This Independence Day revisit raag Desh through a new song

A musical ode to the nation

Remember how on August 15, 1989, raag Desh brought together the nation. As the legendary Pt. Bhimsen Joshi sang ‘Lab pe jaage geet aisa, Goonje bankar des raag’ surrounded by lush landscape, his deep voice did echo (goonj) in our hearts. The song ‘Baje sargam har taraf se’, made during the Doordarshan days to spread the message of national integration, also featured other iconic musicians such as Pt. Ravi Shankar, Lalgudi Jayaraman, Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma, M. Balamuralikrishna, Ustad Allah Rakha and Zakir Hussain.

During an interview to The Hindu in 2011 , Balamuralikrishna, the celebrated Carnatic musician, had said how much he enjoyed being part of both ‘Mile sur mera tumhara’ and ‘Baje Sargam’. “Having born in the pre-Independence era, I became emotional when singing those lines filled with patriotic fervour. Being a composer myself, I could imagine the joy of creating this song with diverse artistes, art forms and instruments. I was excited to both play the violin and sing.”

An extremely melodic late night raag, raag Desh is associated with monsoon and often sung to convey the romance of the rain. Though called Desh, it was not conceived to arouse patriotic sentiments. It acquired this characteristic after it was used to compose the national song Vande Mataram, written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. It has since been used by musicians and composers to create national integration melodies.

This August 15, to celebrate India’s 78th Independence Day, ITC has come up with a soul-stirring composition titled ‘Desh Ek Raag’. It features vocalists and instrumentalists of the Kolkata-based ITC Sangeet Research Academy (ITC-SRA). With Tricolour painted on them, the violin, sitar, piano, guitar, sarangi, sarod, drums, mridangam and flute come together to present the beauty of Desh through strings, keys and percussion, while the singers clad in green, saffron and white clothes render a traditional bandish, ‘Beet jaat barkha rut’, in the raag.

“This musical masterpiece draws inspiration from raag Desh, stirring a profound sense of pride and admiration for our great nation,” says Sanjiv Puri, chairman, ITC.

The Sangeet Research Academy, which was launched more than four decades ago, trains young enthusiasts in Hindustani music. Renowned vocalist and Patiala-Kasur gharana exponent Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty is the chief mentor and guru.

Says the veteran, “We all know about CSR (corporate social responsibility), but the Academy is a unique example of as I would like to term it — corporate cultural responsibility. And through ‘Desh Ek Raag’ we wanted to show our gratitude to the country, whose cultural heritage is a strong binding force.”