From: rajiv@me.uta.edu (Rajiv Chakravarti)
Subject: Re: Raga identification
Organization: none
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 17:56:56 GMT

In article <q+h2dm@rpi.edu> divaka@isaac.its.rpi.edu (Ajay Divakaran) writes:
   |> Anyone out there know what raag the ghazal "Abke ham bichhde" by Mehdi Hassan
   |> is set to ? It is hauntingly beautiful, and on the surface looks like 
   |> Carnatic Bhoopaalam with R2 instead of R1:
   |> 
   |> 	S R2 G3 P D1 S
   |> 	S D1 P G3 R2 S
   |> 
   |> I would like the names of both the Hindustani raag as well as 
   |> the Carnatic equivalent.
   |> 
   |> Thanks,
   |> Sriganesh
   |> 
   |> -- 
   |> % "SRI_G" Sriganesh M,  Grad student, Dept of CS, SUNY at Buffalo
   |> %		        email: madhv-s@cs.buffalo.edu
   I believe the song is based on the raga Nat Bhairav, which uses a 
   shuddh Rishabha and komal gandhar. More knowledgeable netters,
   please supply info about Nat Bhairav.
	       Btw, there is a Marathi song that goes "Mala .....Deep...." sung
   by Lata Mangeshkar which resembles this ghazal quite a bit. Those are
   the only two words from the song that I know!
							    ajay 


-------------------------------------------------------------------

	Actually, the same question above had been bugging me for the
past 3 years. I think I finally have the answer.

	The Hindustani name for the raga for the ghazal:

	ab ke hum bichDe' to shaayad kabhi KhwaaboN mein mileN

is : BHUPESHWARI .... ( Bhupali  [Mohanam] with a komal dhaivat )
	I got this information from Pt. Radhaprasad, a senior disciple
of Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, who is currently residing in Dallas, TX.
	
	I had actually asked Mehdi Hassan himself in 1989 (?) about the raga
, but he evaded my question with a story that goes as follows:

	It seems that the vibrations or frequencies caused by singing this
raga with it's particular combination of notes or swaraas ( sa re ga re sa dha)
is not benefecial to the listener or the singer himself. It seems that the
vibrations of this raga actually cause some "damage" to the body. (It is
very well known that frequencies/sound waves have a direct effect on the body, 
so his story is believable....., I suppose). Mehdi Hassan also told me that
it was removed from the "shastras" of Hindustani music, because of its 
ill-effects. No one was ever taught the raga again, and if one did want to
sing the raga, he/she could do so only in front of a temple, and alone!!!!
(All this happened when I asked him to sing this at the concert, and he 
refused, with this explanation.......)

	As for the Carnatic version, it is also not very popular. 
Somebody mentioned that Balamuralikrishna has "invented" this raga ?? 
Logically speaking, I wouldnt say "invented" ... bibhas,Bhupeswari are
logical modifications to the basic bhoopali, so I assume the this raga was 
considered MUCH before Balamurali himself thought about it... 
	Anyway, the name he gave this raga was : SIMHA-NAADAM !!!! (Ive
heard a beautiful rendition on Lord Krishna ... sung by him in Telugu)

Nat Bhairav/Ranjini etc are incorrect ......

{ For the Marathi audience, Asha has sung a very beautiful piece in this raga:

	maalavu na Taak deep, peTavu na ang ang, 
	raajasaa kiti disaat, laagalaa nivaant sang  }


Hope that helps.
Regards.

--
=====================================================================
Rajiv Chakravarti
Dept. of Aerospace Engineering
University of Texas at Arlington

rajiv@utacfd.uta.edu                             rajiv@me.uta.edu
=====================================================================