'Rajan' of rags

Rajan Mishra of Kashi will always be immortal in the field of khayal singing. The duo of two brothers Rajan-Sajan Mishra made headlines all over the world. Unfortunately, the second wave of Corona took away Rajan Mishra from us forever. His body may not be with us today, but his tunes will always resonate. Those days I was news editor in Dainik Janvani, Meerut.

Incidentally on July 05 at his residence at Pleasant Valley in Dehradun. In 2014, I met Rajan Mishra once. If there is a meeting with a musicologist like Rajan Mishra and there are no questions and answers related to music, then the meeting will be said to be pointless. I also asked him questions to gain some knowledge, he answered all the questions in a logical manner, I recorded them in daily newspaper. I would like to express my gratitude to my then editor Yashpal Singh Ji who considered this interview important and dedicated a whole page to it. I am also sharing this interview on this news portal of my music. It may prove beneficial for newbies in music.

Anand Agnihotri

Different ragas are sung by all the singers but can you tell how the ragas originate.

Whatever is given by nature. Look, how many colors are there in nature. Ragas have originated from the emotions arising from these colors of nature. Take for example the time of Rituraj Basant itself, nature is so happy these days, there is an enchanting beauty on the trees.

Perhaps influenced by these, Raga Basant was born, similarly the roaring of clouds, heavy rain gave birth to Raga Megh. Behind every raga is the pleasure of nature-given emotions. Raga is born from the inspiration of nature.

Once upon a time, much attention was paid to the purity of ragas. Musicians used to prefer to incarnate one raga, but nowadays it is seen that two ragas are combined to give birth to a third raga. And it is also being widely used. What is your opinion on this topic?

There are various uses in the world. Take food itself, two dishes are combined to make a third dish. So how can musicians remain untouched by it? If a musicologist thinks that a third raga can be made by combining two types of ragas, he does so. Since there is a multiplicity of experiments, musicians are also doing the same and they have a wonderful sense of joy in it. For example Raag Naat and Raag Bhairav ​​are different ragas, but nowadays they have been combined to form Raag Naat Bhairav ​​and it is also quite successful. It has become a trend to create a third raga by combining two ragas, which is very successful. Yes, it has to be seen that the nature of ragas is not mismatched.

Which ragas do you like the most?

If this question had come before me eight-ten years ago, I might have counted my favorite ragas, but now the world of my ragas has become so big that it would be difficult for me to select some of them. Wherever there is a request, the mind wants, I am incarnating the same raga. Now the choice is lost, all the ragas have started to be liked.

Sometimes the singers used to have ragas, when they wanted they could melt even stones and make it rain. Deepak Raga to late Tansen and Raga Megh Malhar to his daughter, but nowadays this situation is not seen?

Then there was sadhana, now there is consumerism. Who does not know that Swami Haridas spent his life in a cottage on the banks of a river. Baijnath Mishra was obsessed with music. Tansen was granted Rajya Asylum. Financial troubles were not in his life. Naturally, instead of earning money, he practiced sadhana and attained siddhis on ragas. This is not possible in today’s world. Life has become so busy and stressful that Sadhana can only be attempted. It does not seem possible to achieve Siddhi on Ragas anymore.

Now people learn classical music but when the question of livelihood comes then they take the other line. Can’t classical music become a means of livelihood?

Gone are the times of kings and landlords when musicians used to get patronage from them. Today generally by becoming a musicologist you can get a job in school and college. Can become a radio and TV artist. If someone has an unusual God-given facility then it is a different matter. It can also be said in this way that many people play cricket but not all can become Sachin Tendulkar. Similarly, the world of music is also there. Similarly, the world of music is also there. Neither everyone can become Ravi Shankar, nor Zakir Hussain, nor Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, nor Pt. Jasraj, nor Birju Maharaj nor Sitara Devi. These are the milestones which did not require finding a means of livelihood. Not everyone can do the amount of penance one has to go through to reach this destination. To reach here we will have to live and die. Perhaps this position can be achieved after many births of spiritual practice.

Tell us any memory during your singing performance which impressed you the most?
I remember only two such memories. Once there was a joint singing of me and my younger brother Sajan Mishra at the Royal Albert Hall, London. In this situation, people are eager to showcase their art. About 7500 people can sit together in it. I saw that the hall was completely packed. People had brought tickets. Its minimum ticket was fifty dollars and maximum ticket was 400 dollars. Even after this, there was a huge gathering of lovers of Indian classical music. Among them were people from India and also from other countries. I felt amazing happiness by performing my singing in front of him. The second memory is from Maastricht Hall in Holland.

In this there was joint singing of both our brothers for one and a quarter hour. Both of us sang with full concentration, but at the end of the singing no thunderous applause was heard from anywhere. The entire hall was pin drop silent. When we both returned to Green Roop after finishing the singing, we were very disappointed. They were discussing amongst themselves what was missing in the singing due to which they did not get applause. Meanwhile, a gentleman from Holland came to the green room and praised the singing. Then I asked him why there was no applause. The interpreter, after listening to them, explained to me that actually people were so engrossed in the singing, they were lost, that they did not even care about clapping. He just kept feeling the sweetness of singing for a long time. Hearing the answer, my heart became filled with happiness.

Today, foreign countries are more attracted towards Indian classical music. They invite Indian teachers to teach Indian classical music to their children, but the Indian government does not do anything special to promote music?
What can I say now, just understand that home-made chicken is equal to vegetables. Everyone has access to their music here. Yes, it is not easily available for outside countries. That’s why they always value it more.

All teachers leave their inheritance to someone or the other. Have you ever wondered who will take care of you after you?
Nothing can be said about this. One who is worthy gets the throne automatically. My sons are Ritesh and Rajneesh Mishra. Both are performing better in the field of singing. Sajan’s son is Swarank, who is more inclined towards film music. He has also formed his own band which is gaining immense popularity. That’s why we can’t say who will take care of us. Guru Dronacharya also wanted to hand over his legacy to his son Ashwatthama. But what to do, Arjun was ahead in ability. Therefore, Arjun automatically got Dronacharya’s inheritance.
-What message would you like to give to the new generation of musicians?
All we can say is that if you have patience, the mercury will come down. Take music lessons with patience. At least in classical music, there is no shortcut formula by which one can achieve fame overnight. Take the children of musicians. His musical training starts at the age of four-five years, but he gets a place on the stage after a long time. Even after that his training continues. Therefore one should learn classical music with patience.