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Indo-Caribbean 'Local-classical Music': A Unique Variant of Hindustani Music PETER"ANUEL A s cosmopolitan South Asians are well aware, several Indian perfonning arts, from ~haratanatyarn to Bhangra, havecome to flourish outside of India. especially as cultivated by non-resident Indians and Pakistanis. Most of these art forms. like Bharatanatyam. either adhereclosely to models thriving in India itself, orelse- like the British-based Bhangra- although differing from counterparts in India, are nevertheless familiar to interested urbanites in South Asia, who can buy recordings and cultivate an interest in them ifthey desire. Among the ethnic Indian populations of the Caribbean, a unique sort of Indian music has come to evolve and flourish. which. although originally derived fromIndia.hasdevelopedintoadistinctiveart formessentiallyunknowninIndia. Today, at weddings and other functions in Trinidad, and to some extent in Guyana and Suriname,onecanhearperformancesofwhatmusiciansrefertoasThurnri,Dhrupad,Tillana, Ghazal, Bihag, and other forms that are quite different fromtheir namesakes in lndia.In this article.Iprovideabriefdescriptiveoverviewofthismusic form, illustratinghowNorth Indian music has taken root and evolved into something quite unique in a land far away fromAsia Itself", The Indianpopulation ofthe Caribbean,now numbering about one million,comprises descendants of indentured workers who migrated to the region between 1845 and 1917. Indo-CaribbeansconstituteamajorityofthepopulationofGuyanaandarethelargestethnic groups innearbySurinameandTrinidad.Mostoftheindenturedimmigrants werefrom the Bhojpuri-speaking regions ofwhat is now Biharand Uttar Pradesh; as a result, Bhojpuri became a lingua franca among Indo-Caribbeans and remains widely spoken inSuriname, althoughonlythe veryelderly speakit inGuyanaandTrinidad,where Englishdominates. Descendants ofthecolonial-eraBhojpuridiaspora,whichalsoextendstoFiji.Mauritius, and elsewhere, are insome ways distinct from other non-resident Indians. Unlike most overseas SouthAsians,the Bhojpuricommunitieswere largely cut off from their regional homeland after indentured emigration ceased in 1917. After that date, Indians in the CaribbeanwelcomedthesteadytriclJeofrecords,films, andholymencomingfrom India. but all these largely represented aspects of mainstream Hindi-based North Indian culture rather than Bhojpuri culture per se.As a resuJt,the expressive art formsbrought by the immigrantstended toevolve intheirown directions.Inaccordance with the spread ofthe Englishlanguageandpressurestoacculturatetothenormsofthedominant Afro-Caribbean society,sometraditional aspectsofIndo-Caribbeanmusicculturedeclinedorcreolized.At the same time, however,the relative isolation of manyIndo-Caribbean communities, and the determination 10 perpetuate Indian culture, allowed certain fonns of Indian music to remain vitaland evolvein nee-traditional forms. Sangut Nalak Vol. XXXVII. No. r.2002 • PETER MANUEL Local-classical Music and Indo-Caribbean Music Culture Indo-Caribbeanmusicculturecomprisesavarietyofgenres.InonecategoryareBhojpuri folk songs, including wedding songs,Bhojpuri-style Chowtal(sung during Holi/Pbagwii), and,inSuriname, an archaicform of Birha. Hindifilm musicisprodigiously popular.and ischerishedand sung by innumerableamateur crooners who know little Hindi. In thelast twodecades.acalypso-influencedsyncretic songanddancegenre calledChutney hasalso burst on the music scene, combining Bhojpuri-style melodieswith local Afro-Trinidadian rhythms.Atinyhandfuloflndo-CaribbeanshavecultivatedaninterestinHindustani music. perhaps visiting Indiatostudythe Sitar, or learning songs from Bhatkhande's anthologies atlocal culturalcentres.Inaclassby itselfis the musicdescribed inthis article,variously called 'tan-singing', 'tent-singing',or 'local-classicalmusic'. The origins of local-classical music are obscure. Although most of the indentured immigrants [Q the Caribbean were illiterate peasants. it seems evident that a few of them had some exposure to Hindustani music,whether in the fonn of temple Dhrupad-singing. theThumrisandGhazalsoftawa'ifs.ordilutedformsofclassicalmusicanddancepresented in Nautankitheatre.Such individuals.ifmotivated and talented.couldbecome knownand celebrated asperformers inacommunitythat greatlyvalueditsIndianheritageand wanted toperpetuateIndian culture asmuchas was possible.Singers took special interestin song anthologies imported by merchants, including books like the Brahmanand Bhajan Mala (1901), whichstillcirculates in Indiatoday,the Bhajan Ramayan (1870s),and other long out-of-print books like AnandSagar and AnekSangraha (a Dhrupad collection of 1836, reprinted in 1914).These books containsong lyrics. with labels indicating genre - e.g.. &111Umri"- and. insome cases,raga andtaladesignation; there is nosargam notation. Booksofsongandchantlyrics. fromtheVedastotheRamacharitmanas,appeartohave playedanImportantpart inIndian musicculture foratleast twomillennia,occupying focal positions in the Interaction of urban and rural, folk and classical, and oral and written traditions,Thedramaticadventofthevernacularprinting industryinthenineteenthcentury onlyincreased the influence and spread of such books. In many such collections, suchas the Gila Govinda, verses bear headings which indicate genre. raga, and/or Hila. These headingswerepresumablyintended 10 serveasaids10 carriersofcontinuousoraltraditions, butbecome essentiallymeaninglesswhensuchtraditionsare broken.Hence.amodemfolk singerrenderingaGitaGovindaverselabeled"rfigaHindol"islikelytoignorethatheading. Nevertheless, other singers. and especially those like tan-singers who wish 10 maintain some sense of tradition,often attempt to take the labels seriously. However, mosl of the songbooks used in the Caribbeanare full of archaisms and oddities,dating from a period justbefore therelativestandardizationofHindustani music theory in the secondquarterof the twentiethcentury.Thustheyare fullofnow-extinctorotherwiseunheard-ofragaslike Banjara, Kasuri,and Rasra, and odd headings like "Raga Ghazal" and "Ghazal-Thumri". Untrained vocalists may perpetuate such headings without understanding them. One Trinidadiansinger.forexample.sangatuneformewhichhecaIled"ragaAsavari"because itborethatlabelinthe Kabirsongbookfrom which hetook it:histune. however.bore no resemblance10 that raga. Itappearsthat in theearlydecadesofthe twentieth century. Indo-Caribbean musicians INDO-CARIBBEAN 'LOCAL-CLASSICAL MUSIC' 5 took the fragmentsof Hindustani music knowledgeavailable to them and combined them in a manner which subsequently evolved in a thoroughly idiosyncratic fashion. By the 19505this art had developed into a relatively stable and established idiom, with itsown body oftheory andconventions.anditscombinationofmarginalsurvivals.jumbledbitsof Hindustani music theory. and thoroughly unique Innovations. Although coming to differ dramaticallyfromHindustanimusic,local-classicalmusicdidnotincorporateanyparticular influence from non-Indian sources; rather. itevolved along wholly Indian aesthetic lines, aIthough in aquitedistinctform.Henceforth,on the rare occasions where Indo-Caribbean musicians had opportunitiesto hear 'authentic' Hindustani music, they generally found it alienanddull;and,conversely.onoccasionswherevisitorsfromIndiaheard local-classical music,theyweregenerallyflabbergastedatwhatwasannouncedtobe"Thumri"."Dhrupad", andthe like.Ineffect, local-classical music hadevolved intoits own distinctive art form, withitsown rules. vitality,and legitimacy. Local-classical musicistypically performed byanensembleof solovocalist. who also playsharmonium,accompanied byDholakandastruckmetalrodcalledDantal.TheDantal (dond-tiila?)appears 10 beanobscureBhojpuri-regioninstrumentwhich.forsomereason. became widespread intheIndicCaribbean.To aNorth Indianear, muchoflocal-classical music might sound more or less like a solo Qawwali or stage Bhajan - although with certain structural peculiarities - as rendered by an accomplished group ofprofessional folkmusicians,andwithaparticularlyanimatedandvirtuosoDholakplayer.Local-classical vocalists, or lan-singers. are usually semi-professionals who perform at weddings, puja sessions,andjiigarans(or"jags").Although unable tospeak Hindi.mosthavelearned the Nagari scriptwell enough to readbooks liketheBralunanand assourcesfor lyrics. Typicallytoday, tan-singerswillbehiredbythebride'sfatheratawedding,ifhehappens tobeanenthusiastofthatmusic.Asmall stage withmicrophonesand loudspeakerswill be setup. and the audience,consisting mostly ofelderly people,will sit in folding chairs to enjoy the music, while other guests chat and mill about outside. r an-singers commence aroundtenintheeveningwithan InvccatoryDhrupad,whichisfollowedbyaTillana,and thenavarietyofothergenres,ofwhichthemostcommonisThumri.Typically,afterafew hours, the younger guests start clamouring for Chutney. at which point the ensemble begrudgingly obliges, and a vigorous and often ribald social dancing takes over, and a general moodofhilarityandfunprevailsuntil the wee hours. The term "tan-singing' is typical ofthe sorts ofprocesses bywhichthis local classical musicevolved.In tin-singing,oddly enough. thesingersdo not singany tiins, but instead render songs ina morestraightforward fashion.Moreover, tan-singersare unfamiliarwith theHindustanimeaningoftheword'tan'. However.theyarefamiliarwiththenameTansen, andagenerationagoitwascommontorefer10askilledvocalistasa"Tansen".Inaccordance with the more common Kshatriya surname, 'Tansen' was corrupted to "Tan Singh', and thence to 'tan-singer', affording the term "tan-singing'.Other music terms used by Indo Caribbcansare similarly idiosyncratic.Like many folk musiciansin India. tan-singers use theterm "raga' tomean melodyor tune,ratherthan mode. 'Tala' designatesnotmetre, but tihiii,simpleversionsofwhichare playedbydrummers.Althoughmanysongsarerendered inametre whichHindustani musicianswouldcallKaherva,thatnameislargelyunknown; 6 PETER MANUEL instead, therhythm iscalled"Chaubola",ifanameisusedatall.Sargarn islargelyunknown, and drummers are unable to specify how many miitras are in the metres they play. Thus there isnoname for theseven-beattala used in song-typeslikeBihagand Dandak,norisit understood as having seven beats. Standardized terms, however, are used for sections of songs. Mostsongshave astructure r'dhab",ormould) akintothatofthebol-bandoThumri,in which afewverses (padas) are sung, with some elaboration,afterwhich the song seguesto anextendedlaggi section, over which thefirst line ofthe song (the "tek") isreiteratedand varied while the drummerplays flashy virtuoso improvisations. After a short return to the original tempo (the "thekii"), the song concludes. The laggi section is referredto as daur, chalti, orbarti (perhaps from 'barhna', to develop, grow). In general, the terminology is perhaps more systematicand extensivethan what would beused byatypical North Indian folkmusician, althoughless sothanby a'classicalperformer.The degreeof terminological laxitydoesnot,however,implyahaphazardandindifferentattitudetomusical performance, asmusicians arequick tocriticize performerswhoincorrectlyrendersong-types,with their intricate rhythmic modulations and conventions. Somedistinctionsexist betweenthe variantsoflocal-classicalmusic heard inTrinidad, Guyana, andSuriname.InSuriname,whereHindiandBhojpuriarespokenbymost Indians, songlyricsareaccordinglymore important, andformal distinctionsbetweengenresless so; Surinameselocal-classicalmusic thus has abit more of the flavour of aliving folk music. The Guyanese andTrinidadianstyles are more formalized, withcleardistinctionsbetween genres.Although theGuyanesestyleispractisedonlybyahandful ofmusicians,Trinidadian local-classicalmusic isstillperformedfrequently; itsvitality, however,isweakenedbythe decline of Hindi/Bhojpuri comprehension and otherfactors. One ofthefeatures distinguishinglocal-classicalmusic from atypicalfolk repertoireis therecognitionofavariety ofsong-typesor subgenres which are distinguished from each other by formal musical features. These song-types have diverse sorts of relationships to their namesakes in North India, as the following briefdescriptions suggest. Dhrupad Any formal performance of local-classical music commences with a Dhrupad, which functions as a sort of invocatory prelude. On first hearing, an Indo-Caribbean Dhrupad wouldseemtobear littleresemblancetoitsclassicalHindustaninamesake,as theformeris ashort songofaroundthree orfour minutes,precededonlybyafew iiliip-likephrasesand adohii, andwith very little developmentof raga or tala. The compositionitselfissung not tothe Dhrupadtalas used inIndia, but to ametre which could be countedin eitherfour or eightbeats (and which is less bouncy and syncopated than Kaherva/Chaubola). However, even inNorth India, Dhrupad is best understood as comprising a family of genres, which wouldinclude congregationalSamaj-gayan,PushtimargHaveli Sangeet,andothertemple based relatives. These tend to share certain musical and textual features which are also commontoIndo-CaribbeanDhrupad, which thusshouldbeunderstoodasabonafidemember ofthe Dhrupadfamily. Ir\'DO-CARIBBEAN 'LOCAL-CLASSICAL MUSIC' 7 AmongtheaffinitieswithHindustaniDhrupadarethetextsforIndo-CaribbeanDhrupads, which adhere to thestandard four-line form of theirHindustani counterparts, since they derive from Dhrupads in song anthologies like Anek Sangraha. Further. Indo-Caribbean local-classicalDhrupad,likeitsHindustaninamesake,isregarded asaseriousandstately genre, whose devotional, invocatory charactercoheres withthe religious inspiration foregroundedinNorthIndiantempleDhrupadtraditions.Moresignificantisthestructural resemblanceofrenditionstyles.InmanyCaribbeanrenderings.moreorlessasinHindustani Dhrupad, thecomposition is firstsungin astraightforward manner,inarelatively slow tempo.Withthereturntothesthdyi,thebartildaurcommencesandaccelerates,andthetext isagainrenderedonce,butinafaster,syllabicstyle.Althoughthereisnoparticularlayakiiri or bot-bent, the basic format ofHindustani Dhrupad and Havel!Sangeet - a slow first rendering, followed by oneormorefaster, moresyllabic and rhythmic renderings- is oftenretained.Further.inbothCaribbeanandHindustaniDhrupad,thedrummerimprovises fastpatterns inthe second,acceleratedsection.ThebrevityoftheIndo-Caribbeanmapis alsoafeaturenotonlyoftemple-basedDhrupad,butalsoofthecourttraditionofDarbhanga inBihar.The useofthe Dantal in local-classical music also corresponds totheroleofthe Jhanjh in temple Dhrupad. The mostpopularIndo-CaribbeanDhrupadtextis 'Prathammanonkar', which isalso familiarinIndia.IntheDagarfamilytraditionofNorthIndia.itissunginragaBihag. while DarbhangamusicianssingitinragaAhirBhairav",whosescaleisnotfoundintheCaribbean. IntheCaribbean.thistextismostoftensunginamodelooselyresemblingtheNorth Indian ragaBihag(seeExampleI.p.15).althoughthatragaperseisnotrecognizedintheCaribbean. Itseemsquitelikely that the melodycamefrom Indian oral tradition. TherootsofIndo-CaribbeanDhrupadmayliebothintemple-andcourt-basedtraditions. especially sincebothappeartohaveexistedinBiharandeasternUttarPradesh.Theprincely courtofDarbhanga innorthern BiharwasanimportantcentreofDhrupadpatronage,and varietiesoftemple-basedDhrupadtraditionshave flourishedinAyodhya,Banaras. Kanpur, and elsewhereinthe region. Finally, of course, asingle influential immigrant musician fromany North Indian regioncould well have initiated the Caribbean Dhrupadtradition. TiI/{ma Tilliin. is one ofthe more enigmatic Indo-Caribbean genres. differing quite markedly fromitsSouthIndiannamesake.Asreadersof thisjournalknow,'til/anii' isthecommon SouthIndiancognatetermfor'tariinif.TheIndo-Caribbeanuseoftheterm'tillana' instead of the morefamiliarHindustani'tarana' is not initselfmarkedly anomalous. The word 'tariina'isoccasionallyusedbytan-singers,and. likewise,theterm'tillana' isrecognized inNorthIndia.Evenclassicaltreatisesliketheseventeenth-centuryTohfat-ulHindidentify thetermsasequivalent.MoreconspicuousisthedistinctionthattheIndo-CaribbeanTillana employs a lexical Hindi text. in which typicalTariin' syllables t'dim-tanana', etc.), if appearingatail,occuronlybriefly.Myinitialassumptiononencounteringthisvariantwas that it represented yet another Indo-Caribbean idiosyncracy- or, less charitably, a 'corruption' - of anotherwise standardizedand well-documentedHindustanitradition. However,TillanaswithHinditextsinfacttumouttoconstituteanestablishedNorthIndian. 8 PETERMANUEL tradition.albeitanobscure one,representedintheappearanceofahandfulofsuchsongsin tum-of-the-century anthologies like the Anand Sagar. TheTillanas in such anthologies are somewhat enigmatic in themselves.Itis possible that they may have existed as dance pieces in music-dramas like the Indar Sabha, and Nautanki ingeneral.Thus.onetatteredanthologyshowntomecontainedasongtextlabelled _(in Nagari) "Tariiniinatal kat! shohar" (sic - presumably "qatl-e shohar', i.e., 'Tarana from thedrama Qat/-eShohar', 'The Murder ofthe Husband'). In 'intermediary' idioms likeNautanki andRasJila.,whichcombinedfolk-derivedandsemi-classicalstyles.itisquite conceivable that dance items mighthave been performedto pieces labelled tillanaltarana. Tarana. whichperhapsborethatlabel becauseoftheuseofmelodiesderived fromclassical Performersofrelativelyword-orientedgenresof'intermediate"dance-dramaandfolkmusics wouldhavehadlittleuseforclassical Tillanas,withtheirmeaninglesstexts, butcouldhave employedhybridTillanasusingfeaturesoftheclassicalIdiom.ftispreciselysuchTilliinas, i.e., with lexical texts. that would beincluded in song anthologies, rather than standard Tilljinilswhosetextsconsistsolelyofmeaninglesssyllables.And,infact,theTilldniisfound in anthologies are very few in number, suggesting that this tradition - now effectively extinct in India- was not widespread to begin with. Accordingly, there areonly asmall numberofTillana texts that recur in local-classical music. Most ofthese follow a certain format, whichevidently constituted somethingofa nanninIndia. Theygenerallyconcern Indian musicology (like some Dhrupads); in the manner ofthe obscure Chaturang, they include passages of sargam and non-lexical syllables ('tananana', etc.), such as would generally dominate classical Taranf texts.These features are evident in 'Bhaliikoi rang yuktisegave'. which is the most popular local-classical Tillana text, and is found in the AnandSagar: Rho/akoirangyuktisegave, samagamamamagama sudJuisudhiirang tum lanananamanbhave. pratham raga Bhairoke drutiya Malkos Bhairavi Nat ToriourSiiranggave,SorathourVibhosJhanjhoti KiinhraAlhaiya DipakDhiina Desh Kedar Proj Sohini sundve ghazairekhtattiinagal'elum lonananoman bhiwe apneman segun;kahiiye,tansurkabhednopuye kahe Jfian TiinsensunhuBraj Baura koichhatrapati10tanSltlla\'e The marginality of such Tillanas to modern Hindustani music practice is reflected not onlyinthe presenceoflexical texts,butalso in odditiesin thetextsthemselves.•Bhalii koi rang',asidefrom citing the archaic raga NatTodi,ambiguously mentions "trona" (sic tarana),"BrajBaura"(sic- BaijuBawra),and ragas"Dbana"and"Praj' (sic- Dhiiniand Paraj?). \Vhile the most popular Tillana texts resemble this one, tan-singers can and do employanytext forrenderingasaTillana.A typical local-classical musicsession,suchas a wedding,mightinclude three singers,eachofwhom isobliged to sing oneTillana,Ifthe first Iwo vocalists have sung theone ortwo familiar texts like 'Bha/a kol rang', then the INDO·CARIBBEAN ·LOCAL·CLASSICALMUSIC' 9 thirdsingermustnaturallyhaveanotheroneready.whichcanbetakenfromabooklikethe Brahmanandand settothestandardIndo-CaribbeanTillanf melody. Although the Indo-Caribbean Tilliinamay come 10 resemble a Bhajan more thanthe Hindustani Tarana, it retains a certain aura of classical rigour, and is accordingly sung immediately after the invocational Dhrupad. (Ifmore than one singer is present - for example,atawedding- eachwillsingaDhrupadandaTillanjibeforepassingthemiketo thenextvocalist.)The'classical' natureofthisTilliinjiismanifestinitsspecificaffinitiesto Hindustani music. One of its 'classical"features is the distinctive Tillaoaaccompanying rhythm. which sounds somewhat like a medium-tempo Tintal pattern without any khlili section.GiventhelackofexposuretomodemHindustanimusic,andthepossibilitythatme modernformofTintalthekadidnotcrystallizeuntilthelatenineteenthcentury,itwouldin factbesurprisingtoencounter in local-classical music apattern morecloselyresembling standardNorth IndianTintal, Tillana melodies also reflect markedparallels to Hindustanimusic. InTrinidad, most Tlllanasusethetek melodyshowninExample2(p. 15).Thistunecloselyresemblesthe most common medium- or fast-tempo vocal or instrumental composition pattern in the familiar Hindustani raga Kill. It was a particularly popular stock tune in the nineteenth century. Bandish Thumri composer Lallan Piya (d. 1925). a few of whose verses are encounteredintheCaribbean,setatleasttwelvetextstothismelody,whichalsobecamea popularSitargat':ThemostcommonmelodyofKaf Han canalsobeseenasaseven-or fourteen-beatvariantof thistune;this HoriJHolimelodyissungnotonlyinsemi-classical music,butin"intermediate' genresliketheBraj-regionRaslilaandtempleSamaj-gayan.In Nonh India,duringtheindentureshipperiod,thiswasprobablythesinglemostpopularand familiarof classical and light-classical melodies,andit is entirelylikely thatit wouldbe knownto more than a few indentured immigrants. Somehowit cametobeassociatedin Trinidad withTillanatexts, In conjunction with this tek melody in local-classical music, the most commontune usedforthepadascanberegardedasfollowingaverytypicalantariipatternofHindustani medium-andfast-tempocompositions.Inparticular.asillustratedinExample3(p.16).its commencementroughlyresemblesstandardantarapatternsinragaslikeJaunpuri,Asavari, Bhairavi,andDarbari,Usedtogetherwiththetektune,thispatterngivesTillanathecharacter ofaverytypicalmadhya-laya Hindustanicheez.looselycompatiblewiththeNorthIndian ragaKill andtheotherragasnamedabove.althoughnotcoheringperfectlytoanyofthem. Typically,eachlinemightbesungafewtimeswithsomevariation,andinterspersedwith briefmelisrnaticpassages.Notethaiinsingingthesargarnlinet'soregama...'),thevocalist inExample3makesnoattempttomatchhispitchestothosenamed. Othermelodiesarealsoencountered.Thetext'Bha/iikoirang',forinstance,isusually sungasshowninExample4(p.16),inwhatHindustanimusiciansmightregardasatypical medium-tempocompositioninragaKhamaj, Indo-Caribbean Tillana can be seen to exhibit some of the idiosyncratic results of elaboration and combination of a few specific elements derivedfrom oral tradition especially,thestockHindustaniKafiandantaratunes-andfromwrittentexis.inparticular, theobscure,marginal,andnowextincttraditionofTillandswithHindilyrics. 10 PETER MANUEL Thumri ThumriisthesinglemostpopularandimportantsubgenreofTrinidadianandGuyanese local-classicalmusic.Atatypicalsongsession(e.g.,awedding)inthesecountries,oncethe obligatory Dhrupad and Tillana have been dispensedwith, most ofthe subsequent pieces consistofThumris,interspersedwithGhazals,Bhajans,andothermiscellaneousitems.As such,Thumrismaybesaidtoconstitutealmosthalfofthelocal-classicalmusicrepertoire. both in live performances as well as on recordings. Moreover, Thumri's particularly idiosyncratic and distinctive fonn makes itquintessentially representative of the sons of transformativeandgenerativeprocesseswhichhaveanimatedtheevolutionoflocal-classical music.Understandingthe evolutionofThumri,inmany respects, wouldprovide akeyto reconstructing local-classical music history in general. Unfortunately, much of its developmentremainsobscure,althoughanalysiscanrevealcertaininsights. The modemNorthIndianThunui,althoughstylisticallyandtechnically'semi-classical', restsfullyinthesocialmilieuofHindustaniclassicalmusic.Despitethedemocratizationof certain aspecls ofNorth Indianarts culture,Thunui inIndiaislittle heardoutside ofurban concerthallsattendedbybourgeoisarts patrons.However,duringthe periodofindentured emigrationtotheCaribbean,Thumri- whetherinsimpleorevolvedform- mayhave enjoyedasomewhatbroader-baseddissemination.Ingeographicalterms,fineartspatronage wasnotlimited,asitis today, 10largecities (especiallyDelhi,Bomhay,and Calcutta), bUI extendedtomanysmallerregionaltownslikeGayaandDarhhangawhichhostedprovincial courts.Further, courtesanperformers,withtheirinherently ambiguous socialstatus,were able todisseminate 'light-classical' Thumri and Ghazal beyondthe rarefieddomain ofthe court. Thumri thusfounditswayinto 'intermediate'idiomsliketheNautanki andRaslila dance-dramas.We mayalso recall Sharar's observation of "bazaar boys"in nineteenth centuryLucknowsinginglight-classicalpieces".There isthuseveryreasontoassumethat a few immigrants to the Caribbean might have had some exposure 10 and perhaps even basictraininginsomestyleofTbumri,However,there isnoevidencethatsubsequenttan· singers hadany exposure 10 theHindustaniThumri, whetherviaimported recordings or visitingartists.Thus,oncetheinitialseedsofThumriweretransplanted,thegenrewasfree, indeed obliged, todevelopin itsown wholly idiosyncraticform. Such conditions would explain the thoroughly distinctive form the Indo-Caribbean Thumrihastaken.Themodemlocal-classicalThunuibearsonlygeneralstructuralaffinities with its North Indian namesake. Specifically, the Caribbean Thunui, like the modem HindustaniThumri, commences withatcklsthayi, which subsequentlypunctuates more extendedrenderingsofafewlinesofverse, whichmaylaketheformofanantara aseending to theuppertonic.Afterafew minutes. thesingeruses areturn to thetek to signalthe drummer 10 commence the daurlbartillaggi section,during which the drummer plays fast virtuosopanerns whilethesingerreiterates thetek and/orverses,ofteninamoresyllabic manner.Thereisthenashortreturntothetekinsomethingliketheoriginaltempo.andthe piece ends. Inotherrespects, however, theIndo-Caribbean Thumri is quitedistinctive. It hasno particularassociation withdance oreroticism. and its texts aremore likely 10celebrate Rama than Krishna. perhaps in accordance with the special emphasis on Rama worshipin INDO-CARIBBEAN 'LOCAL-CLASSICALMUSIC' 11 Bhojpuriculture.Local-classicalThumri isalsodistinctiveinitsformalfeatures.Insteadof the folk-derived fourteen- or sixteen-beat Dipchandi/Chiinchar metre, Indo-Caribbean Thumriuseswhatcouldbeconsideredafour-oreight-beattala.hnproviscdpassagesroughly akintobel-bamandbol-banaooccasionallyoccur,butthereislittleself-consciouscultivation of these techniques,andthese termsarenotknownintheCaribbean.Mostconspicuousis thewayIndo-CaribbeanThumrihasacquireditsownsetoftypicalmelodies,rhythms,and sub-styles; these are particularly marked in theTrinidadian Thumri, withitsrigorously standardizedformal structure.Onthe whole,itseemslikelythatasimple andearlyformof bol-banaoThumri wasintroducedbyafewimmigrantsintheearlydecadesofthetwentieth century.Lackingstrongrootsineitheroralfolktraditionortemple-basedmusicpractices. and not being reinforced by imported records (unlike Ghazal and Qawwiili), the Indo CaribbeanThumri subsequently developed initsowndistinctiveforms.possiblyas shaped inparticularbyaveryfewinfluentialmusicians. The formalstructure of theTrinidadian Thumri is highly standardized, including not onlythegeneralformatbutalsotheplacementofspecifictala/tihaicadences.Thisstructure can be schematized as follows: Doha(sung infree rhythm); tek renderings (with thekaaccompaniment),leading toa taJaltihiii; firstpada, usuallyinvolvingametricaldisplacement; returnto tek andtheka, leadingtoa taJaltihiii; second pada, rendered like the first; return totekandtheka, leadingtoataJaltihiii; daur/barti,during which the tek, and the first,second.and possibly a thirdpadamay.besung; returnto tekand theka, leading to the finaltiilaltihiii. Most TrinidadianThumrirefrainmelodies use a finite setofstock tunes. orslight variationsthereof.These typicallydescendto sa,andincorporate asyncopatedtihai-like figure in the rnukhra which leads to the sam (inExample 5, p. 16, in the phrase 'Ramko bha-jo').ThetekmelodyofExample5isthemostcommonstockrefraintune;anyThumri usingthistuneisreferredtoasa"BhajanThurnri".ThistennisnotusedinmodemHindustani musicdiscourse.althoughitdoesoccurinoldsonganthologies, The 'metricaldisplacement' referredto inthechartaboveisaparticularly distinctive featureoftheTrinidadianThumri,andmustbeheardtobeappreciated.FromaHindustani perspective,itsoundsasif thesongisessentially inKaherva, butatthe beginningofthe first pada the Dholak player renders a short tihiiilanding notonthe sam, buton the beat after the sam.and the entire tiil.. with its pattern ofdownbeats and upbeats,shifts back a beat.Thesingerthenfollowsthisnewpauerninhisphrasingofthepadauntilreturningto thesthayi/tekpattern, withitstihai-like mukhra;this.however,herendersabeattoosoon, as itwere,suchthatthetalashiftsagain,ineffectremovingtheextrabeatthathadbeen addedaminuteorsoearlier.Asoneaccustomedtothemetricalregularityofmostmusics, Ifound thisrhythmicmodulationto bequitemind-bogglingand disorienting.Myattempts tounderstanditwereconfoundedbythefactthat Indo-Caribbean musiciansdonotcount beats and could not acknowledge that anything peculiar was taking place. (Eventually I PETERMANUEL 12 foundone drummer who said, "Yeah,itshifts.and then itshifts back.") In the Guyanese Thumri style,thesense ofmetreisevenmore slipperyand unstable, asthe singer cancause a metrical shift at anypointby singingthe tek/sthayi,withits clear cadential pattern.such that the samoccurs on anybeat;the drummer and the Dantal player- and listeners who are tappingtheirfeet- mustquicklyadjustto thenew pattern.Theentiresongisrendered insuchasyncopatedmanner,withtheDholakprovidingnon-stopfireworks.thattheconcept ofsam or downbeat is relatively unimportant. In effect, in their Thumri, Indo-Caribbean musicianshaveperpetuatedtheIndianfondnessforlinearsyncopation.whileleavingbehind inIndia theconceptofastrongsamordownbeat. SomeTrinidadian Thumrisdonot containthese distinctive metrical modulations;these arereferredtoas"MarfatThumri"- aleonwhichisyetanotherenigmaticandidiosyncratic Indo-Caribbeanism.The word 'ma'rifat' (Urdu: mystical knowledge) does not occur in Hindustanimusicdiscourse.burafewTrinidadiansingersinsisted tome thattheyhadseen designations like 'marfat ghazal' in old songbooks. We can envision an influential Trinidadiansingerinperhapsthe 1920spopularizing asong whichhe describesas "marfal ghazal". in accordance with its designation in his songbook. The melody to this song, subsequently understood by other singers as 'miirfat', then becomes detached from the Ghazalformat and gets appliedtoThumri.Somehow,the term thencomesto beapplied to afewotherThurnri melodies, and more specifically to acertain rhythmic format. Ghazal Ghazal isone ofthemostpopular and common subgenresinthe Indo-Caribbean loca1 classicalrepertoire,accountingforalargeportionofatypicalsongsession'sitems,andone being well represented on commercial recordings. In most respects, the Indo-Caribbean Ghazal resembles its subcontinental counterpart, especially as flourishing in the early twentiethcentury.Atthesametime,itsdifferencesareillustrativeofthedistinctiveformative processes that have shaped local-classical musicasa whole. Like Thumri,the light-classical Ghazalacquired a special popularity in urban Awadh (especially Lucknow) inthe mid-1800s. particularly as performed by courtesans. regional Nautankitroupes,andothers.As such.althoughGhazal (bothas poetryand song)hasbeen primarilyanurbancultivatedforrnratherthanaruralfolkone.itissafetoassumethatquite afew indenturedimmigrantswerenoronly familiarwith itbutwereableto sing itinsome fashion. Ghazal's popularity in the Caribbean was greatly reinforced in the 19305 and '405 by the importation of commercial78-rpm records from India.most ofwhich consisted either ofGhazalorQawwali,Especiallypopular were theGhazalsofK.L.Saigal. K.C. Dey, and other Indian vocalists who sang in a somewhat simplified light-elassical style.Some tan singersstillperformtheGhazalsofthesecrooners,Evenmorecommonhasbeenthepractice ofselling book-derived Ghazal texts to Saigal and K.C. Dey melodies. which have thus acquired the character ofstock tunes.Since hardly any Indo-Caribbeans read Urdu, they derivetheirGhazaltextsfromversesthuslabelledinHindianthologiesliketheBrahmanand. The Hindi 'Ghazals' inthesebooks arecuriosities in themselves. with theirHindi diction, their Hindu devotional content,and theirfrequent lack ofeither thedistinctive verse form