Residence of Somjit Dasgupta Prof. Sanjoy Bandopadhyay, 3/1/1D, Padmapukur Road, Kolkata 700092
About Somjit Dasgupta
Disciple of Pt. Radhika Mohan Maitra. Preserving rare musical instruments including the instruments belonged to Pt. Radhika Mohan Maitra. He plays different instruments like Sarod, Surshringar, Mohan Veena, etc.
Tags
Radhika Mohan Maitra, Md. Ameer Khan, sitar, Ustd. Enayet Khan, Chacha Miyan, 1920’s
Residence of Somjit Dasgupta Prof. Sanjoy Bandopadhyay, 3/1/1D, Padmapukur Road, Kolkata 700092
About Somjit Dasgupta
Disciple of Pt. Radhika Mohan Maitra. Preserving rare musical instruments including the instruments belonged to Pt. Radhika Mohan Maitra. He plays different instruments like Sarod, Surshringar, Mohan Veena, etc.
Tags
Instruments, Radhika Mohan Maitra, 1920’s, Md. Ameer Khan, Brajendra Mohan Maitra, sarod, 1911, Nirendra Krishna Mitra, North Kolkata, Nirendra Krishna Mitra, Siddheshwar Dutta, Sure. Sikdar, Basanta Ganguli, Pakhawaj Bhagawan Chandra Sen, Nanigopal Motilal, Raja Naba Krishna’s House, Shobha Bazar Rajbari, Nat Mandir.
Residence of Anindya Banerjee, 50/1A,Purna Das Road, Kolkata
About Anindya Banerjee
Disciple of Ustd.Ali Akbar Khan, Ustd. Dhyanesh Khan and other gurus. He plays Sarod and Surshringar. He is a well-known writer on Indian Music with several publications to his credit.
Tags
Ali Akbar Khan, Ali Akbar College of Music, 1968, Dhyanesh Ghan, Nikhil Banerjee, Lake Market area, South Calcutta, Annapurna Devi, ang, vocal music, dhamar, tarana, practicing,
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], Sati Sadan.
Earlier, my father used to play the tabla. In 1935, he became the disciple of Ustad Abid Hussain Khan sahib.
-Did that happen in this house?
– No, we used to live in our original house in Potuatolla at that time. The first person to tie the nara with Ustad Abid Hussain Khan was Hirubabu – Hirendranath Gangopadhyay. His father was a great fan of the tabla. Manmath nath Ganguly was his name. He used to work at the High Court.
– Your father is Pandit Montu Banerjee.
– Yes. We were all very close to Hiru babu’s family. Father was quite small then. Hiru babu said to my father that since he is such a fan of the tabla, he should become a disciple of his ustad. In those days, masters would not take on more than thirty to forty students. The masters would teach tabla or any other instrument or singing only to those who would become their gandabandh disciples. So my father learn from Ustad Abid Hussain Khan for two to two-and-a-half years. Then, Ustad Abid Hussain Khan passed away. Our family was close to Mr. Raichand Baral. He was a friend of one of my uncles. He said, “Ustad Masid Khan sahib is currently staying at my house. Why don’t you train under him.” So, he learn from Ustad Masid Khan. Then, my father ran into Munneshwar Dayalji. Father found him to be a great man. He was attained enlightenment in the world of music. He had a fantastic memory, and a singing style to match. He said to my father, “No one plays the classical harmonium. You should do it”. That was the time father left the tabla and took up the harmonium. The first time he played the harmonium was at the conference at Allahabad in 1937.
Translated by Sarbajaya Bhattacharya
Picture Courtesy:
Kamalaksha Mukhopadhyay, Harmonium player, AIR
Edited & Designed: Dr. Suranjita Paul
Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, RabindraBharati University
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]. He is also a legal practitioner.
Tags
Vilayet Khan, 1944-46, Ghulam Ali Khan, Kashinath Chattopadhyay, Keramatullah Khan, Sati Sadan, Desi Todi, Masood Khan Saheb, Bade Mian, Ahmedjan Thirakawa
Language
Bengali
Maharaj Banerjee speaks :
Verbatim:
Vilayet Khan lived in this house from 1944–46.
Ustad Vilayat khan
He was quite young. I was a child. There are photos of Vilayet Khan’s visit to our home in 1945. My father, Vilayet Khan, and I were in the house. Vilayet Khan stayed here. He would practice. And because of him, or maybe it was to my father’s credit, that other maestros like Faiyaz Khan would also visit this place. A very remarkable programme was organised here which carried the name of my grandfather. Shri Kashinath Chattopadhyay was an accomplished Bengali who used to sing. He had trained under Mustaq Hussain and Ashfaq Hussain of Rampur gharana. In that programme, Keramat Khan was playing the table, Ghulam Ali Khan was singing. It is a famous programme. I still remember, Khan sahib had sung the deshi todi. And many people, including Ray babu and Pahari Sanyal had come to hear.
In this house?
Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali KhanYes. And all the maestros and stalwarts had come. Ghulam Ali is unforgettable. There was another time when three sarod players performed in a programme held in the hallWhy do you feel that Ghulam Ali Khan is unforgettable?
I haven’t seen that kind of style in anyone else. Such finesse! Each octave seemed wasy to him. He’d sit in one place and travel to three octaves. He would sing common raagas, not unfamiliar ones. In the mornings, he would sing todi, deshi todi etc. Then he would sing shuddha sarang, jaunpuri and other famous ragaas og his. At night, he would sometimes sing marwa. Or else, he would sing bhupali; later into the night he would sing malkosh, darbari, behaag, kamod, kaushikdhwani. Nothing can be compared to that. And most importantly, he sang effortlessly. That is what mesmerised us. How can a person sit in one place like that and sing!
This was in 1945?
No. That was Vilayet Khan sahib. He was here for three years. Ghulam Ali Khan sahib…since I have been a part of music…I became more mature, I went to see him, and hear him, I got to know him. Then he rented a house in Park Circus. Then he was paralysed, he came to Kolkata and gave several performances. I had accompanied him on the tabla on some of these occassions.
You also played with Khan Sahib?
Yes, I became Therakuya Khan Sahib’s disciple in 1957. There wasn’t a single Bengali or Muslim who wasn’t here on that day. Ghulam Ali Khan was the chief guest. They referred to each other as Bade Miyan. Ghulam Ali Khan sahib said to Therakuya Khan, “Oh Bade Miya, this Maharaj is an exact copy of you!” And everyone else was saying, how can they be compared! But such was his affection towards me! He stressed on the weight ofthe music in accordance with the ragaa.
Our Howrah district is on either side of the Ganges. My grandfather Harishankar Ghosh was an important mridanga player. He trained under the well-known mridangacharya Durlabh Chandra Bhattacharya for almost twenty years. At that time, the only thing connecting Howrah and Kolkata was the old Rabindra Setu, on that side of the Howrah Station. But the people from Howrah to Kolkata could only cross at a particular time and same was the case for those who were travelling in the opposite direction because, unline the concrete bridge that exists today, this bridge, I’ve heard my grandfather say, was a floating bridge. Such a bridge still exists at the Kidderpore docks. This bridge is opened to let ships pass, and then closed again. This bridge would open after 11pm and let the ships pass. Then it would close again early in the morning at around 4 or 5. So, the music-lovers who went to Kolkata from Howrah would have to return by a particular hour, or else they’d get stuck.
Baithaki music at Zamindar house
It is my belief that the music scene in Kolkata was not like this before. Earlier, a programme would be organised every week at the house of some rich zamindar. Many talented persons would come to hear. In such programmes, the performer sat in the middle, and the audience sat around the performer – an arrangement similar to the jatra. My grandfather (I called him dadu although this term is usually reserved for the maternal grandfather, but I am used to calling my paternal grandfather Harishankar Ghosh by this term) had been attracted to this music from a very young age. He was associated with an ameteur jatra troupe since he was a boy. In those days, at the beginning of every play, there would be a song by bibek (the conscience). A Pakhwaj, then some on the tabla, and kirtan if need be. My grandfather played female characters in the plays when he was fourteen or fifteen years old. In those days, the men would play the part of the female characters because women couldn’t participate in such performances themselves.
How long ago was this?
The year?
Yes, which year?
Well, my grandfather was around twelve or fourteen. 1885-86 maybe. 1315-16 BS. Anyway, grandfather developed an interest in music through his participation in these plays. He didn’t learn the tabla, but he was fascinated by the instrument. If he ever got the opportunity, he could play along with some other member of the troupe, but he was not trained. The leader of the troupe advised my grandfather, “You have a good sense of rhythm. You learn the tabla. It’ll do you good.” Grandfather liked what he said.
One of the main disciples of Durlabh Bhattacharya was Pyareemohan Das. He was a timber merchant in Posta. Even now if you go in that direction, you’ll see timer merchants all in a row. Anyway, my grandfather got in touch with him and began to train. After training for some time, the master said, :Our gharana doesn’t use the tabla for too long, we have the pakhwaj.
Who did he learn from?
From Pyareemohan Das – the main disciple of Durlabh Bhattacharya. After that, he trained under him for ten years to learn the pakhwaj. After that, he passed away. Before that, grandfatherhad trained for ten years. But he felt like he had a lot left to learn. Durlabh Bhattacharya was still there. So he went to Durlabh Bhattacharya and said, “I was a student of Pyareemohan Das. Now, I have no one to train under. What will I do? Durlabh Bhattacharya was very impressed with my grandfather. He said, “You come to me. I will teach you.” Grandgfather trained under him for twenty years – for as long as he was alive. After passing his Entrance Examination, my grandfather also worked at several companies in Kolkata. He went to learn after work. That is why, he developed a close relationship with Kolkata and began to attend different programmes and hear performances.
When grandfather’s first guru Pyareemohan Das was still alive, he would go to many programmes with Pyareemohan Das. The latter would perform, and he would sit and listen. At that time, there would be arrangement of food not only for those who performed, but also for the audience in all the private performances. Grandfather used to be there. But he also had to keep in mind that he’d have to reach Howrah Station before 11, although the train was at 11:30, because the bridge was to open for the ships to pass. It happened many a times that he slept all night on what is now known as Jagannath Ghat (where there is a wholesale flower market). Sometimes, if he was accompanied by a friend, the friend would go with him.
At that time, there was another famous mridanga player, a contemporary of Durlabh Bhattacharya. His name was Nagendranath Mukhopadhyay. He was a famous ‘pakhwaji’. He could be called the ‘guru bhai’ of Durlabh Bhattacharya. However, his style was slightly different. Anyway, his daughter lived in Shibpur. So he often returned with grandfather. And if by chance the bridge would open, then the two of them would spend time chatting. He used to say to grandfather, “You play well, you should learn a bol or two from me.” Grandfather respected Durlabh Bhattacharya, revered him, but was also afraid of him. He was afraid that if he took the bol without Durlabh Bhattacharya’s permission, he would get angry and refuse to teach him. But he loved grandfather very much.
My old house is the Boral House in Bowbazar. Opposite to the Medical College is a Shiva temple. There is a lane next to the temple. Upon entering the lane, immediately to the right is a house with a portico – that is Lalchand Baral’s house. He used to live there. As far as we know, in his early years, he used to play the pakhwaj. He would travel with his instrument in our horse-drawn carriage and play with renowned Dhrupad singers.
Who were they?
There was one very famous Dhrupad singer. He accompanied that artiste.
Do you remember the name?
I’ll find out and tell you. He would often go to these performances. Then one day the singer said, “I’m not in the mood to sing today, so you can go back.” This irritared him. After returning, he sent word to the singer saying, “You are such a great singer and you turned me away, I’ll show you that I can also sing!” That is when he first sang. The song was – “Amare ashite bole keno eto opoman kora” (“Why do you insult me so after calling me”).
There are many other incidents involving Lalchand Baral. Jatras would be performed in the courtyard of their old house in Bowbazar where they’d sing songs such as the one mentioned and others like “Kader kuler bou”, “Dhin ta dhina paka nona”, “Anugoto jone keno”. That is how we have received the songs. Later, HMV gave him an offer to record his songs which he accepted. I’ve heard from others that HMV gained a lot during that time through these records. After that, they had come to present him with a car at the Bowbazar house. But unfortunately, Lalchand Baral passed away on that very day. That is why my uncles and others who were present decided to decline the gift.
Translation: Sarbajaya Bhattacharya
Picture Courtesy: Sri Nayak Chand Baral, Dhrupad singer, attached to Rabindra Bharati University
Edited & Designed: Ms. Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee
Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University
