Colour-Coded Ragas

The cacophony of Connaught Circus segues into the slow, majestic strains of the Kambhoji raga as you walk through the glass doors of Arts.i gallery at Scindia House in Delhi.

The American artistJames McGarrell finds shades of ragas in his works

The cacophony of Connaught Circus segues into the slow, majestic strains of the Kambhoji raga as you walk through the glass doors of Arts.i gallery at Scindia House in Delhi. On a hazy, seemingly uninspiring November evening, the American artist James McGarrell is ready to convince you that every sound has a season, and raga can be colour-coded. 8220;There is a raga for each season and time and there is a shade that can describe it,8221; says the 78-year-old, leafing through Joep Bor8217;s The Raga Guide: A Survey of 74 Hindustani Ragas, and finally stopping at a page featuring a table of a 17th century ragamala consisting 36 ragas.

Just a few months ago, McGarrell was at the studio in his Vermont home, poring over the detailed description of each raga compiled by curator Alka Pande and playing cds to find corresponding traits in the watercolours and gouaches that he painted after his India sojourn in February 2007. When he had arrived in Delhi as artist in residence on an invitation by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, he had 20 blank 11215;15 inch sheets of paper; when he returned to the US, each had a splash of colour, a swathe of unformed hue. Back home, he finally decided to dedicate a series to the ragamala. But, no, he did not play a raga in the background and swirl his brush to it. First he painted, with a vague idea of ragas, their elemental beauty, their seasonal exuberance, their notes bound to each time of the day. The painting with a sliver of yellow breaking through deep purple 8212; shafts of light descending through a tear in the clouds 8212; had to be Malhar. Another enveloped in night, with a full moon dangling between earth and sky had to be Kedar, that sombre raga sung at night. 8220;I just let the work speak to me,8221; says McGarrell, who added 16 more to the original 20.

The watercolour Dipak in shades of deep red and yellow spreads like a forest fire, seemingly emanating heat, as a perfect rendering of the raga is fabled to; and the strokes in Madhumadhavi pour down like a monsoon ragini. The traces of Indian miniatures, which liberally portrayed the ragas, can be seen in the works. 8220;The frames and the gouache are reminiscent of India miniatures,8221; he says.

Those familiar with McGarrell8217;s oeuvre will agree that music is a natural choice for him. Four years ago, he paid tribute to eight jazz artists, including Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. And even though he confesses that it is still hard for him to distinguish each raga, Kamboji and Kedar feature on his playlist back home along with classical jazz.