| Told by | Pandit Shyamal Lahiri |
| Obtained by | Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee |
| Date | 7th April, 2017 |
| Place | Shyamal Lahiris Residence at Chandi Ghosh Road, Kudghat. |
| About the speaker | Renowned Vocalist, Son of Legendary Musician Pandit Chinmoy Lahiri |
| Tags | C.M. Lahiri, Tarapada Chakraborty, Chinmoy Lahiri, Gadda-Ghasit, Bhowanipur, 1946, 1947, Suresh Chakraborty, Meera Chatterjee |
| Language | Bengali |
Pandit Shyamal Lahiri speaks :
Text version:
?? ??? ?????, ??? ?????? ?????? ?????????? ????? ???? ??? ???????, ?????? ?????????, ?? ??? ????, ?? ????? ?????? ????? ????
????? ?????? ????? ???? ????? ???? ?????
????? ?????? ???? ??????? ???? ?????? ????? ?????, ???? ???????? ???????? ?? ?????? ???? ??? ??? ??????? ????????? ????? ?? ?? ???????????? ??? ?????? ??? ????? ??, ???? ???? ?????? ?????? ???????? ??? ????? ?????? ?????? ?? ????????? ???? ?? ??? ?????? ????? ??? ?? ?? ??????? ??? ?????, ???? ???????????? ??? ????? ?????? ?? ?? ??????? ??????, ?????????????? ???? ???? ?? ??? ???? ?? ???? ????? ??? ???, ?? ??? ??, ??? ???? ??? ???? ??? ???? ?????, ???? ????????? ???? ?????? ???? ????? ?? ??? ??????, ?????? ????? ???? ????? ???, ???? ???? ??????????? ??????? ??? ?? ????? ???? ??????, ??? ???? ?? ??? ??? ??????, ?? ????? ?????????? ???? ?? ???? ??? ????? ?? “?????? ???? ??? ???? ??????? ???? ????? ???? ???, ????? ??? ????, ??? ???? ?? ???? ??? ?????? ??? ????? ???? ????, ??? ??? ?????? ???? ??????? ??? ?? ????? ?? ??????? ??????“
???? ???? ????? ???????? ???? ????? ????? ????????????? ??? ?? ??????? ?????, ??? ????? ????? ????? ??????, ??? ??? ???? ????????????? ???????????, ???? ????????????? ??? ??? ??? ??? ?????, ?? ???? ??? ???? ?????, ??? ???? ???? ??? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ??? ????? ???? ????? ???? ????? ???? ??? ???? ?????? ????? ???? ??????? ???? ??? ???? ??????? ???? ??? ???? ???????? ???? ????? ?????, ??? ?? ??? ???? ??? ?? ???? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ???? ??? ???? ???, ??? ????????? ??? ?? ????, ?? ?? ????? ????, ????? ???? ??? ???? ??? ??? ???? ??? ?????? ????, ????? ???, ??? ?? ??? ???? ?? ??????? ??? ??? ??? ?????? ??? ???????? ??? ?????, ?? ?????? ??? ????? ???????? ???, ????? ???????? ?????, ????? ???? ???? ??? ???????? ??? ???? ????? ?????? ?? ??? ??????????? ???? ??? ??? ???? ?? ????????? ?????, ?????, ????????? ???????? ?? ????? ??????????? ????? ???? ??????????, ?????? ????? ??? ??????? ????, ?????????? ???, ?????????? ????????????? ???? ??? ???? ??, ????? ?????? ?? ???? ????, ?????, ????? ?????? ?????????, ??? ?? ??? ????? ???? ??? ??? ?????? ???? ???????? ?????? ??? ???? ?????? ?????????? ??????? ?????? ?????
?? ?????? ???? ???????? ????, ???
????, ?? ???? ????? ???? ??????
?????? ????
?? ???? ??????? ??? ?????? ????
?? ????? ????? ?? ???, ?? ????? ??????? ??? ??????? ??????????
Verbatim by: Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee
Translation:
In those days in Bengal, there was Tarapada Chakraborty, who was a star artist of that time. So at that time, Bimala Prasad Babu…
-Kindly let us know the full name of Bimala Prasad Babu.
-Bimala Prasad Ray Chowdhury. He was a great singer of those days. It was at his home that the program was going on. He had addressed the entire audience that day and requested them not to leave the place after the program because a new artist is in Kolkata, and he wished everyone to listen to him sing.
So what happened here was that, father was known by the name of C M Lahiri, because back in Uttarpradesh he was still known by that name. Though at the University, people knew him just by CM, because there they know their professors by the short forms only. When the announcement was made, everyone was outside, and no one had any particular hurry to come back inside. Right after the performance of a stalwart, no one was kind of interested in listening to a new artist. At this moment, father said, “Please bear with me for five minutes, please come inside and sit. If you do not like my performance, you are always free to leave. I promise I won’t take more than five minutes to wrap up with my music.”
One or two people came inside, among whom, one was Shailen Chattopdahyay. His daughter was the first pupil of my father. She was called Meera Bandopadhyay then, who later became the renowned vocalist Vidushi Meera Chattopadhyay. So my father began performing, and slowly with time more people came inside to listen to him. In a few minutes, I noticed that almost all the audience had come back. Then, the situation became such that there were requests from the audience, which was very surprising. My father was very inclined towards Taana, and would do the Taanas in circles. For example, the Gadda Ghasit Taana, , which literally means the sound of throwing a Gadda. There were other such phenomenon, and father started to speak to the audience about it in brief, which attracted them even more. Thus, right after this program, father had already gotten five pupils from Kolkata to give music lessons to. Among these five was Meera Chatterjee, the daughter of Shailen Chatterjee. There was also one by the name of Bitun from Howrah, Gobindalal Bose, Gobindalal Bandopadhyay and a few more to name. Then there was Minu Kaka, or Mrinal Kanti Chakraborty, who proposed to my father to teach him music. At that time, we used to live at Bhawanipore.
This incident took place near about 1948. 47?
I wasn’t even born in 1946, 47.
Prior to that?
And where was his house at that time?
There is the Ganja Park at Bhawanipore. Our house was right behind the Ganja Park.
Translated by: Ankana Das
Picture Courtesy: Google
Edited & Designed: Ms. Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee
Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University