E10: Khayal in Perspective.

With guest: Arun Dravid. We look at the fluid concepts of raga and composition in Hindustani Classical Khayal. Keeping in perspective the goals or the higher pursuits, we discuss how the framework of Khayal is not etched in stone but rather subject to personal and social biases. We discuss these topics with Dr. Arun Dravid, a venerated musician of the Jaipur-Atrauli style of Khayal. Dr. Arun Dravid is a senior exponent of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. He began his early training under the tutelage of Abdul Majid Khan ji, a disciple of Alladiya Khan and later, became the first formal disciple of Kishori Amonkar ji. Arunji’s music is a balance of the bhaava-dominant nature of his guru’s music with the structural beauty that is characteristic of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. He is also engaged in imparting his wisdom of the gharana’s gayaki to the next generation. Recently, Dr. Dravid has also acted and sung in a supporting role for the film, The Disciple, now streaming on Netflix. Hosted by Shishir Rao, a DPhil student at the University of Oxford and a student of Hindustani Classical Music.