Ear-Training to interpret Tune for Bansuri

Question

I am learning Om Jai Jagdish Hare on Bansuri from this YouTUBE tutorial

This gentleman makes lot of ornamentations, which I think are well-suited for the absolute last stanza of this Aarti.

Now, I am trying to interpret by ear the notes from Anuradha Paudwal, and there are some variations (her rendition is much simpler)

Starting from 3:03 of tutorial video, the gentleman plays,

R G R G

M GG R

R G..R S

....

R G R P

M GG R

R G..R S

which corresponds to Anuradha Paudwal Aarti starting from 0:24 of aarti video, but in the Aarti video, both stanzas sound identical, i.e. both stanzas start with R G R G

I happen to like the Gentleman's effect of slightly changing up identical stanzas.

My question is, how do I have the same effect for here, i.e. turn two identical stanzas into SLIGHTLY different sounding tunes.

Starting at 1:14 of Aarti both stanzas sound the same to me, i.e.

PPPD PPM

G R S R

...

PPPD PPM

G R S R

Answer 1

With folk music like this, it's usual for multiple variations to coexist in the tradition, presumably because someone long ago played it differently (on purpose or not) and the variation stuck.

This happens in all cultures, but in Indian music (with its emphasis on ornamentation and improvisation), it is especially likely.

It seems that Harsh Dave is, despite his flair for ornamentation, working from a basic tune that does in fact go R G R P the second time.

So, if you're learning such a song, feel free to appreciate the version you like the most, and perhaps you'll find ways to ornament other songs by raising one note a step or two.