In the name of the lord

Sarod Masters Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash, have composed, recorded and released their rendition of two of the popular Ganesh Aarti devotional tracks for Ganesh Chaturthi.

The seventh generation of the Senia Bangash School, Amaan and Ayaan have inherited this legendary lineage from Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, who was a recipient of Padma Vibhushan. With their recent compositions of the two most popular devotional tracks of Ganesha Jai Ganesh, Jai Ganesh and Sukh Karta, Dukh Harta on the Sarod, the duo has tried to interpret the renditions through the classical instrument. “I hope that this track connects with every soul,” says Amaan Ali, adding that according to the Vedas, music is the key to the pathway of divinity, “this is our humble tribute. it was like an inner calling to compose this aarti during Ganpati festival.”

The inspiration behind the concept was certainly the Ganesh festival that’s celebrated every year. However, for these brothers, it is all about paying homage to the lord through music. “We have been planning this for a few years now but it finally happened during this festival,” says Ayaan Ali. He also expresses his fascination towards the idol of Lord Ganesha and the stories associated with him saying, “As a child, I was always fascinated by the lord which is why I would always sketch and draw him playing Sarod.” The tracks have been released and are received well by the listeners.

Besides the fact that this is the first of its kind Sarod rendition, the compositions are a transition from one to the other track, with Ganesha Paran that refers to a kind of composition called pakhavaj that has a varied structure.

While it is always difficult to compose popular songs, the duo feels ecstatic about interpreting the tunes into an instrumental version. “Every track is like a baby for us, we hope that this track connects with every soul as music is the key to the pathway of divinity,” says Amaan. Interrupting him Ayaan adds that these tracks have never been played on Sarod in all these years, however “this wasn’t the intent of doing it, but just a feeling of inner calling to do it,” he adds.

In their long association with music and being sons of the veteran maestro, the duo feels grateful and aim to improve on every aspect of their live performances. “It’s very important to be dissatisfied with yourself. The zeal to improve and get better must be within you,” Ayaan signs off.