Recorded in Mulshi Maharashtra, India.

Musician:
- Meet Pandit (khayal)

Raag Multani; Thaat: Todi; Samay: Afternoon

Raag Multaani by Meeta Pandit, who is one of the youngest and undisputed exponents of the Gwalior style or Gharana of North Indian Classical vocal music. In this video, Meeta elaborates Raag Multaani through a Bandish (composition) adhering to the structure of Gwalior Gayaki (style) with authenticity.

Raag Multani is an afternoon Raga whose mother scale is Todi. But despite that, there is hardly anything that Multani draws in essence from the Todi Thaat. It is performed during the third quarter of the day, between 12 pm and 3 pm. It uses 5 notes (pentatonic) in its ascent and all notes (heptatonic) in its descent. Re (2nd), Ga (3rd) and Dha (6th) are Komal or flat notes and Ma or 4th note is sharp or raised (Teevra). The characteristic feature of Multani is its Meends or gliding notes – a hallmark that makes Multani a rather rare but popular Raga for all times.

Meeta Pandit is the first woman in her family to take up music as a profession. This career move did not come as a surprise in case of Meeta for she already had this in mind. The timing of it though was pre-emptive. It has a rather disconsolate story associated with it – the sudden death of her brother, Tushar Pandit in a road accident. Meeta learned music first from her grandfather, Late Krishnarao Shankar Pandit and then her father, Lakshman Krishnarao Pandit. As a child, she immensely enjoyed her practice sessions and immersed herself into learning the nuances of the Gwalior style. Her confidence as a performer became solid due to the frequent exposures she was put through by her father in small, private soirees where she performed with 100 percent commitment.

An exponent of such an age-old Gharana which is also the mother of all Gharanas in NorthIndian Classical music, Meeta has a very open mind and considers change to be a constant in any art form. This openness is what, she thinks, will help connect an age-old art form with the younger generation.