For the past year I've been somewhat mesmerized by a vintage recording I have of Ustad Amir Khan singing a khayal in raag Shuddh Kalyan (SK)--it's quite unlike any i've heard from other singers in the Hindustani classical tradition. Its very slow tempo beginning (alaapi) is soothing and spiritual, as his alaapi always tends to be. This particular recital is remarkable in that he maintains the slow tempo even when he indulges in intricate taans further on. SK of course has affinities with raag Bhoop, but the interesting and subtle movement around teevra madhyam (the sharp 4th note) makes it distinct. His typical vocal mannerisms are in full evidence, using a voice that suits the style he had fashioned: a very slow tempo (ativilambit laya) khayal with the repose found in dhrupad singing. Always meditative in character. And lyrical--i'm tempted to call it lyrical dhrupad.

I've taken to singing this alaapi every day, at least in the way it has inspired me, incorporating phrases that my own guru taught me when singing this raag.

i'll soon put up a few minutes of Amir Khan's original for listeners to savor.

A western-style sense of civic order imposes a kind of monolithic homogeneity on cities and their dwellers in terms of houses, shops, offices, street patterns, etc. Organically-evolved cities, as many in India are, have far more variety in terms of houses, shops, offices and streets--so an order in and respect for the physical environs can and should evolve from within. It need not be along the lines of cities in the West. The very idea of civic order in the modern sense came only with the rise of municipal corporations to manage fast-growing towns. But they arrived long after these towns had established a certain rhythm in the way they grew: in an organic fashion, as daily needs dictated, without futuristic planning of any sort. Development Plans that plan growth with the future in mind are of fairly recent vintage--and most of them remain on paper, with little hope of being fully implemented, though debates about them are numerous and never-ending! Bureaucracy, self-serving government largesse and lethargy are diseases that are hard to treat, let alone cure. Without the support of urban residents, and their initiative, no civic order worth the name will come about. That seems to be a foregone conclusion. The city fathers will forever be found wanting. Stimulus from without and fruitful partnerships might be the only salvation in the long run.

In Pune, where I live, we have a number of first-rate public institutions and private organizations. And any number of talented individuals. But we're riddled (infected?) with a third- or even fourth-rate civic body, filled with slimy, lifelong bureaucrats and assorted buffoons and incompetents who don't care a hoot about the promise this city holds out. This is apparent to any thinking dweller here, but needs to be said again and again as a cathartic ritual.

Fortunately, the spirit of Pune's citizens has yet to be broken, though the pathetic civic body continues to foil their dreams at every step. How do you transform a body that's myopic, lethargic and essentially inert, thanks to the government largesse it's been fed on for years?