One song at a time - 23. Karim Khan and Karaharapriya
(Ustad Abdul Karim Khan) We saw earlier in this series how Gurudev Tagore was inspired by Muthuswamy Dikshtar and composed a song based on Dikshitar's "meenakshi me mudham dehi". One more great personality from North, Ustad Abdul Karim Khan was also so enamoured by Carnatic music that he learnt and recorded a few krithis!! You will understand why this is something unique if you know about Ustad Abdul Karim Khan. He was a great musician and was, what the Hindustani people call, the 'khalifa' of Kirana Garana. You can understand the impact his style had on Hindustani music by looking at the 'shisya parampara' of his gharana. Sawai Gandharva, Hirabai Barodekar, Bhimsen Joshi, Gangubhai Hangal, Sureshbabu Mane, Basavaraj Rajguru. All of whom were top class and influential musicians. Abdul Karim Khan was a revered musician of those times and it is indeed surprising to know that such a man took pains to learn and render krithis in a musical form which was qui...