Notes of revival

Umakant and Ramakant Gundecha are working hard to revive Dhrupad and keep it relevant

They say it is one of the oldest forms of music, a thousand-year-old relic of the Vedic age. Its practitioners meditate for days, even months on a single, pure note, averring that Dhrupad provides the base, the grammar so to speak, of all music. Indeed, the traditional pedagogy of most Indian classical music has included training in Dhrupad. Yet, when brothers Umakant and Ramakant Gundecha began singing Dhrupad professionally in the early 1980s, it was fast disappearing into the pages of history. “Dhrupad was in the shadows,” recalls Umakant. “Few practised it, and fewer came to listen.” Fearing that this