Residence of Pt. Manilal Nag, 13G Gobinda Mondal Lane, Kolkata 700002
About the speaker
Manilal Nag is a renowned sitar player and an exponent of the Bishnupur Gharana of Bengal. His sitar recitals have been featured in many National Programmes of Music & Akashvani Sangeet Sammelan since 1954. He is a recipient of several prestigious awards including Sangeet Natak Akademy Award in 2001 and
Government of West Bengal’s Highest Civilian Award, Banga Bibhushan in 2015.
Pt. Manilal Nag Talks on His Musical Lineage and Some Tips on Riyaz
Our forefathers had their ancestral home in the town of Bishnupur and later on they settled in the town of Bankura. My grandfather Gobinda Chandra Nag lived in Bankura town only, where my father Gokul Nag was born. I am the fifth generation in my family where music began in an amateurish way since my great grandfather Nafarchandra Nag’s time. His son was Bauridas Nag. My grandfather was the son of Bauridas.
Bishnupur was then a great seat of music. I heard a story about Jadubhatta, who was singing Dhrupad when all activities in the town literally came to a halt. The court proceedings closed as everyone flocked to listen to Jadubhatta.
My father, as a little boy was playing sitar before an audience in Bankura, when his would-be guru Ram Prasanna Bandyopadhyay heard him. He was impressed and accepted my father as his disciple.
My father was always very very strict as a teacher. If I remember his day to day life I saw him immersed in music, in sitar playing, almost all the while. But when he taught me, he was very strict. As a child, I was naturally fond of playing. I used to run out of doors to play with my friends. My father caught hold of me by the ears and made me sit for riyaz.
He sat before me with the tabla. He himself played the tabla and put me to practice for 8 to 10 hours a day. If I ever asked him to show me some technique by the hand he used to insist me that I listen and try to imbibe the sound. “Listen and play, why should I point out?”, he rebuked.
I later on realized how this training of the ears had been a sort of boon for me. In my later years it was so true that I regularly listened to vocal music and imitated the expressions by exploring different techniques on the instrument.
When I am asked how my reputation in playing so singular a jhala came about, I don’t think that there was any special technique behind the practice. I played the 4 stroke Da chi chi chi in a regular tempo foe a long time, emphasizing the third syllable every time, da chi chi chi and so on.
When asked how I could play taans in so fast a tempo, and how it remained melodious all through, I just remember that I practiced a lot of paltas and meends for hours. Another thing, my father was very particular regarding my riwaz with the table. Unlike today when it is difficult to find a laydaar tabla player even once a week for practice, there were many table players in my younger days who simply came to practice with us. They were not renowned artists but they came with their love for music. Four tabla players a day, someone in the morning, another one in late morning, may be again in the afternoon and in the evening. And this went on for days without a break, you could say almost all the days in a year, so that the laya would just get ingrained in your reflex system. Tehais would pop up spontaneously without preparatory rehearsals before concerts. Such tabla players were there during my childhood and boyhood days in Uttarpara, where we lived before coming to our Bagbazar home.
In Bagbazar, Shankarda (Pandit Shankar Ghosh), Shyamalda (Pandit Shyamal Bose) used to come regularly at our home during those early years of my career. Then we used to practice at a stretch for three to four hours.
Paraphrased in English by Mita Nag
Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.
Residence of Pt. Manilal Nag, 13G Gobinda Mondal Lane, Kolkata 700002
About the speaker
Manilal Nag is a renowned sitar player and an exponent of the Bishnupur Gharana of Bengal. His sitar recitals have been featured in many National Programmes of Music & Akashvani Sangeet Sammelan since 1954. He is a recipient of several prestigious awards including Sangeet Natak Akademy Award in 2001 and
Government of West Bengal’s Highest Civilian Award, Banga Bibhushan in 2015.
Tags
Laya, accusations, frog, north Calcutta, fighting, abusing, Vilayet Khan, Rais Khan, knife, Tarun Sangeet Sammelan, Sanatan Mukherjee, Alla Rakha, Jog, Tarapada Chakraborty, Sunanda Patnaik, 1964, 1974
Language
Bengali
Pt. Manilal Nag speaks:
Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.
Residence of Sri Debabrata Mukhapadhyay at Tarashankar Sarani, Tala, Kolkata
About the speaker
Associated to All India Radio, Kolkata. He presented several eye-opening discussions on Indian classical music. A poet, writer, and music connoisseur.
Tags
Nitai Bose, Mustaq Ali Khan, 1965, Arjun Shejwal, Pakhawaj, Akashbani, Rabindra Sadan, Ajodhya Prasad , Pratap Narayan Mitra, Fahimuddin Khan Dagar, Enayat Khan, Stretched Membrane Instrument, Frequency, Baya, Dhrupad
Language
Bengali
Sri Debabrata Mukhapadhyay Speaks :
Text Version:
Nitai Basu, the disciple of Ustad Mustaque Ali Khan, was a very learned, gentleman and his house was an abode of classical music performed by masters. He liked me a lot and came to visit me often. He didn’t like my way of comparing musical notes with mathematics yet we got along fine. It was in 1965 that I heard Arjun Sejwal’s solo Pakhwaj performance.
Pt. Ayodhya Prasad
I had heard Pandit Ayodhyaprasad and Pratap Narayan Mitra’s pakhawaj but it was quite another experience to hear Arjun Sejwal. Later I came in contact with Ustad Fahimuddin Khan Dagar, but it was another story. Anyway, I was a bit sceptical about solo performance of pakhawaj but it was an opportunity to watch this quite closely, so I went. Arjun Sejwal was not looked like an artist rather he had the physic of a wrestler. His wrist was mascular and strong. It was a tradition in classical music in our country that pakhwaj players must learn wrestling well because they had to carry almost 60 kg weight of their instrument. But his smile was beguiling; he was quite young then, 35 years maybe. The performance was was quite homely and simple. It all happened in a small room of Nitai Basu’s house. Here I first watched the astonishing job of putting whole wheat in a pakhwaj. Pakhwaj is an Indian instrument with stretched membrane loaded at the centre (if I may use the physics jargon). Pakhwaj had a very low tonal quality basically and a thick layer of whole wheat (atta) had to be used. When the left side of pakhwaj was being played it gives a very bass sound and it prepared the serious atmosphere for Dhrupad.
Pandit Arjun Shejwal
Arjun Sejwal played this difficult instrument so easily as if he was doing nothing. A smiling face and his hands flew with practised ease it was a feast to the eyes. The beauty of music is not only in listening but also in viewing. In our ancient script it was written about knowing the soul. Soul is omniscient, so how one can understand one’s soul. So, you should think about it, listen to it, view it and meditate it, the perfect mix of all the external experiences will lead you to know your soul. I think, Indian classical music is just like that.
Residence of Prof. Sanjoy Bandopadhyay, 3/1/1D, Padmapukur Road, Kolkata 700092
On Irfan Muhammad Khan
Irfan Md. Khan is an established Sarod Player. The scion of Lucknow Shahjanpur Gharana Sarod player. He represents the Lucknow-Shahjahanpur Gharana which has produced eminent Sarod players like Ustad Enayet Khan (1790-1883), Ustad Asadullah Khan Kaukab (1852-1919), Ustad Karamatuilah Khan (1848-1933), Prof. Sakhawat Hussain Khan (1875-1955), also his illustrious father Ustad Umar Khan (1916-1982) and his uncle Ustad Ilyas Khan (1924-1989) the famous Sitar player of Lucknow.
Key-words
Ali Akbar Khan, Umar Khan, Jodhpur, Dagar, daraspiya, inspiration, shagird, R.D. Burman, Joydev, Roshan of Bombay, Begum Jabbar, Palm Avenue, morning concert, 1960, Bilaskhani todi, Dover lane, 1970, Puriya
Language
Hindi
Irfan Muhammad Khan speaks:
Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.
Residence of Prof. Sanjoy Bandopadhyay, 3/1/1D, Padmapukur Road, Kolkata 700092
On Irfan Muhammad Khan
Irfan Md. Khan is an established Sarod Player. The scion of Lucknow Shahjanpur Gharana Sarod player. He represents the Lucknow-Shahjahanpur Gharana which has produced eminent Sarod players like Ustad Enayet Khan (1790-1883), Ustad Asadullah Khan Kaukab (1852-1919), Ustad Karamatuilah Khan (1848-1933), Prof. Sakhawat Hussain Khan (1875-1955), also his illustrious father Ustad Umar Khan (1916-1982) and his uncle Ustad Ilyas Khan (1924-1989) the famous Sitar player of Lucknow.
Key-words
Waliullah Khan, waliulla, Manjh Khamaj, Majh, Metiaburuj, Nawab of Jalpaiguri, 1840, Begum Jabbar, Umar Khan, Roxy Cinema, Basushree, Sree Cinema Hall, Basusree, 1953, Marris College, Illiyas Khan.
Language
Hindi
Irfan Muhammad Khan speaks:
Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.
Residence of Prof. Sanjoy Bandopadhyay, 3/1/1D, Padmapukur Road, Kolkata 700092
On Irfan Muhammad Khan
Irfan Md. Khan is an established Sarod Player. The scion of Lucknow Shahjanpur Gharana Sarod player. He represents the Lucknow-Shahjahanpur Gharana which has produced eminent Sarod players like Ustad Enayet Khan (1790-1883), Ustad Asadullah Khan Kaukab (1852-1919), Ustad Karamatuilah Khan (1848-1933), Prof. Sakhawat Hussain Khan (1875-1955), also his illustrious father Ustad Umar Khan (1916-1982) and his uncle Ustad Ilyas Khan (1924-1989) the famous Sitar player of Lucknow.
Key-words
Asadulla Khan, Kaukab Khan, kaukabh, Pratibha Devi, Debi, Karamatullah Khan, sangeet sabha, Motilal Nehru, 1908, Paris World fare, broken sarod, Banjo, Dwarkin, Kaukab patent Banjo, Betel. Calcutta,
– After the death of Kaukav Khan, Pratibha Devi called Karamatullah Khan.
– Tell us something about Pratibha Devi.
– Pratibha Devi was the daughter-in-law of Rabindranath Tagore. She had opened a music school. I think it was in Bhowanipore, or maybe somewhere in North Kolkata. My father had told me where it was, but I don’t remember it. There he was the teacher. In the meantime, what happened was, when Kaukav Khan was teaching, Motilal Nehru took him to Allahabad. Before that, Motilal Nehru had sent the two brothers to the Paris World Fair in 1908.
– Who were the two brothers?
Ustad Karamatullah Khan
– Kaukav Khan and Karamatullah Khan. They had been taken to represent India. They went to Paris and the Great Exhibition. There is a very interesting anecdote. Kaukav Khan’s sarod had broken. Now who could build him a sarod in Paris? He was very upset. The concert was just after two days. So he asked around whether there was anyone who could build him a sarod. As he was roaming around, he spotted a banjo. He bought the banjo and shaved off the frets to make it plain. And he played the banjo in place of his sarod at the concert, like the Sarod. Since then, the banjo became his signature, like his patent. Here in Kolkata, there was Dwarkin Shop owned by Gyan babu’s father. Banjos were available there. The banjo had become his patent. They even called it ‘Kaukuv patent banjo’.
– ‘Indian Banjo’?
-That’s what they wrote on the records. If someone went to the shop to buy it, they’d say, “I want the Kaukab Patent Banjo.” He has seven or eight records where he has played that banjo.
Residence of Prof. Sanjoy Bandopadhyay, 3/1/1D, Padmapukur Road, Kolkata 700092
On Irfan Muhammad Khan
Irfan Md. Khan is an established Sarod Player. The scion of Lucknow Shahjanpur Gharana Sarod player. He represents the Lucknow-Shahjahanpur Gharana which has produced eminent Sarod players like Ustad Enayet Khan (1790-1883), Ustad Asadullah Khan Kaukab (1852-1919), Ustad Karamatuilah Khan (1848-1933), Prof. Sakhawat Hussain Khan (1875-1955), also his illustrious father Ustad Umar Khan (1916-1982) and his uncle Ustad Ilyas Khan (1924-1989) the famous Sitar player of Lucknow.
Key-words
Imdad Khan, Tarab strings, taraf, Puriya, haren Sheel, Sil, Kaukab Khan, Kaukabh, Marwa, Mand, Surbahar, 1910, Marwari Hospital, Jorasanko
Language
Hindi [also include some English and Bengali sentences.]
Ustd. Irfan Muhammad Khan speaks:
Paraphrase:
This is an embarrassing story, a tongue in cheek situation that happened in the house of Haren Sil. It was probably 1910 or 1912. Haren Sil’s house was on Chitpur Road, near Jorasankho Thakurbari that is now famously known as Rabindra Bharati University. Haren Sil’s house was like a sanctum where legendary musicians regularly visited, so almost every day Baithakis took place.
In this Sil house, once an incident happened with Imdad Khan, the legendary Sitar and Surbahar player. Imdad khan used to tune his Surbahar in all 12 notes so that he could randomly access any Raga in a bit moment. Actually he had a very rare power to start from any note. If he could take Tibra Madhyam as his first note, then Bhairavi would come very naturally. He always in a very modest way asked his audiences to request him any Raga of their will. Then he could immediately start that Raga very effortlessly. That was his unique technique, his charisma to mesmerize listeners.
One day in a very casual mood Imdad Khan was playing Puriya and asked his audiences for any raga. Kaukabh Khan, the legendary Sarode player was present at that time before Imdad Khan in Sil house. He told Haren to request him for Marwa. Now that was the most difficult situation for Imdad to turn on Marwa from Puriya. So he very calmly started playing Maand. Kaukabh Khan felt very insulted and began to scream on him that he had asked for Marwa and not Maand. He also scolded Imdad Khan that he should not brag of playing any Raga instantly when he could not do such things in reality. But Imdad Khan went for a tricky answer. He politely stated Khan Saheb that Maand came as his heart’s choice. Kaukabh Khan was very short tempered person. He immediately ordered Haren Sil to snatch his Surbahar and Haren Sil silently obeyed his order. Kaukabh Khan kept that Surbahar for three to four days and after he calmed down he asked Haren to return back that one to Imdad Khan.
This is one of the several stories that buried in Haren Sil’s house, North Kolkata which is now a Marwari hospital.
Paraphrased by: Dr. Suranjita Paul
Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.
Residence of Prof. Sanjoy Bandopadhyay, 3/1/1D, Padmapukur Road, Kolkata 700092
On Irfan Muhammad Khan
Irfan Md. Khan is an established Sarod Player. The scion of Lucknow Shahjanpur Gharana Sarod player. He represents the Lucknow-Shahjahanpur Gharana which has produced eminent Sarod players like Ustad Enayet Khan (1790-1883), Ustad Asadullah Khan Kaukab (1852-1919), Ustad Karamatuilah Khan (1848-1933), Prof. Sakhawat Hussain Khan (1875-1955), also his illustrious father Ustad Umar Khan (1916-1982) and his uncle Ustad Ilyas Khan (1924-1989) the famous Sitar player of Lucknow.
Key-words
1880, Enayet Khan, sarodiya, sarod, Kolkata, Kashem Ali Khan, 1887, England, Atta Khan, Murshidabad, Niyamatullah Khan, Wazed Ali, Basat Khan, Karamatullah Khan, Lucknow, Metiaburuj, 1872, Kobila, Bhawal State, Shafayet Khan, Junagarh, Shakhawat Khan, Shahjahanpur, Nepal, Delhi, Pratibha Debi, Devi, Sangeet sabha, Kaukab Khan, haren Sheel, Sil, Gobar Guha, Banjo, sarod, Dhiren Bose, Kali Pal, Paul, J.C. Bose, Jagadish Chandra, Hirendra nath Chattopadhyay, Pratap Chandra Chandra, Kedara, madhyam, Kaukabh
Language
Hindi [also include some English and Bengali sentences.]
Ustd. Irfan Muhammad Khan speaks:
Text Version:
You come from a great inheritance, please share some anecdotes of your family related to Kolkata.
During 1880s, my ancestor InnayatKhan , the sarod maestro came to Kolkata. He stayed here for a while then went to Jaydevpur,Bhawal estate. Kashim Ali Khan also joined him there. Queen Victoria’s coronation silver jubilee was during that time, in 1887, and Innayat Khan was sent to England by Bengal Jamindaar Association to play at the Durbaar. He was accompanied by a Tabla player named Atta Khan of Murshidabad.
How was Wazed Ali Khan related to all these?
Niyamatullah Khan was related to Wazed Ali Khan. In 1856 when Wazed Ali Khan was deposed, he was sent to Kolkata with his full court. Basatkhan accompanied him here along with some singers and musicians. NiyamatullahKhan also came here along with his two sons, Kaukab Khan and Karamatullah Khan.Niyamatullahhad a relationship with the king for almost thirty years, both in Lucknow and Kolkata. Then he went to Nepal and to fill his empty post Innayat Khan had arrived. When Wazed Ali Shah passed away, he went to Bhawal Estate in Komilla. It was the custom of the day and these local kings were the real patrons then. Afterwards he went to England and he was the first Indian musician who went to England. When he returned, he came back to jaydebpur and spent his last days there.
His son Shafayat Khan took his post in Bhawal estate as court musician. He was also attached to Junagadh, Gujrat. He stayed in Junagadh for a while and then returned. He sentShakhawat Khan Sahabin Bengal. Shakhawat Khan sahib was a young lad then, only fifteen or twenty years of age. He stayed in Jaydebpur for a little and then escaped and went to Lucknow. He was asked why he was staying back, why he didn’t return to his job? He was very reluctant at first, he made some excuses and then he disclosed the real reason for his escape.
Everyday the Rajasaab took the young musician along with him to visit the grave of his earlier GurujiKashim Ali Khan to show respect and told Sakhawat Saab that he would do the same for him too. The young man was frustrated to see his future tomb every day. He was also a bit superstitious, he could not stand this torture daily. So, he escaped and didn’t return.
Niyamatullah khan returned from Nepal and stayed in Delhi where he took his last breath.His sons made their home here in Kolkata, Metiabruz. Pratibha Debi requested Kaukab Khan to be the Principal of her music school Sangeet Sabha. There the Jamindars took music as their hobby because it was costly. But I must say this, my ancestors made agreat mistake to teach this upper-class people. They took it as a mere hobby, nothing serious. But I think, if they taught common folk it would be better, real learners would then get a chance and they would become immortal through their disciples.
Among his desciples were HarenShil who learnt Surbahar, Gobor Guha who was a famous body builder learnt Banjo and Sarod. Dhiren Bose was a famous sarod player, Kali Pal learnt Esraj. Sarat Bose, scientist J.C.Bose learnt Sarod from my ancestors. Harindranath Chattopadhyay, the husband of Sarojini Naidu, Pratap Chandra Chandra also learnt Sarod. They were quite eccentric and loyal to my ancestors. Once HarenShil was learning Kedar and suddenly a part of a chandelier dropped down when madhyam was played. The sound of broken glass beautifully twined with the madhyam and HarenShil asked his servant to break the entire Belgian chandelier to create the beauty of the sound again. Such was their eccentricity.
TRANSLATON BY ARUNDHATI BANERJEE
Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.
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.
Tags
HMV,Gramaphone, Evening Raga,Casset , Godhuli, Morning Raaga, 1990-92, Darbari,Yaman, Bageshree, Long Playing Records, Kishori Amankar, Roshanara Begum, Records, Shyam Ganguly, Rasoolan Bai, Sidhweswari Devi, Bismillah Khan, Extended Play Record, EP, Ravishankar, Ali Akbar, Nikhil Banerjee, Indian Classical Music
Language
English
Sri Rajeev Goenka Speaks :
A small video clip
Text Version:
I was associated with the gramophone company. They took me as an adviser of classical music, so I gave them various concepts, like I asked them to take evening Ragas and we titled the cassette, at that time there were cassettes, there were four cassettes in one box, so I titled the compilation ‘Godhuli’, and on the box we wrote the details, that what is ‘Godhuli’ and what are the Ragas of Godhuli, then I made a cassette called morning Ragas, then I made the cassette of evening Ragas.
The approximate time frame if you could also mention of the release of these cassettes of ‘Godhuli’ and the morning ragas and others?
Yes, ‘Godhuli’ is the evening time.
No when did you produce it? The publishing year? Approximately?
It would be 1991-92, then I took the major Ragas, like Darbari, Yaman, Bageshree, in which I gave all old long playing records, because when I took over, long playing records were off, and cassettes had come, and H.M.V have not published the LPs into cassettes. So the conversion also took place, and the artists of 1940’S, and 50’S, came on the cassettes, so like when I did Bageshree, I gave the Kishori Amankar’s LP in that cassette, I gave Roshanara Begum’s Bageshree in that cassette, so like that the four cassettes pack would have eight pieces, a two cassettes pack would have four pieces, then I made, I mean in my personal collection, I had those Eps, those extended play records, which played for seven minutes each side, so those extended play records,
I took my own records to H.M.V and transferred them to tape, so like Shyam Ganguly of Kolkata, Rasoolan Bai, Sidhweswari Devi these extended records were not on the roster of H.M.V, so they got those seven minutes recordings, Bismillah Khan Sahab, Ravishankar ji, Ali Akbar they had also made, Nikhil Banerjee they had also made these seven minutes records, which were not there in the market, in the publicity domain, I mean the old connoisseurs who had these records but that by then those record players were been extinct. So therefore those records were not available, so I brought it in cassette so my library also became up to date, and preservation of those extended play and 78rpm records came to good use and revival of classical music happened.
