The common man’s life, at a certain level, is rather simplistic. His primary effort is to have a ‘non-eventful’ life, not too many threats, not too much stress – these are the things that he strives for. As a result, the reverse also becomes true; there are not many opportunities (or efforts) for moments of ecstasy either! The avoidance of ‘lows’ results in denials of ‘highs’.

As I think of Raag Kedar, these are the kind of thoughts that pass my mind. One does not find paroxysm of pain here like in Jogiya or Marwa, neither would you find the complete surrender as evidenced in Yaman. The grandeur of Malkauns is not seen nor the royal treasures of Darbari. At times Kedar does provide fleeting glimpses of all these raags, but in its own sedate, controlled manner.

One does have the presence of both Madhyam and Pancham in this raag, but the overwhelming preponderance of Madhyam leaves the poor Pancham neglected! The raag is controlled squarely by both Shuddha Madhyam and Tivra Madhyam, so it is but natural that this swar occupies space in the Vadi-Samvadi pair along with Shadaj. It finds a place in practically every arrangement of notes (swar-yojana).

The raag falls in the ‘shadav-sampoorna’ category, so there is abundant scope for playing on the notes. This particular sequence “Ma-Ga-Pa-Ma(Sharp)-Pa-Ga-Ma-Dha” is absolutely unique to Raag Kedar, and one can see how Madhyam predominates here.

Coming to the bhaav or emotional canvas of the raag, one would find this to be quite vast. A multitude of emotions play out in its domain – love, anger, pathos and spiritual surrender, all find scope here. In a sense, this flexibility becomes a hallmark of Raag Kedar.

Let us look at an exquisite piece in Raag Kedar from Ustad Rashid Khan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UH4X11mVk0

Kedar manifests itself as a playful raag and Rashid Khan has in turn maintained an equally playful laya. ‘Kanha Re, Nanda Nandan” is a bandish in teen-taal. The manner in which the singer structures his taans, boltaan and harkats here is a lesson by itself! He aptly demonstrates that a raag is not the playground for letting loose a fusillade of taans. Each taan declares its relation to the previous and subsequent one. And, while eliciting this relationship on one hand, the presentation of swar-vistar that Ustadji achieves is equally remarkable.

The construction may be in Drut Laya, but just because the tempo is fast, nowhere do you get the feeling that words have been given a short shrift! Not only do the words come to you with their due weight, but the singer even manages to imbue them with depth and meaning.

Naushad has made liberal use of Raag Kedar in his film music. In a sense he was lucky to get plentiful opportunities in films demanding classical music background. But he certainly gave them full justice. This particular song, from the film “Mugal-e-Azam” could be considered the best introduction to Raag Kedar. The wording too is beautiful, all credit to the poet Shakil Badayuni.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaeiwBG_DbE

"ऐ मेरे मुश्कील-खुदा, फरियाद है,फरियाद है;

आप के होते हुये दुनिया मेरी बरबाद है,

बेकस पे करम किजिये, सरकार-ए-मदिना;

बेकस पे करम किजिये". 

(Ai mere mushkil-e-khuda, fariyaad hai, fariyaad hai

Aap ke hote hue duniya meri barabaad hai

Bekaas pe rehem kijiye, Sarkar-e-madina

Bekaas pe karam kijiye)

Right from the opening words Kedar makes its unmistakable presence felt. 

In the movie, the presentation is equally grand. There is a vast set of the insides of the prison where Madhubala is incarcerated. Almost all words are in Urdu, a language which itself lends poetry to the spoken word. And then you have Lata Mangeshkar! Do I need to say anything more?

The pathos of separation is one emotion that Lataji can bring out like none other. And here she has a raag like Kedar at her service along with the poetic capabilities of Shakeel Badayuni. Anything less than what we get would have been a disappointment. She picks up this delicate raag, keeps aside all gimmicks and presents before us its true spirit with just the right level of swar expansion. The net result is an unmistakable delight!

The movie “Ek Musafir Ek Hasina” has a beautiful song based on Raag Kedar. This raag finds its use mostly in prayers and bhajans, but here the musician O. P. Nayyar has given it a completely different role, as if to demonstrate how varied is the potential use of Raagdari music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouZtwwbzIc4

"आप युंही अगर हम से मिलते रहे, 

देखिये एक दिन प्यार हो जायेगा;

ऐसी बाते ना कर ओ हंसी जादुगर 

मेरा दिल तेरी आंखो मी खो जायेगा". 

(Aap yun hi agar hamse milte rahe

Dekhiye ek din pyaar ho jayega;

Aisi baate na kar o hasin jadugar

Mera dil teri aankon me kho jayega)

One could say that the career graph of Asha Bhosale reached its inflexion point with this musician. O. P. Nayyar was not really a musician with a deep study of classical music, but the manner in which he has handled taal in his oeuvre is something worth noting even by hard-core purists. This particular song has Keherva taal, but the manner in which he puts it to use is unique – you would not even notice how and when it captures your mind and your tapping feet! 

There is a faint tinkling of sitar after the first two lines, and this tinkling unmistakably ushers in Raag Kedar. In fact, in this song one can find clear reference to the notations I had mentioned in the first part of this article. All through the song, the aalap and the sitar playing in the background remain true to Raag Kedar.

This particular song and the one listed before it, together present us a small example of the wide canvas offered by Raag Kedar. Admittedly, the raag does not predominate through the song but largely remains muted. At times, the song even takes recourse to folk music styles. But this only further demonstrates the musicians versatility!

The ghazals of Mehdi Hassan is actually a topic for an independent, long dissertation. An extremely flexible, well-modulated voice, innate ability to put all alankars of classical music to service; a tendency to sing mostly in mandra saptak – all of these are instrumental in bringing forth the beauty of every word in the ghazal. Truly, an ‘ustad’ in this music form. 

"भुली बिसरी चंद उम्मीदे, चंद फसाने याद आये;

तुम याद आये और तुम्हारे साथ जमाने याद आये."

(Bhooli bisri chand ummidein, chand fasane yaad aye;

Tum yaad aye aur tumhare saath jamane yaad aye)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0CLO7_0qa8

There is a certain inevitability here – a ghazal of this class could only be sung by a singer of Mehi Hassan’s caliber. Right from the opening line, Kedar makes its entry. It does get set aside a little later, but the influence of the raag remains throughout the song. Starting with a low, lilting laya, Ustadji gradually shifts to a drut laya without our realizing it. Towards the end of the antara, suddenly the keherva taal doubles in speed. All of this is managed so beautifully that it is indeed a treat to listen to it carefully. A point to note is that the keherva taal is clearly spelt out here, but the same taal, in the previous song, has to be elicited with some difficulty!

There is a beautiful prayer in this raag in the Hindi film Guddi. This was the vehicle to bring a talented South Indian singer like Vani Jayaram into Hindi film industry.

"हम को मन की शक्ती देना, मन विजय करेंगे; 

दुसरो के जय से पहेले, खुद को जय करें". 

(Hum to maan ki shakti dena, maan vijay karen,

Doosaron ki jaya se pehale khud ki jaya karen)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbchuCfqBls

The musician is Vasant Desai. One could say that his talent sparkled under the banner of Rajkamal. However, he has also done remarkable work with other producers too. One specialty of his is the suddenness with which he introduces completely different laya in his songs. 

Here he puts Kedar to the service of a school prayer. True to this spirit, the song does not have too much of ‘gayaki’, but the innate sweetness of the tune serves to create the ambience of a prayer. The talented musician in him comes out in construction of the taal. Typical for songs of this type, he has chosen Dadra, but the manner in which he elicits the ‘bol’ is in a class of his own. The essence of Kedar is put before us through this medium.

The Marathi movie “Avaghachi Sansar” has a lovely song based on Raag Kedar. The innate beauty of GaDiMa’s poetry is very effectively brought out by the music composition of Vasant Pawar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlw4HUOWdP8

"फुले स्वरांची उधळीत भोवती, गीत होय साकार;

आज मी आळविते केदार". 

(Sprinkling the flowers of my swar, a song is formed,

As I bring before you Raag Kedar)

The singer, Madhubala Zaveri, is not really a Marathi singer. But this is a fact that no one listening to her could discern! Credit for this goes equally to both the singer herself as well as the musician. 

Listening to the very first aalap, it is Kedar and just Kedar. It is indeed a very intricate aalap. The song could easily have become a bandish; but the musician has taken great care to keep it true to its destination and given us an extraordinary film song!