Told by	Maharaj Banerjee
Obtained by	Sanjoy Bandopadhyay and Dilip Mukherjee
Date	05 July, 2015
Place	Sati Sadan, 41, Harish Mukherjee Road, Bhowanipur, Kolkata 700025
About Maharaj Banerjee	Son and disciple of Pt. Montu Banerjee [Tabla, Sarod, Harmonium]. Disciple of Pt. Muneshwar Dayal [Harmonium], Ustd. Ahmedjan Thirakawa. [Tabla].
Tags	Vilayet Khan, 10.30 p.m. 1944-46, Sati Sadan, Riyaz
Language	Bengali

Maharaj Banerjee speaks :

Verbatim:

??????? ??? ??????? ???????? ??????? ???? ??? ???? ??? ?? ???? ??? ??????????? ?????? ??? ???? ??? ?????, ??? ??????? ??? ????? ???? ?????? ???? ?????, ????? ???? ????? ???? ????

????? ??? ????? ?

?? ???? ???? –??????? ?????? ?????? ??? ???? ??? ????? ????? ???? ?????? ???? ?????? ?????, ??? ???? ???? ???? ??????

????? ?? ???? ????

??, ????? ?? ??, ??, ?? ?? ??? ???? ??????? ?? ??? ???…????? ????? ????????? ???? ??? ???? ??? ???? ??? ????? ?????? ?????? ??? ????? ????? – ‘???? ??? ??????’? ?? ????, ?????

???? ???? ???????? ?????

??????????? ???? ???? ???? ????? ????????? ??????? ??? ????? ????? ??????? ??? ???? ??? ???????? ?????, ??????, ??????…????  ??? ???? ????? ????, ‘??? ??????? ????? ?????? ?????’? ???? ???????? ???? ?? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ???? ? ???? ??????? ??? ???-‘???? ?????? ????? ??? ???? ???’? ??? ???? ?????? ?? ???? ???????? ??? ??? ????? ???? ???? ???? ???? ??????? ??? ???? ????? ??? ?? ??????? ?? ??????? ?? ??? ?????, ??? ???? ???? ??? ????? ???? ?? ????? ????? (????? ?????????)? ?? ??????? ??????? ??? ????? ????????? ???? ??? ??????? ????? ?? ?????, ?? ??? ????? ??? ?????? ???????? ???? ???? (????? ?????????) ?? ?????? ???? ???? ???? ?? ????? ?????? ???????

Verbatim by: Dr. Suranjita Paul

 Translation:

I remember everything about Vilayet Khan sahib’s riyaz. When, at night, father and I would complete our riyaz and go upstairs, he would start. All the doors and windows would be closed.

What time?

We would finish by 10:30-11:00. I would accompany father. Father would do the riyaz. After finishing, we would go upstairs.

This was in 1935?

No, this was ’44, ’45, ’46 – these three years. The gentleman was so nice…he didn’t cause any disturbance to anybody in the household. Father would go up first when we finished. He used to say, “Now I shall play.” He was so gentle and polite.

It would begin from 10:30pm?

 

Yes, at night. We would go upstairs by eleven. Vilayet Khan would sit down to play. We were a joint family then. My aunts…everyone called him by name. They used to say, “Look, Vilayet has started to play. Then, early in the morning, father and I would come downstairs to practice. Vilayet Khan would say, “Now you play, I’ll go lie down for a while.” What did he sleep on? He wasn’t fancy at all. He rested his head on the bire of the tabla. He would practice all night. What did he practice? The same palta. The same jhala. It was like he was polishing the music. (Demonstrates). When father went to the washroom at night or to the courtyard, he would see Vilayet Khan sitting in the same spot and playing. Sometimes (demonstrates) it would go up by one point. This was their riyaz.

 Translated by: Sarbajaya Bhattacharya

 

Picture courtesy: Google

https://alchetron.com/Vilayat-Khan

 Edited & Designed: Dr.Suranjita Paul

Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, RabindraBharati University