Prof Sanjoy Bandopadhyay and Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee
Date
27th September, 2016
Place
Ashoka Road, Alipore, Kolkata -700027
About the speaker
Rajeev Goenka is a noted connoisseur of Indian Classical Music and is a passionate music collector. He is the founder and protector of The Rajeev Goenka Music Academy at Dundlod, Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. He is closely attached to Kolkata’s music scenario.
Well I will put it in this way that I came to know there was one, what do you call that, Discographer, His name wasMichaelKinnear,he was from Australia, now he is no more, he expired, so I came to know that he was researching on the mother shells which was the origin of those 78rpm shellac records. Now before shellac there were wire recordings, and those recordings were of two or two and half minutes. So he gave me his book on discography, I just tried to find out what happened to these records, so I accidentally entered a godown in the Dumdum factory.
Which year approximately?
1989, I asked my senior, what was that? Because I didn’t know what mother shell is? So I was explained, that these are all metal pieces, they call it stamper, now that stamper is hooked on some machine and hereby the engraving gets engraved in other side, it’s like photo printing kind of thing, and then that imprinted thing is put on shellac and that is how the 78rpm record is made, and it was God’s grace that he said that ’come I’ll show you a demonstration’.
Gauhar-Jan
So he prepared that whole thing, and he made one record, and after making that he played that record and that record was 1933 GauharJaan. So when I heard that I said “MrMaitra this is GauharJaan!” So MrMaitra looked at me and said Mr Goenka how do you know that this is GauharJaan? I said my brain and my ears are telling me. He said let me check. He went to his book, register-‘ja main tose nahin boloon’, and he said you are dam right. He said this whole godown is full of this, which means they have hundred thousand, one lakh stampers in that godown.
Prof Sanjoy Bandopadhyay and Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee
Date
27th September, 2016
Place
Ashoka Road, Alipore, Kolkata -700027
About the speaker
Rajeev Goenka is a noted connoisseur of Indian Classical Music and is a passionate music collector. He is the founder and protector of The Rajeev Goenka Music Academy at Dundlod, Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. He is closely attached to Kolkata’s music scenario.
Vidushi Purnima Sen is an exponent of Agra –Atruli gharana. She was the disciple of Vilayat Hussain Khan of Agra-Atrauli gharana. She has also learnt from Ata Hussain Khan and Sharafat Hussain Khan of the same gharana. She is considered as the heir of Agra-Atrauli gharana.
Tags
Baroda, Kolkata, New Theatre, Assistant Music Director, Kshirodbaron, Kheyal, Thumri, Ram Mohan Library, Sandhya Mukherjee, Jamini Ganguli, Girija Shankar Chakraborty, Malkaunsh, Bhupali, Taan, Vistaar, Tabla, Kirtana, Ratneshwar Mukherjee, Bhajan, Rabindra sangeet, Bhupen Hazarika, 1957, Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Vilayat Hussain Khan, Sumati Mutatkar, Ram Marathe, Gajanan Rao Joshi, Raga, Bandish, Ata Hussain khan, Mahishadala Rajbari, Desi Todi, Complex Taan, Sharafat Hussain Khan, Yunush Khan, Gara-Kanada, Simple Taan, Malkaunsh, Iman, Behag, 1980, 1960-61, 1970, Latafat Hussain Khan, Khadim Hussain, 1985, Sujani Malhar, Sur Malhar, Haji Sujan Khan, Deepak Jyot Raga, Nouharbani, All India Radio, Agra Gharana
Language
Bengali
Vidushi Purnima Sen speaks:
Metadata generated by Dr. Suranjita Paul
Text Version:
I: If you could begin with your experience as a child training under your guru.
P: When I was very young, I used to sing on my own. But after the Second World War, when we moved from Baroda to Kolkata, for the three to four years that we were here, I did have a teacher. I don’t remember his full name, we called him Khirod babu. He was my father’s friend. He worked as an assistant music director at New Theatre. He knew singing. He used to teach me. I was only around seven years old then. He taught me some songs. He taught me kheyal, thumri. And he used to ask me to go to competitions, and he even made me go, I forgot to say that. I even won first and second place in these competitions. I won medals also. That was that. After that we went…
P: Which year was this?
I: This was ’46-47.
I: This was at the Rammohan Library?
P: Yes. There used to be competitions at Rammohan Library. Either All Bengal or All India. I was very young then.
I: Nikhil Banerjee won some award there?
P: Sandhya di. Sandhya Mukherjee. She was the senior-most. She was Jamini babu’s student. She used to win first place in everything. She would win the first prize for every kind of song. I was very young. I won first place once, and the other time I was the runners-up. After that, there was a break. I went to America. When we used to come back from America for two months or six months…this was in the early 1950s…
I: Did you come and stay here for two months and six months?
P: Yes, Yes. We used to go back. My mother used to come because she had some work here, so I used to come with her. Then we used to go back and I used to study there again. And when I used to study here…
I: You mean took taalim?
P: Yes. I trained under Acharya Jamini Ganguly.
Pt. Girija Shankar Chakrabarty
He is very well-known. He was Girija babu’s student. He followed the method generally used to teach young girls – short pieces like bandish and m?lkosh, beh?g, bhupali – he taught us these. He made us write pre-composed taan and bist?r. I don’t think there was a tabla. He kept the beat himself with his hand. Then I used to leave again, but the lesson remained with me. That’s how I learn to sing. My mother really wanted me to learn kirtan. She used to sing kirtan herself. The famous Ratneshwar Mukherjee taught me many kirtans. I trained with him for about three months. He taught me many difficult songs. But one day Jamini babu told my mother that if I learn two kinds of singing, it might harm my voice. The throw of the voice for kirtan was different from the kind of throw required for singing kheyal. He said that he felt that she should choose any one for me. Anyway, I left after that, and didn’t continue learning kirtan. Whenever I did learn after that, I learnt either kheyal or thumri. Then there was no scope to learn in America. But all the students used to put up performances – we sang bhajan and Rabindra Sangeet. If there was some occasion…
I: There were no opportunities of singing classical songs in America?
P: I knew how to sing thumri. Jamini babu had taught me that. So if someone requested me to sing thumri at some programme, I could do that. I didn’t sing kheyals very often. I mostly sang bhajans. Many of the students who came to America knew how to sing, they would teach us. One such person, who was well-known, was Bhupen Hazarika. He used to teach us, and we sang as a chorus. Then, I think it was in 1957 that my father left the United Nations and took up a job in the Planning Commission in Delhi. Jawaharlal Nehru had called him. So my father said to me, “You don’t have to stay here. You come with me.” I was studying in a college there; I used to receive a scholarship. But my father said, “A lot of people study. Don’t tell me all this. You will learn how to sing.” I was very surprised. I couldn’t understand why my father was insisting that I learn classical music at that age. My father always wanted me to learn how to sing. Even when I was a child in Baroda, that environment of music and songs was there. I heard a lot of great songs. And I used to sing. That is, I used to sing spontaneously, not because I was learning how to sing. I think that is why my father thought that I should learn it properly.
Ustad Vilayet Hussain Khan
Then my father requested Ustad Vilayet Hussain Khan Saheb to teach me. He didn’t readily agree because he didn’t teach such novices. His disciples were famous! Sumati Mutatkar! Gajanand Ram Joshi! Ram Marathe! These were his assistants. Anyway, he heard me and said, “Okay, may be you will be able to learn.” He started from scratch. He always told me that the harder you work, the more you will develop. I couldn’t understand all that then. I hadn’t experienced the depth of classical music then. But this was something he always used to say, “The harder you work, the better you become. Your music will progress. He used to say that when they used to practice when they were young, often they fell asleep. Then either his father or mother would come and pour cold water on them. Then they’d wake up and start again. But he used to say to me, “I am not asking you to do that. You practice for half ‘n’ hour, that’ll do.” I was so embarrassed to hear this that I began to do my riyaaz more seriously. I was trained under him for two years. From someone who knew nothing, I realized at the end of the two years that he had taught me a lot. But I cannot explain what the technique of teaching was. He was very hard working. Who was I? I used to think of myself as…
I: You had the potential, that is why…
P: Maybe he thought that someday I’d be able to sing well. He used to work so hard that I used to feel embarrassed. Anyway, after two years, I moved to Kolkata. That was when I got married. After I got married, I used to live in Kolkata.
Mahishadal Rajbari
Ustad Ata Hussain Khan was the maternal cousin of Vilayet Hussain Khan. He was a great ustad as well. He lived in the Mahishadal palace. I came to him and he agreed to teach me. They were wonderful human beings. But they were also very reserved. So, very often, I used to feel scared to communicate with them. When he started to train me, he first heard what I had learn previously. He didn’t make any comments. He listened silently. After that, on the first day of training, he made me hear deshi tori. I hadn’t heard this name before and didn’t have any ideas of it. I didn’t know about the song at all. Anyway he sang the song. And he said, “You try and follow me while I sing. Sing along with me.” I did as much as I could. Then he sang the taan. He was a master of the taan. He performed a tin chakkartaan and said to me, “Now you try it.” I said, “Khan Sahib, how will I do it? I can’t understand a thing. I can’t understand the movement of the notes.” He said to me, “You don’t have to understand all that. You only have to keep your ears perked. You have to try and imitate me. You don’t need to know the sargam. Try only to copy it.” I was groping in the darkness. It was such a complicated taan! My voice wasn’t that bad. But it was a very complicated taan and a very complicated raag. I failed the first time. I failed the second time as well. At this point I was praying to the heavens to help me! If I failed again, I would feel extremely embarrassed! After the fifth attempt he said in Hindi, “Now, you’ve managed to do something. Now it’s okay.” He was testing how much I could produce through only hearing an unfamiliar tune. In later training, I saw that this practice helped me a lot. They never made us write sargams. And we didn’t have tape recorders back then. There was no support. You’ll hear it, produce it, and remember it. No looking at a copy. That develops a kind of power. That helped a lot. Even now, even if I haven’t sung a song for a long time, I see that I can sing it. This is because of my gurus. They made me sing the same song so many times. I used to think, I have sung well so why is he making me sing it so many times, why do I have to repeat it? But my guru said, “If you keep repeating the song every day, the song will be embedded within you in such a way that you will never forget it.” The contribution of the teacher is massive. If he didn’t introduce me to this, how would I have known? So my training progressed. Sharafat Khan sahib was the nephew of Ata Hussain Khan sahib and the son-in-law of Vilayet Hussain Khan. So he was a part of the family. All of them, and Yunus Khan sahib as well, used to really help all the new students. This helped them to sing better. Or maybe they’d make them understand some other point. Sharafat Khan used to come to Kolkata regularly. He used to attend the music conferences. He came with Khan sahib and taught me. Maybe it would be just one very complicated taan. I used to think, how can I sing this? I’ve never heard such a taan before. There was one taan which was a mix of three or four taans. I remember one such taan in gara kanada, which he showed me, and he left. He said, “When I return after three months, I want to hear this.” At first I was very confused. But then I began to try. Actually, I had internalised the material. Sort of like a computer. So when I tried again, it didn’t work straightaway, but after a few days I realized that I was able to sing it. Maybe it wasn’t that good, but it was alright. So I found a way. Once you find such a path, you can develop your own taan. Their method of teaching was such that I could pick up a completely unfamiliar song in a couple of days without even realizing how I did it. Such was the quality of their training.
I: The taan that you were talking about did they perform complex taans for simple raags?
P: Yes, yes. They did simple ones and complex ones as well. Yes, of course.
I: Even in Vilayet Khan’s music, there are several uses of the complex taan.
P: Yes. They performed complex taans for all kinds of raagas, but they kept the simple taans as well. It is not like they left out the simple ones altogether. Of course, there would be some raagas without any simple taan. In such cases, only the complex ones would be used. So this is how my training progressed. In 1980…
I: How long did this continue from 1957?
P: Till 1980. I got married in 1958. After I moved to Kolkata, there was a break in my training. I hadn’t found Khan sahib at that time. Then I started again in ’60-61. Then he fell ill, had a heart attack, and went home. There were several gaps in the training. Then between 1950 and 1960 my son was born. The family life was also important. So there was a gap again. But I sang on and off. That is how it was
Ustad Ata Huussain khan
Then in 1970, Ata Hussain Khan sahib returned. His health had improved. He was there from 1970 to 1980. He went home for a couple of months every year. And Sharafat Khan sahib used to visit very frequently as well during this time. And Yunus Khan sahib used to visit as well. I have been helped by them. I have heard them sing. I have also heard Latafat Khan sahib. Khadim Hussain Khan had visited us a few times. They all had different styles of singing, as it should be with creative artists. But basically, the gharana was the same. Hearing it helped us a lot. In 1980, Khan sahib passed away. In ’85, Sharafat Khan sahib passed away. He didn’t teach me for two years, but he was there through the rest of the training process. I didn’t train any more after that. But Yunus Khan sahib used to visit, and he always encouraged me to sing bandishes composed by him. He used to say, “Sing them and make them popular, you go abroad to perform.” He had composed many raagas. Of these, there was one called sujaani malhar. It was like sur malahar. He named it sujaani after Sujaan Khan Haji was the proponent of the gharana. He was a contemporary of Tansen and was a part of Akbar’s court. He was also called Deepak Jyot because he sang the Deepak raaga so beautifully. His is the first name we encounter in the Nauharbani gharana. There were others before him, certainly, but his name has survived, probably because he was a part of the court of Akbar. Yunus Khan taught me sujaani malhar and said, “Sing it a lot and make it very popular!” I did sing it. I sang it for the radio, and in programmes of the Agra gharana where I have been invited to speak. That is one satisfaction I have – that even though he isn’t here, I have sung his song. The gurus have taught me how to sing. But that’s not the end of it. Maybe he has taught me a song, but I am having problems in singing it. Then I have to develop it myself in my heart. They showed me the way – the path on which I could develop these songs for myself. And one day I’d realize that the song was ready. I would never sing a song unless I knew that it was absolutely ready and that I was completely prepared.
I: What is the difference between the sur malhar and the sujaani malhar? In what aspects do they vary?
P: I cannot explain it in words. One has to hear it to understand the variations.
Pandit Omkarnath Thakur one of india’s front-row musicians sang at yesterday’s morning sitiing of the All Bengal Music Conference. The hall was full to its capacity and Panditji found a very appreciative audience who vociferously cheered him after his songs which made a piercing appeal to everyone’s heart. The great artist found himself in the best of moods and his Raga-Bhava hardly left anything to be desired. His Kheyals in Devgiri and Todi followed by a Bhajan of Suradas were extraordinarily rich in feeling-contents, his style springing out of an enrapturing variety of form. His artistry yesterday was an example of technical facility. The writer, however could not appreciate Panditji’s endeavour to introduce something like Ramayan Gan as he did in his Bhajan) on a Music Conference platform. It appeared to him to be something like an anti-climax.
There were other artists also who received high encomiums from the audience yesterday morning. They were Prof. Sawai Gandharva of Bombay who sang Kheyal in Multan and prof. Hamid Hussain Khan of Lucknow, the famous Sitaria who did Bilaskhani Todi. The famous tablchi of Benaras Prof. Anokhelal’s Lahara and accompaniment play were also much applauded.
Among others who demonstrated yesterday morning and on Sunday were the following:—
Mr. K.C. De (Dhrupad—Adana), Sj. Jitendra Nath Banerjee (Tappa), Prof. Krishna Rao of Poona (Kheyal in Darbari Kanada, Adana and Bhajan), Prof. V.N. Patwardhan (Kheyal in Malkoush), Prof. Hamid Hussain Khan (Sitar-Alap in Puria and Sohini Gat), Dance by Gopal Brajabashi, Dhrupad in Iman-Kalyan and Bhupali by Dani Babu, Tabla Lahara by Sj. Hirendra Kumar Ganguly, and Kheyal in Adana and Bhimpalashi by Niharrani (?) Dutt of Tata Nagar, Sitar in Bhairavi by Renuka Saha and Kheyal in Gaud Sarang by Pandit Ram Kissen Misra and brothers.
In the evening sitting yesterday Prof. Faiaz Khan, Prof. Sadiq Ali Khan, Miss Nina (Russian Dancer), Miss Sushila Varadaraja of Indore, Mr. K.C. Dey, Prof. Sambhu Maharaj, Master Attra, Prof. Genu of Poona, Sj. Birendra Kishore Roy Chaudhury and many other Calcutta artists demonstrated. A report of the sitting will be published tomorrow. In the evening sitting of 30th Sj. Bhagawat Ch. Banerjee sang Bhatiyali songs. And on Sunday Sj Hirendra Kumar Ganguly did the Tabla Sangat with the Swarod play of Prof. Alauddin and Ali Akhbar. These two were not mentioned in our previous reports through inadvertence.
Note: This 1940 All Bengal Music Conference was held at Sree Cinema, 138 Cornwallis Street. [Ref. Advertisement in Amrita Bazaar Patrika, Jan 2, 1940)
This press clipping was collected from the reference below:
“Amrita Bazar Patrika [Daily]. Vol: 72; Issue:02 (02 January 1940).” Accessed September 22, 2016. http://eap.bl.uk/database/large_image.a4d?digrec=4261887;catid=226571;r=26962.
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Identified by Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee, Project Fellow.
Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.
Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.
128/1A, Raja Ram Mohan Roy sarani (Amherst Street), Kolkata – 9
About the speaker
Mangla Prasad Sharma is a renowned manufacturer and exporter of Indian traditional musical instruments.
Tags
Hafiz Ali Khan, Amjad Ali Khan, Gwalior, Rampur, Sindhia Darwar, Madhav Rao Sindhia, Ali Akbar Khan, Rampur, Rewar Darwar, Annapurna Debi, Rabi Shankar, Chikari, Taraf, Drum size, Bridge, Sarangi, Tota, Taraf, Roda, Zil, Debar, Kharaj, Magaz, Chhauni, Posli, Mahjid, Chhati, Peda, Gaz, Parampara, Kanethi, Sarangi, Sarod, Sitar, Sundari, Sahanai, South India, Violin, Tarafdar Sitar, Veena, Surbahar, Sitar, Rabab, Sarod
Language
Bengali, Hindi, English
Mangla Prasad Sharma speaks:
A small video
Another small video
The old musical texts refer to the measurement of musical instruments and define the connection between the body of the musicians and the musical instruments. It is nice to observe the pride of Mr. Mangla Prasad Sharma as a possessor of the ancient wisdom and knowledge. — Editor
Hafiz Ali Khan’s father Amjad Ali Khan, along with his brothers originally belonged to Gwalior. But they came to live in Rampur, when according to the Rajas of Rampur’s wishes, they moved to the Sindhia Darwar, which was then under Madhav Rao Sindhia. And Alauddin Khan was at the Rimpur state of Mewar under the Rampur Gharana. This Gharana was created by Ali Akbar Khan. Annapurna Ji, the wife of Ravi Shankar, also belonged to this place. Ali Akbar used to play his Sarod in eleven or twelve inches drum. But they used to play in nine inch drum. There are six ears in this type of instrument, but they have eight ears in Ali Akbar’s Gharana. There are two chikaris of 10 in each, while they have eight chikaris. Both Gharanas have fifteen. To measure these, one needs a plate size of eighteen inches. The neck and drum sizes hugely differ. But if we come to the main strings, there are four strings in each. One has teo chikaris and the other has two chikaris, accompanied by two Dhars.
There are three types of Sarangis. First, we have the Tota, which is used to introduce the Sarangi to children for learning. On the Tota, there are seven Tarafs and three Rodas. The names of the Rodas are Zil, Debar and Kharaj. The Zil is the main string, the Debar is the one in the middle, which can go both ways. On the sides of the instrument, there are seven strings. The Tarafs lie on the front of it. The head of the instrument, also known as Magaz, contains eleven to thirteen tarafs. Do you understand? If I am to name the parts of the Sarangi from the top, there is first, the Magaz, then the Masjid, and the Chhati. From below, there is the Peda, and the Chhauni, which is made of leather. The strings on the side are known as Posli. There are nine Poslis on the side of the Sarangi and fifteen on the Chhati.
Tarafdar Sitar
Till today, no one had dared to alter the language of these terms in the instruments along with the measurements, no matter how far we have come. These terms have always remained intact, for example, Ped Kabala, Ped Dalil. Same applies for Sarangi- it retains its original structure. The hair is kept in braids, which resembles the braids of women’s hair. Today, people might not even know how to tie the hair of the Sarangi. The knob which is used to tune is still called the Kanethi. Similarly, the Sarod and the Sitar, the Sundari, the Sahnai has retained their original form. The Sahanai also exists in three types. The most popular and the largest one is the professional Sahanai, then there is the Surbahar and lastly there is the third type, which people from South India plays. The two types of Violin that we know of are the Professional and the Medium. Among Sitar also, we have the Plain Sitar and the Tarafdar Sitar. Today, what we get to learn is all wrong. We are taught Sarod after Rabab, but actually it should be the other way round. All the instruments used to arrive from the West to the East, and it still continues and there has been no significant change even after Indian independence.
Dr. Suranjita Paul: Sharma Ji, please tell us whether your son or daughter were ever eager to be associated with this traditional profession?
Mangala Sharma Ji: See, if I as a guardian, am myself not confident in this profession, then how can I encourage my children to stick to the traditional profession? It is not possible for them to be in the same business because there is not enough earning in it. As a father, it is very difficult for me to afford a decent lifestyle, and in this situation, I cannot expect my children to be in this profession. They are young, and it is not the right thing to force them into it. As for myself, I have given them an opportunity to learn. My daughter has done her MPhil in Dhrupad from Rabindra Bharati University. She had also done her Masters from the same University. But what do you think she can do with that degree? The government of India has no provision for students who are educated in these lines! In Bengal, no school or college teaches these things where people like my daughter can teach. Where will they go? I don’t know why they have kept a department in Music if there are no job opportunities after getting the degree. The music departments of Biswa Bharati University at Shantiniketan or that of Rabindra Bharati University should be closed down. According to me, they are spending a lot of money on these departments unnecessarily, because the students cannot implement this knowledge anywhere in their future. One sits for his/her examination from Rabindra Bharati University or Biswa Bharati University with a lot of hope, but when it the face the job market, they are left with nothing. What is the point of getting the degree if they cannot feed their own stomach and lead a decent life? If this is the scenario, then why should one invest in taking lessons on making musical instruments? We the makers of instruments are crippled by the government, and I am sure soon this whole tradition of musical instrument making will become a heritage. There is no hope for the future generation to learn from it. After a few years, people will only know of us makers in books. It is so hard to find measurements of musical instruments we make and if there is no adequate income, then why will anyone be encouraged to embrace the profession? In ancient times, people who used to make musical instruments used to get a lot of facilities and thus they were happy in their profession, which resulted in brilliant instruments being made. Now we only enjoy music, but we don’t pay attention to the details of the profession.
Dr. Suranjita Paul: Sir, I think the new generation is not so eager to learn…
Mangla Prasad Sharma: If the government has provision, then one can have ways, without which, why will anyone want to be in this profession?
TRANSLATION: ANKANA DAS
Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.
128/1A, Raja Ram Mohan Roy Sarani (Amherst Street), Kolkata – 700009
About the speaker
Mangla Prasad Sharma is a renowned manufacturer and exporter of Indian traditional musical instruments.
Tags
Heritage, Instrument, Demand, supply, Delhi, 2014, Work shop, Sangeet Natak Academy
Language
Bengali, Hindi, English
Mangla Prasad Sharma speaks:
Verbatim:
Dr. Suranjita Paul: Now your business is growing and is changing with time… Please tell us a few words about it…
Mangla Prasad Sharma: Because everything is on the verge of being known as heritage, we the musical instrument makers are also going to be heritage very soon. We are destroying our selves by destroying our own culture. Nobody these days come to learn to how to make musical instruments. If demand for these instruments in the market is not there, then we shouldn’t expect there to exist a supply, right? How can we make instruments if we are not getting enough income? I must say that India is losing in this regard, and not I as an instrument maker. I had been very verbal about it at Delhi to, when in an interview in 2014, I was asked to speak about my profession. It was at a workshop conducted by the Sangeet Natak Academy. Now you can see me making these musical instruments, but I am very sure that in a few years, people will read about it in books and only get to see it in photographs. Coming generations does not want to engage in this profession because there is no opportunity to flourish. It is a great tragedy for us that we cannot impart this knowledge about the making of these instruments to the young, and I think that we are very helpless in this regard. The government offers no help for us, though we can see them spending so much money, in lakhs and crores for music colleges, for the PSD, etc. But when it comes to the musical instrument makers, we are left with nothing. The Central Government or the State Government, both have proven to be highly inefficient in providing us with any sort of support. The Sangeet Natak Academy at Delhi had given me the opportunity to attend the workshop there. I was very happy to attend it, and I am very obliged to the Sangeet Natak Academy for this. In today’s world, no one has time to play these instruments, thus the fact that the Sangeet Natak Academy had called me for the workshop is itself a great thing for me. What I feel is, today, foreigners are more interested in Indian musical instruments than Indians themselves are, maybe because they get the opportunity to play these.
Translation: Ankana Das
Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.
Amir Khan’s student was there, Viswajit Chakraborty, who used to come, but he is dead now.
When did he used to come?
He is dead now, but he used to come to me and I have worked for him. Sandhya Mukherjee’s guru, Jamini Ganguli, Ram Kumar Chattopadhyay, all used to come to me. Among the old people, I have had with me Bade Gulam Ali Khan. Also, Munawar Ali Khan used to come. His son, Raza Ali Khan comes to me even in present day. There is also Buddhadev Dasgupta, who I remember comes to me. Among older generations, there is no such artist who hasn’t come to me.
I have been repairing musical instruments for Akashbani since 1972. It was not a big thing for me to meet with renowned artists. Artists who used the Surbahar, Sitar, Sarod, all come to me and I try my best to satisfy them with my work. After all, if they are not satisfied with my work, they won’t employ me. And in the world of music, the one most important thing is blood relations. I have inherited the traditional profession of our family from my forefathers; otherwise it would have been very difficult.
In Kolkata, you are the only one who can make the Rudrabina, and we know there is no one other than you… Do Indian Rudrabina players still come to you?
In Calcutta, I know Rudrabina player Asit Kumar Bannerjee. At Udaypur, there is Raj Shekhar Vyas Ji. At Mumbai there is Bahauddin Dagar, son of Ziauddin Dagar, who plays the Rudrabina. There is also Subir Mishra, who is an IAS officer.
I think we have had him with us today…
No, today we have here Pandit Gopal Chandra Paul with us. I also remember Aminuddin Dagar, who used to come to me. Just a few days ago I worked for Zia Fariuddin Dagar. All the people from the Dagar family come to me. In the past, I have also worked for Biswa Bharati University at Shantiniketan, Rabindra Bharati University, Benaras Hindu University, and Delhi University.
Is the technique behind the making of the Rudrabina very different?
Rudrabina is a very different thing.
I mean, the Rudrabina that the Dagars play, the ones you have made, is it different in its measurement or is it same as other Rudrabinas?
Generally it is just the same. Just one tax has increased. Earlier there was present seven, but Ziauddin Dagar changed it to eight. Ziauddin dagar was the father of Ziauddin Mohiuddin Dagar, whose son was Bauddin Dagar. They are all traditional people from Jaipur, Rajasthan. And these are the people who created Dhrupad from their Gharana. In the past, I had worked for Ustad Asad Ali Khan, who used to live in Delhi. He was a Rudrabina player as well.
Carsten Wicke
Carsten, who now lives in Tollygaunge is also making himself known now. Almost twenty years ago I gave him his Rudrabina. He took his lessons from Asad Ali Khan. Now he sells recorded CDs of his own music. Twenty years ago he came to me with his Rudrabina in a very bad condition. I had repaired it for him and sent him to Asad Ali Khan for his lessons. Asad Ali Khan also used to come to me. He used to sit in this very spot. If our artists from India get opportunities to travel to foreign countries, it is my greatest pleasure.
