Night is the time when darkness covers everything and uncovers the secrets. It is the time to visualize new dreams which could be translated into reality during day or else could be converted back into the dreams if unfulfilled. Some nights are bearable while there are a few which are unbearable. Some nights are torturous, some are blissful and others are bland and indifferent, they won't hatch music. There are night rāgās to celebrate your emotional delicacies at night. They are powerful. Some of them are so elevating, you feel you can touch the stars. Some of them are so disheartening, they will throw you down the abyss of melancholy and darken your emptiness. Science agrees that the whole creation is a vibration. Indian classical music is one of the most ancient performing arts which can set your mood to a particular tone with mathematical precision with its rāgās. The mastery over the rāgās is achieved after years of practice and dedication. In this article, we will be delving into the melodious world of night rāgās keeping this introductory background in mind.
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Early Night Rāgās and Associated Songs
Bageshri
Have you seen a child playing in his cradle and when his mother has to leave hastily, how eagerly he waits for her to come back? Or, have you observed those baby birds waiting for their mother to return with something to feed them? Just remember the times when you left your home for studies and how homesick you were when you missed your family or they missed you. This eagerness, this expectancy, mixed with love and anticipation is best depicted by rāgā Bageshri. The expressions vary according to the situation. This is one of the characteristics of the human mind - waiting for the future while holding on to the pieces of the past. There is no greater sorrow than to recall a happy pastime when you're unhappy. There is no greater happiness than to recall a happy time when you're sad. Did you read it correctly? Yes, this is what we call life, life full of paradoxes. Rāgā Bageshri is not for someone whose heart is broken in two pieces, it is meant for those whose heart has just missed a beat! There is assurance, everything is going to be alright within a few moments, till then try to put up with the soup and hang in there...!
Bihag
Life would have been quite comfortable if everybody had behaved the way we wished. But then, it would have been bland and insipid. Refusal and indifference have a special place in love! Acceptance which follows refusal is way too sweet and adorable. Until this particular moment destiny sanctions you, life is too trying and demanding. The heart is restless (hence, night is the befitting time for this rāgā), night is too long and tender words pour forth earnestly right from the marrow, you mean every word that you say, and they seem to carry a lot of convincing power. You can't afford to lose somebody that matters to you just like a flower matters to a bee or water to a fish. You have sacrificed hunger, thirst, sleep and most importantly, the peace of your heart for him. You can't afford to lose the battle and finding merited ways to say all this is more than half the battle won. Rāgā Bihag waves around this pattern.
Chandrakauns
We can say rāgā Chandrakauns is a copy- paste of Malkauns rāgā with a minor change at nishad (7th note of the octave). Komal nishad of Malkauns is replaced by shuddha nishad, the ascending and descending scales being exactly symmetrical in both. This is the beauty of Indian classical music. Make a subtle change in one note and the whole emotional appeal of that rāgā completely changes. Rāgā Chandrakauns is a beautiful example of this. The intense, pensive and anguished pull of this rāgā is due to shuddha nishad, mentioned just now. This is the reason this rāgā is sung in the middle and upper octave. The intense storm going on in the heart finds a way out at an intense pitch of voice when the darkness is at its most intense pith - this is Chandrakauns.
Chhayanat
The really good music cannot be analyzed - Einstein. True, one can go on describing the sweetness of sugar for a lifetime, yet his efforts would prove futile unless one tastes sugar himself. Caving in under the restrictions of the words, let us try to savor the euphony of rāgā Chhayanat. All the elements of the creation love lingering around, don't they? The light lingers after darkness and darkness after light, incense of the flowers in the monsoon air, aroma of the hot food - all these love to linger around. So do the nostalgic memories of love suffused with the intoxicated moments of a beloved's company. These memories weave a gyrating, oscillating pattern and while doing so they cajole, tease and spin a lot, again and again. The bothered soul has all the time in life to dwell on the timber. This is a signature tune of rāgā Chhayanat. Essentially a midnight gospel, this rāgā will remind you of puppies loitering in your feet as you take a lazy walk on grassy terrain.
Gara
The soft breeze blowing at night, the balmy moonlight and the notes of Gara - they make a perfect recipe. It is the stillness that flows between the words of rāgā Gara speaks more prominently than the actual rāgā itself. Every word is vocalized so nonchalantly that even the darkness is also not hurt. Those words are the waves which appear on the sea of love. He who has delved deep into the turbulent sea of love will emerge gratified on the surface. In the end, it is the silence which is going to rein and prove mightier than the sea. Rāgā Gara is for all of these - whose dreams are fulfilled, whose dreams are going to be fulfilled and whose dreams have not been fulfilled. Their feelings have mellowed out after passing through the fiery ordeal of love, hence this suppleness. These words are the solemn expressions of this testimony. These are the invisible signs of a subdued tempest within, now visible through gentle, lenient song on the lips. Rāgā Gara will remind you of a dark cloud coursing through the sky at its own convenience.
Jhinjhoti
When the well-pitched notes of rāgā Jhinjhoti seep in through your ears, they make you restless. This is a sign that you have a heart and you are alive, emotionally. That's my word for this rāgā. Jhinjhoti is one of those most powerful and most hypnotizing groups of elite rāgās which never fail to move you even when you have never before fallen in love in your life. Love at first sight with someone could be a disastrous affair, but love at first touch with this rāgā is such a rich and moving experience that remains etched forever in your soul. Besides, the darkness in the midnight will amplify its effect a hundred times. If life is incomplete without music, the world of music is incomplete without Jhinjhoti. The moment you tune into it, it will pitilessly confiscate your heart and throw it down the valley full of a sweet sadness. Its appeal is so endearing; it is impossible to resist. It will leech you, pierce you, tear you apart, only to mold it into a better shape. It is under the auspices of those painful memories which have made you the person you are now, without which you would have been a lifeless lyric. In the hands of accomplished artists, this flagship rāgā has created all-time-classic gems. Pick any one of these below and it will make your day (or rather night, to be musically scientific or scientifically musical!)
Keeravani
Sometimes, no philosophy is the best philosophy, no order is the best order and yet, every moment is pregnant with joy! Clasp it before it escapes. The notes of rāgā Keeravani do have their defined scale but when you listen, you feel that they are scattered all over the place and all over the space, frolicking around an invisible sweet centrum. They remind one of those angels and fairies in the films who appear anywhere and everywhere. Now they are in a tree, the next moment they are in the sky chasing quetzals and the rain clouds, suddenly appear from the ocean riding the dolphins and in a moment they are chasing butterflies in the meadows, then all at once they slide down the rainbow, the next moment they are abruptly invisible only to be seen whipping the ocean waves agilely, oh, a moment down there were plucking flowers and now they are waving through the stars and one keeps guessing what their next stroke will be. Just ask Keeravani's sporty notes of Keeravani for a ride, keep your heels with theirs and you will find yourself becoming a part of their play, cutting loose around that invisible sweet centrum!
Nand
This rāgā is also called Nand Kalyan or Anand Kalyan. Not many songs are available composed in this rāgā but the celestial notes of this rāgā have given it its distinctive identity. It shows the glimpses of different rāgās which are skillfully woven together to fabricate this masterful piece of musical art.
Did you like this collection? Wait! Here is more for you:-
* Golden Melodies on Early Morning Ragas
* Golden Melodies on Late Morning Ragas
* Golden Melodies on Early Evening Ragas
* Golden Melodies on Late Evening Ragas
* Golden Melodies on Late Night Ragas
* Golden Melodies based on Raga Pahadi
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