Articles on Girija Devi

A presence called Girija

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Taken from Shoma A Chatterji's article on rediff.
Reproduced here for educational purposes only

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A presence called Girija

I first saw Girija Devi at a recital in Allahabad in January, 1957. Even though I was just 13 years old, I remember her dignified, white saree-clad presence, with the diamond nose-stud glittering in the spotlight. The occasion was the annual music and dance conference of the Prayag Sangeet Samiti.

Though I was not initiated into the rudiments of Hindustani classical music then, I still watched mesmerised as the great artiste sang to a hypnotised audience in pin-drop silence till the wee hours of the morning. Those days of all-night classical music conferences are gone, but Girija Devi lives on, performing, singing and giving recitals at the age of 71.

Girija Devi was recently in Calcutta on her way to the US for a month-long tour. The sweltering heat in the city seemed to have taken its toll and she fell sick with a stomach ailment. She had recovered sufficiently when I caught up with her on the eve of her flight to the US. She spoke of her life, her music and her values.

After more than four decades in music, Girija Devi, today, is one of the two most respected exponents of the thumri, the light classical form of Hindustani music. The other, of course, is Shobha Gurtu.

"You cannot put a value on what we are doing because we have dedicated our entire lives to the art," she says, in response to a question on why, within the guru shishya parampara, instead of accepting the tuition fees offered by her disciples' parents, she chooses put the money in the disciple's bank account.

Born in Benares in 1929, Girija Devi started music lessons at the age of five from well-known singer and sarangi player, Pandit Sarju Prasad Misra. After he passed away, she continued her training with Pandit Chandra Misra.

Though she was married off at the age of 16, she received considerable encouragement and support from her husband. And rose to become one of the living legends of Indian classical music. She is not only one of the leading vocalists in the dominant classical genre of the khayal, but also in lighter forms of north Indian classical music including tappa, tap-khyal, holi, chaiti, kajri and dadra. She has specialised in the purbi ang, also made famous by Siddeswari Devi and Begum Akhtar.

Girija Devi is to Hindustani music what K K Pattammal is to Carnatic music, in terms of their purposeful commitment in upholding the art form.

"I have sung before some of India's greatest artistes, but I also concede that times have changed. To a certain extent, we must adjust to these changes whether we like it or not. I have discovered that it is possible to compromise without diluting the music.

"Audiences these days want a little bit of this and a little bit of that, what you would call a 'package programme.' They want to hear a bit of Ali Akbar Khan, a bit of Girija Devi and watch a bit of Birju Maharaj's Kathak recital. So I have adapted to suit these tastes. I have taught myself to condense my concerts into shorter, digestible pieces. And there is a positive side to this. This way, people can imbibe the immense variety of Hindustani music from the serious khayal to the light dadra to a lilting folk number. But I am always conscious of not ever compromising on the purity of the raaga or making a khichdi of the gharana," she insists.

Classical and pop vocalist Shubha Mudgal reminisces of a childhood in Allahabad when her parents, both literature professors at Allahabad University, "would spontaneously hop into a rickshaw and travel 80 miles to Benares to listen to Salamat Ali Khansahib or Girija Devi with us two sisters in tow."

Over the years, Girija Devi has collected a string of titles and awards -- a doctorate, the Padma Shri, the Padma Bhushan, the Sangeet Natak Academy Fellowship and others. She has a large number of recordings and regularly broadcasts on television and radio. Yet, the mundane worries of everyday life do not cease to trouble her. Income tax returns, for instance. She does not like them one bit, "but we must make do," she says.

After 42 years of a music-enriched life, Girija Devi has a rich treasury of bandishes that she has composed herself. This reaches beyond her recitals and her concerts because it flows far beyond the different facets of her vocalism, specially inherent in her dhrupads and khayals, characterised as they are by a striking note of tenderness and human love.

Yet, she laments that she can no longer sing her really special music in public. "My bandishes and thumris are simply lifted by younger singers without as much as an acknowledgement. What can you do about it?" she asks.