Welcome to the Asurer Surolokjatra series — a journey that was originally titled Gaan Kheko. As this series essentially represents the diary of my personal journey through music, it seems only fitting to begin with a few words about myself.
Having been born into a deeply conservative Muslim family, listening to or practising music was not something that was readily encouraged. Although our family historically followed a Sufi tradition—where music and spirituality often share a close relationship—over time the influence of Wahhabi ideology on some of the family elders gradually narrowed that space. As a result, opportunities to engage with music became even more limited.
Yet, as is often the case, the very things that are restricted tend to attract the mind the most—especially during one’s formative years. It was perhaps through this quiet resistance that I developed a deep curiosity about music. Outside the boundaries of formal education, I began listening to many different kinds of songs and musical traditions. Although I never had the opportunity to receive formal training in music, my fascination with it continued to grow.
Thus began what I now call my journey through the realm of sound — the Asurer Surolokjatra, or the musical odyssey of a self-confessed ‘song-devourer’.
Table of Contents
Gaan Kheko- Index
Because I entered working life at a very young age, formal education gradually lost its place in my life. At the same time, the habit of listening to music attentively and regularly also became irregular. As the years passed, the constant struggle of professional life left little room to devote conscious attention to music, instruments, art, or culture.
Only after the end of the first professional innings of my life—my long career in employment—did I finally find the time to pause and look back at myself. It was then that I realised how much of my life I had spent in a state of comfortable ignorance. Ignorance, after all, often breeds overconfidence and a false sense of pride; and for that very reason I had never felt the need to truly educate myself. When I finally stood face to face with my own reflection at the close of that first innings, I began to recognise my mistakes very clearly. From that moment began a new journey of self-repair—a process of rediscovering myself through history, politics, art, and culture.
During this process of self-reflection, classical music began to resonate deeply within my heart. Unfortunately, by the time this awakening arrived, the age for training my voice had long passed. New responsibilities, along with social and family obligations, meant that I no longer had the opportunity to embrace music through singing or through instruments. Yet music has a curious quality—it is an addiction from which one cannot easily recover, even if one wishes to. Gradually, my relationship with music became something like the proverbial “poor man’s horse disease”—a passion that cannot be fulfilled but refuses to disappear. I may not understand the technicalities of music very well, but I listen to songs all day long; I devour music, and it seems that even my dreams are filled with melodies.
Some people, after falling in love with music, become composers; some become singers; others become instrumentalists or critics. I realised fairly quickly that none of these paths were meant for me. So I decided that I would simply become a listener. With that mindset I began to study music seriously. At first I thought it would be an easy task—a kind of comfortable “sitting job”. But within a short time I discovered that becoming a good listener is far from simple.
Although I may be somewhat lazy and prone to shortcuts, I have never quite developed the habit of surrendering easily in life. Somehow or other I usually manage to find a way forward. So I began to wonder which path might work for me in this situation. Eventually a rather mischievous idea came to mind. I had once heard someone say that the easiest way to understand a subject thoroughly is to write a book about it! But since I could barely distinguish a musical scale, writing a full book on music seemed far too ambitious. After much thought, I decided instead to write something simpler—a kind of listener’s cheat sheet, something like the old “Poppy Guide” books we had in our student days, which helped weaker students somehow scrape through their exams.
I gave this little notebook the title “Gaan Kheko”. Later, the name evolved into “Asurer Surolokjatra”—A Journey through the Realm of Sound.
Title of the Copybook: “Gaan Kheko (The Song Eater)”
The subject of this series is quite simple: how to listen to Hindustani classical music, how to understand it, and how to truly enjoy it.
Even today, I remain nothing more than a novice listener. Gaan Kheko is merely the notebook of that journey. Much of it has been written in moments of great excitement—capturing immediate impressions, often with a confidence that later proved somewhat misplaced. From time to time, when I learn something new, I return to the earlier pages and revise them. Yet many mistakes undoubtedly remain, simply because my own knowledge is still limited.
I firmly believe that those who have never formally learned music but nevertheless wish to appreciate classical music will understand the struggle. It often feels like the proverbial “blind men describing an elephant”—each of us sensing only fragments, trying to piece together the whole. I know that struggle well. It is precisely for people like myself—those wandering in the dark, trying to make sense of sound—that I found the courage to share these notes.
Let me say this clearly: the Asurer Surolokjatra series will probably be of little use to experts in classical music. It is not written for scholars or seasoned musicians. It is written for curious listeners who stand at the doorway of classical music and wish to step inside.
The most important thing I should add—placing full trust in the kindness of readers—is that this work inevitably contains many errors. If you happen to notice any mistake and kindly point it out, I would be absolutely delighted and deeply grateful.
The structure of Asurer Surolokjatra is also somewhat unconventional. Instead of preparing a traditional table of contents, I have made this very article serve as the index to the series. The other articles are linked directly within this text. From those articles, further links lead to related discussions. So, if something catches your interest and you wish to explore it in greater detail, all you need to do is follow the links.
In that sense, this series is not just a set of essays—it is a map of a personal journey through the world of sound.
So then… shall we begin?
Since childhood, you may have heard many kinds of music—just as I have. Songs reached our ears through cassette tapes, radio broadcasts, television programmes, or live performances. Some we listened to deliberately, out of curiosity or fondness; others simply drifted into our ears from the world around us. It did not require much effort.
For most people of our generation, the greatest labour involved in enjoying music was perhaps making a list of favourite songs and getting them recorded onto a cassette so that we could listen to them repeatedly (today, of course, that effort is no longer necessary). But even then, we did not need any special education to enjoy those songs. We simply listened—and somehow the music made sense to us.
However, when I first stepped into the world of classical music, I discovered something quite different. I was told that if one truly wished to enjoy it, one had to listen with understanding. It was not merely a matter of grasping the literal meaning of the lyrics; to appreciate the full beauty and structure of the music, one needed to understand many other elements as well. In other words, one had to train the mind, the ear, and the intellect—to shape them gradually through effort and curiosity. Simply put, listening to music itself had to be learned.
At that very moment my rebellious mind raised a few questions:
- When there are so many kinds of songs in the world, why go through all this trouble to listen to classical music?
- Why should listening to music require preparation and effort beyond simply hearing it?
While reading this blog, you may also wonder how someone like me—coming from the rather rigid world of information technology—became entangled in the enchantment of melody. I once wrote that story in a festival publication released during the Bengal Music Festival, in an article titled “Kan Pete Roi”.
Strictly speaking, one does not need to know theory in order to enjoy music. Yet I found myself curious about these questions, and so I began searching for answers. What follows in this series are notes drawn from my own humble notebook of exploration:
- What exactly is Classical Music, also known as marga sangeet or raga-based music?
- Within that, what is Indian classical music?
- And within that tradition, what is Hindustani classical music?
- What is South Indian classical music, or the Carnatic system?
- And how do these different musical systems or traditions differ from one another?
At this stage you might be thinking: when we speak of classical music, we hear songs performed in many styles, or instruments played in numerous ways. But what is the common element underlying all of this? What exactly are we listening for when we listen to classical music? To explore that question, you may wish to read the article titled “What Should We Listen For?”
But as with any journey, a little preparation helps make the path smoother and more enjoyable. So before we proceed further, it may be worthwhile to take a look at the article on “Preparing to Listen.”
Music may be experienced either through recordings or through live performances. In classical music, however, there are certain established conventions of presentation. Each vocalist or instrumentalist typically unfolds the music according to a particular sequence. That sequence depends on many factors—the performer’s gharana (lineage or stylistic school), training, personal expression, mood, the nature of the audience, and even the medium of performance. To understand this structure more clearly, you may read the article titled “The Basic Structure of Hindustani Classical Music Performance.”
Since you have come this far, I assume that you are genuinely interested in listening to classical music. And to listen to classical music with greater enjoyment, a basic understanding of its grammar can be extremely helpful. For that reason, I have included a section titled “Grammar and Structure of Raga”.
In that section you will find introductory discussions on concepts such as Naad (sound), Swar or Sur (notes), Shruti (microtones), and Saptak (octave). There are also basic explanations of Tala (rhythmic cycle), Theka (rhythmic pattern), and Laya (tempo).
Alongside these topics, it may also be helpful to gain a preliminary understanding of how to read musical notation (Swaralipi). Once you become familiar with the notation system, it will be much easier to follow the raga notes that appear later.
After acquiring a general sense of these fundamentals, we may proceed towards the world of raga itself. It would be best to begin with the Raga Shastra Index, where you can obtain an introductory understanding of ragas before gradually exploring them one by one.
Whenever I felt that I had begun to understand a particular raga through listening, I made some simple notes to help explain it more clearly. I have prepared an index linking those notes together so that readers can explore them easily. You may visit the Index of Raga Notes, where these notes are gradually being added over time.
In addition to this, the ragas have been organised in several different ways, including:
- Family-based or Ragang-based groups of ragas
- Thaat-based classification of ragas
- Time-based groups of ragas
- Season-based lists of ragas
- Rasa-based groupings of ragas (according to emotional mood)
- A comprehensive list of both common and rare ragas
Classical music is also performed through various styles and traditions. From the genres I have encountered while listening, I have selected several examples and included them in a section titled “Styles and Genres of North Indian / Hindustani Classical Music.”
Another very important concept in classical music is the gharana, or lineage of musical tradition. In the “Gharana Index”, you will find discussions on the concept of gharanas, introductions to several well-known gharanas, and links to various useful resources.
I must admit that I have not yet fully understood the field of music therapy (Sur Chikitsa). However, while reading about the subject I encountered some interesting information, which I have compiled under the heading “Music Therapy Index.”
Once you enter the world of classical music, you will naturally become curious about the great artists and composers associated with it. You may wish to learn about various composers, lyricists, instrumentalists, vocalists, and their works. I have attempted to record whatever I have heard or read about these individuals. If you wish, you can browse those notes in the section titled “Favourite Artists Index.”
At one time I had a small hobby of collecting the lyrics of my favourite songs. Unfortunately, those notebooks were lost more than once. Now I am trying to build a digital archive on the web where I can preserve my favourite song lyrics, kalam, and bandish.
Another fascinating aspect of classical music is the countless stories about the great ustads and pandits who shaped this tradition. Many of those anecdotes are as captivating as the music itself. While listening to music, I have also read those stories with great interest. I have therefore tried to gather some of them in a section titled “Fragments of Musical Tales.”
Since beginning this journey of learning how to listen to music, I have consulted numerous books, notes, and online references. Thinking that these resources might also be useful to others, I have created a page called “Gaan Kheko Reference,” which I hope to update regularly.
Initially, I intended this series to remain confined solely to classical music. However, the interest shown by listeners has encouraged me to include discussions of folk traditions and other forms of song, along with their lyrics and interpretations. Among them are:
- Bhawaiya songs
- Bhatiali songs
- Gambhira songs
- Sari songs
- Jari songs
A Note to the Reader
One more thing—perhaps the most important thing. This is not a complete guidebook. It is merely a notebook of scattered thoughts and discoveries. Much of it remains unfinished. Whenever I find a little time, I add something new to it.
Disclaimer
In this series, the names of artists have not been arranged according to seniority or any other formal order. The recordings included are not necessarily the finest renditions of those artists; rather, they are simply the tracks that were available on YouTube at the time of compilation.
The various facts and pieces of information mentioned in the articles have been collected from different sources, and references to those sources are provided throughout the blog. Depending on where one listens or reads, certain details may vary. In addition, some typographical errors may remain due to the process of typing and compiling the material. I would be grateful if readers kindly point out any such mistakes.
This article is still a work in progress…
You are warmly invited to visit again.
See also
Other published writings on music by Sufi Faruk Ibn Abu Bakar:
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Sangeet Gurukul: What is Music?