She Opened Up for Maha: A Treasure Trove of North India's Images Through ‘thumri’

Gurtu Was Known to Take a ‘Raag’ and Turn it Into a ‘thumri’, Often Blending Two ‘Raagas’ to Add Texture to Composition

- Ambarish Mishra

MUMBAI: Her deep, focused voice could mine myriad images from the folds of a vibrant ‘dadra’ or a soulful ‘thumri’, thus celebrating the beauty and timelessness of folk music, which defines India’s ethos and raison d’être. Needless to add, Shobha Gurtu, the ‘thumri’ queen, remained peerless both as singer and performer.

A musical soiree was recently held at the Swatantrya Veer Savarkar auditorium at Shivaji Park by the cultural directorate of the state government to commemorate Gurtu’s birth centenary; and more such concerts are being planned through the year, a directorate official told HT on Friday.

According to experts, Gurtu gets the credit for having brought the richly nuanced music of the Indo-Gangetic plains down to the Vindhyas, to Maharashtra, thus providing a counterpoint to the austere ‘khayal gayaki’ of which the state became a melting pot in the nineteenth century, an abode of countless ‘gharanas’.

“Actually, ghazal and ‘dadra-thumri’ were an integral part of Shobhatai’s growing years. What makes her so special is her ability to internalize all influences—that of her mother (noted danseuse-singer Menakabai Shirodkar) and her guru (Ustad Ghamman Khan, the sturdily built and kind-hearted doyen of the Gwalior gharana), and map out her own course,” said Neela Bhagwat, the renowned exponent of the Gwalior gharana. “Shobhatai redefined ‘thumri’ and put her own stamp on it. It wasn’t enough for Shobhatai to be a Siddheshwari Devi (the legendary ‘thumri’ singer) clone. She took ahead the latter’s content and craft. Also, Shobhatai remains unique for her voice projection.”