations, we can get to hear some brilliant performances that enchant us. All gharanas sing Yaman so sweetly. Even the doyens of some gharanas that specialize in rich rhythmic variations tend to give up their craze for rhythmic variations and indulge a little in the ambrosia of Yaman.
When this journey from the first lesson in classical music to listening to great artists come to an end, one gets ready to receive something extra ordinarily moving, .Divine! Touching the soft, tender chords in ones heart as if …our life as connoisseurs was made for this single moment, for this single artist and this single performance.
Khan Saheb Ustad Amir Khan sings Yaman .He sings the composition of Hazrat Amir Khusrow “Shahaje Karam… . A gayaki that is far beyond the Ragic grammar. That digests,transcends Merukhand and enters into the heaven of pristine Raga Bhava .The melodic mood ! Every expression, every intonation is so specially chosen. One wonders how much in love with Raaga bhav and Sur, Khan Sahib was! As I always felt each of his performances individually qualify for a universal prayer in any shrine .After all is that not what he did? Prayed through every concert?