This is an incident which I would have said about anyway, but since Pt. Ramesh Mishraji left us yesterday, I think it fit to be told at first, as he was involved with this. This was in the 1980s – I do not remember exactly, but close to1986 or 1987. At that time music was released on cassettes. The recording for PanditSwapanChaudhury’s first Tabla on cassette was being done at Audio Centre Studio at Behala. Recording started at around 7 in the evening. Rameshda, Pandit Ramesh Mishra was keeping the Nagma on Sarengi. Pt. SwapanChaudhury was to play the VilambitTeentaal.
Pt. ramesh Mishra
This happened at the very beginning of the recording. When everything was ready, recording had started, Pt. Ramesh Mishra, playing with his head down, started with a short Auchar and went in to the Gat. He had played it exceedingly well, even within that short timeframe. When he arrived at the ‘Sam’, it was expected that Pt. SwapanChaudhury, sitting opposite from him, would take his entry from there. But he did not play anything, just sat there, looking at Rameshda. Rameshda played a few more matras, then, having heard nothing from SwapanChaudhury, he looked up.
Pt. SwapanChaudhuri was so engrossed in his music that he said, even though the recording was going on, “Ramesh, you play today, I am going to listen to you. You are playing so well that anything I play after this will ruin the ambience. You go on playing, I will listen you today. The recording can wait for some other day.”
This incident naturally left Rameshdaembarrassed and he stopped playing. The recording was done afresh. But this incident has remained imprinted in my memory.
Amlan Das Gupta is a Professor of English, Jadavpur University, He has built an archive of North Indian classical music at the School of Cultural Texts and Records at Jadavpur University. He has also offered a course on the history of North Indian Classical Music. Education – University of Oxford.
Tags
Amalendu Dasgupta, Delhi, Radio, Akashvani, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ludhiana, Ali Baksh Khan, Kale Khan, Sarengi, Pancham
Language
English, Hindi
Dr. Amlan Dasgupta Speaks :
Text version:
I heard this story from my father. My father worked for the Radio as a news, news editor in Delhi in early years of Akashvani, and even though this is a story from Delhi, it is worth thinking about because it involves a figure who was very close to the Calcutta music scene, that’s Bade Ghulam Ali Khan sahab. Now my father who was you know, who’s musical taste was entirely built when he was a student in Kolkata then he had gone to work in Delhi, He found a way of visiting Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Sahab when he was staying at somebody’s house, some rich person’s house at Delhi. I think this was that ill fated visit when he was fed on various kinds of vegetables and so he was very very depressed and then he organised, he did not eat at the house, he organised a kind of kitchen outside in the lawn and personally supervised it, and he got his ‘Ghee’ from Ludhiana or somewhere like that. That how this stories are. My father went to see him and there were lots of stories. He sat and waited for him, and he even looked at him, hours past, whatever, so at one point they got talking at least Ghulam Ali Khan he Sahab started talking. The story is of the variant stories about cow and Dog and Bird and the waves all these things. It was really beautiful stories that went like this and this amazing this amazing connection that Ghiulam Ali Khan Sahab’s music had with nature, there were various kind of expressing the basic relationship with nature I think that is in story for me. But this story is something different. This story is about, when he was very young and he was lying in the lap of his father Ali Baksh Khan Sahab and there was concert going on in his house, the house of Ali Baksh Khan Sahab in which Kale Khan Sahab was singing and there was somebody else I forget the name, the name is not clear. So both the ustad were singing and when dono ustad pancham pe khari, and stopped and the sarengiya was about to play the Pancham this child started crying in Pancham. Then dono ustads stopped singing and said ‘Yeh Baccha Kaun Hay’? ‘Yeh Aapka Ghulam Hai’ That’s why he was called Ghulam Ali Khan Sahab. That’s the story.
Verbatim by Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee
Note: Although this anecdote describes about an event in Delhi, this is of immense significance. This is connected to Ustd. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan as a baby and the event that was responsible for his naming as Ghulam Ali is portrayed here. BGK was born in 1902. So, the incident may have happened when he was between 1 to 3 years old. Khansahib had a very intimate connection with the city of Calcutta. – Editor
Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.
Amlan Das Gupta is a Professor of English, Jadavpur University, He has built an archive of North Indian classical music at the School of Cultural Texts and Records at Jadavpur University. He has also offered a course on the history of North Indian Classical Music. Education – University of Oxford.
Malikarjun Mansoor sang, I think, for the last time in Kolkata in January of 19–, I think 1992, the year he died. He died later that year, and this programme was at Ramkrishna Mission. There was Tabla performance after his, morning concert, and there was a tabla performance after his singing. There was lot of people who wanted to listen to the Tabla, lot of people coming into the greenroom, and filling up the corridors, very difficult. So, he was sitting in the greenroom and singing. There was Kanan Sahab, who was there. He was always there when Mansoorji sang, and he was very–, he was not well, because later we knew, that we learnt, that already you know that the disease has started, — he had cancer,– the disease could have been there. He was not well, he was tired, little tired. (The) day before he had sang at, I think at, Netaji, the open air , open air theatre next to, no next to the Eden Gardens, yes, (in) the stadium. So there he had sung, then there was some problem also, because the audience didn’t like his singing, so he had some problem, I wasn’t there, there was something that I didn’t listen to. So he came here and he was singing and he was told that he had forty minutes, perhaps little more than that, fifty minutes to sing a song, that was really sad. So he started with something,
Pt. Mallikarjun Mansur
I think he started with ‘Shukla Bilawal’ and went on to sing ‘Jaunpuri’. Now it was not his best. — Whatever he sang was immensely tuneful and even the music that he sang four five months after this , which I have heard later, was his last radio concert made in ‘Dharwar’ months before he died, perhaps weeks before he died, even that was so tuneful, — was so tuneful. But it was clearly not very developed, he was trying to keep things over, he had time for fifteen minutes, at the end I think he sang ‘Bhairavi’ or something. But the thing is that he, we were all sitting there, bunch of, we were young and we had (been) hanging about him for last few days, trying to see him, do you need anything or can we help you with something, I think he saw that and so he finished singing this song, this usual ‘Vilambit’ that he sang ‘U to jaiyo piyake desh’ and he started singing a song which is as follows, its a Gwalior Bandish, its a Gwalior Bandish. It was recorded by some in 78 rpm artist. I have heard it, some particularly distinguished, but this song, ‘Sajana Ghar Lagi Sandiya’. Now we were extatic, we have never heard him singing this song. Later, he went away, we had a recording. So later I shared this recording with other Mansoor follower, Now nobody has ever heard him singing that song and clearly he sung that song for us, for atleast these young unfortunates who were sitting there, I mean he didn’t have time for some mismanagement or people came late or whatever –whatever could be the reason, there was this hourlong, less than an hour concert and he sang this song and this is I think both the unpredictability and greatness of ustadji. I mean, his son Rajshekharji, Rajsekharji told me that he had never heard his father singing this song. So that’s it, I mean they had these immense reserves and we also think about the kind of training that these people had that on spot they pull out a song from anywhere, they’ll sing it, if they feel like it or because they were thinking that there are some people in the audience that they would like it. I don’t think Mansoorji quite enjoy singing in Calcutta because his singing style, kind of singing was not very familiar in Kolkata. We need to understand Nibrutibuaji had not come to Kolkata yet. Many years ago Kesarbai had sung but that was a different thing, Kesarbai’s singing was quite different thing. Mansoorji’s singing had a very heavy influence of Gwalior. Gwalior. Blend of Gwalior and Jaipur, I don’t think it was very popular. In small audience, a very dedicated following but not a very large following. Some people used to visit all his concerts, I have seen them, there were lot of (them). So I don’t think that there was much of a taste.
Pt Ulhas Kashalkar
The taste came later, with Ulhasji and people like (him), they built up this taste. Mansoorji, I think, that’s the reason why he was happy that people who wanted to listen, he wanted to give them something, that is his piece of acts of love and that is music is all about.
Amlan Das Gupta is a Professor of English, Jadavpur University, He has built an archive of North Indian classical music at the School of Cultural Texts and Records at Jadavpur University. He has also offered a course on the history of North Indian Classical Music. Education – University of Oxford.
It must have been in 1974 or 75, when I first heard Vismadev Chattppadhyaya sing. I had heard him sing in gramophone records, we had some of his gramophone records at home, We heard long kind of stories about him. My teacher Sri Amarnath Dey had organized a programme at Balygunj Sikhsha Sadan, where he came. Always I was told that he was a very unpredictable singer that mean that mean what will he sing, or whether he would sing anything at all or just go away, no one could predict it at all. But he came and he sat quietly and he asked for lot of tea, I remember I went him caught the tea, and I think it was also ‘Paan’ that he requires so I was put in charge for looking after him for these things. There was Keramat Sahab, and there was Kesto Babu on the Harmonium. So he was sitting there and then he, I think he was playing the Harmonium himself. I also remember small thing when he took Keramat Khan Sahab’s Tabla and played then with Buddhadeb Dasgupta, So there were all kind of thinks that was happening. Then he went on to the stage and sang ‘Alap’ in ‘Malkauns’ and that is I think the really marvelous part of that programme. After that he sang ‘Khayal’ in ‘Malkauns’ then he sang ‘Drut khayal’ ‘Malkauns’, ‘Vilambit ‘ and ‘Drut’, and then he sang ‘Bhajan’, and stopped. After which I think people in the audience, whom he knew, you mean lot of people, there were lot of people there, lot of music lovers, who asked him to go on and say that you can’t leave us like this, and then he pulled the Harmonium towards himself and must have sang some eight or ten ‘Ragpradhan’ songs, That was really marvelous, really marvelous. Went on far beyond the time which we were booked the hall for, we were all standing there, pleading with the hall authorities to allow him to go on singing, saying something is happening which is so marvelous that, it will be really a great pity to, tragedy to stop it. So the thing is that the ‘Malkauns Alap’ I have never heard him before, after I heard him three times perhaps afterwards in ‘ Bango Sanskriti Sanmelam’ and also the programme that we have organized an year after. But he did’nt sing an ‘Alap’ , I never heard any recording later when I was sort of tried to look for the recordings of Vishmababu, I found a couple of ‘Vilambit Khayal’s but no live or recorded ‘Alap’. But that he had training and this was something which was remarked upon by all the artists present there was something that I thought was really marvelous because evidently he was talking about a kind of ‘Talim’ about on which we knew almost nothing.
Verbatim by Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee
Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.
There was a hilarious incident that took place in SRA when I was there. We used to organize event called ‘Jhalapala’. In the performing artists all the artists who were known for their singing or Tabla playing or some other you know forte, they were supposed to switch roles and do something else like a singer was supposed to dance, a table player supposed to sing or vice versa. So the hall was full when we organized this in 1998 I think or 1999. Because Mr. Kichlu was there, was still director of SRA at that time.
Mr. Kichlu we discovered that he was trained by none other than UdayShankarji in his Almora ashram. As a boy he had learnt how to dance. Earlier also I had heard from Deepalidi, Deepali Nag that once they had done Shah Jahan and Anarkali soDeepalidihad become Anarkali and Mr. Kichlu was Shah Jahan. Sorry Jahangir and Anarkali. So on this day we requested Mr. Kichlu to present an item. He said that – ‘I’ll show you how Ram walks, his dignified way of carrying himself and how Sita walks’. And it was fantastic, it was really fantastic. He was in plain white pajama kurta, but then one could see that Sita is walking, lifting her lehenga, covering her head with curni. It was very nicely done.
Pandit Lakshmi Narayan Mishra
Then Ustad Rashid Khan was asked to sing sorry asked to dance in given item odissi. He very nicely gave a tribhangi mudra and I was singing the item for him Pallavi and he tried to copy Pratima Bediji. Then there was Pandit Lakshmi Narayan Mishra. He is a veteran Tabla player. He said that he wants to sing Thumri. So he came and sang beautiful Thumri for all of us. AnandaGopalBandopadhyay, he also sang Thumri in that. He is a wonderful singer. Incidentally he is the disciple of Mahadev Prasad Mishraji who used to teach Tabla and Thumri. And Anandada learnt Tabla from him and Thumrihis one of the best known disciples was Vidusi Purnima Chowdhury.
Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan
There were many other artists also who were associated with SRA’s activities. One of them was Tanmoy Bose, the aced tabla player. He was asked to present an item and he came up with BirjuMaharajji’s way of talking or doing the Kathakata while dancing. After dance naturally one gets breathless. So Tanmoy presented that so beautifully, you know, catching his breath and then again saying some words…it was beautifully presented. There were so many artists there and we all enjoyed you know, you want artist name like Arun Bhaduri was there, Deepalidi was there, Purnima Sen, then Ullhasji was there I remember and the younger artists were there, all the scholars were there who would learning from various Gurus. There was Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan Sahab. He is well-known poet, everybody knows. His way of reciting the gazals, I am saying reciting not singing…that was also fantastic. So he recited his self-composed gazals and that was also…it still clings on my mind.
When Gurujifirst came to Kolkata, he stayed in a house as a paying guest which was in 20C, NilmaniMitra Street, close to Darjipara. He was there for few days. It was on his initial days in Kolkata,probably during 1944-45. Then he moved from that place to someone’s house in Bowbazar. The landlord of that house was a lover of music and dance and often visited at classical concerts. So when that man had a discussion about keeping Guruji as paying guest, the man did not like the fact of having an atmosphere of music in his own house, the fact that someone will sing and he will be seen, though the owner himself visited concerts. So, Gurujiknew that the man did not like to have an atmosphere of music in his house.
The gentleman had asked Guruji if he was into music. Then Guruji had replied “No, no I don’t do all that” otherwise the man would not had let him stay. So finally the man had let Guruji stay. Now, Guruji had to practice or he atleast need to something, how to do that now? So, when the gentleman used to go out of the house, in that house there was water pump, so when the pump used to start then a musical sound used to come out of it, at that time Guruji used to practice a bit. He used to practice completely in a naked voice. Other than that he could not practice at all. In the meantime when it was going on like that, one fine day the gentleman told Guruji that there was a whole night concert, “Would you like to go with me?” Guruji said, “Yes”. Then he took him to the concert.
That was Pathuriaghata Street, house of ManmathaNathGhosh. The concert was held there. First was Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Sahab, then was Ravi Shankarji. Both of them did it half-half, whole. At first was Bade Ghulam Ali’s vocal. Everybody was sitting in the hall room wearing Punjabi and dhoti, on those days mug dhoti, and all were lover of music. Guruji was sitting beside the gentleman. When Ghulam Ali Khansahab’s performance was over suddenly Guruji was saying to the gentleman, and before that he noticed that ManmathNathBabu, who happens to be the owner of that place was coming and talking to the gentleman few times. Guruji thought that Manmath nath Babu must be a friend of the gentleman.
Ustad Bade Gulam Ali Khan
(Guruji asked) – “Well, will you please let me sing here? He is a great friend of yours. Could you please kindly request him to let me sing here?” The gentleman said – “You will sing here. What are you saying? Shut up! .Ghulam Ali Khansahab has sung here and you will sing after that. Yes, don’t speak at all. You have come with me so just quietly be seated.” The gentleman got angry and was shouting. In the meantime Manmatha Nath babu was passing that place. Manmatha Nath babu stood and enquired “What’s the matter? What happened?” Meanwhile, some interview was going on and few people from the audience had gone out to have some tea. The gentleman said “Look! This boy is just desperate. He is constantly saying that he will sing. He has never listened to songs, nothing, now he is saying that he will sing”. ManmathaNathbabu said “Does he want to sing? Alright, he can sing but only 10 minutes. People are having tea now. Let him sing for 10 minutes. What’s the problem? But not more than 10 minutes, Ravi Shankarji will sit after that. Guruji said, “ Yes, 10 minutes will be enough”. He agreed. Now, the accompanists who played with Ghulam Ali Khansahab, all of them denied. They said that they don’t know him and what they would play. They said “ Nahi, nahi, hum log nahi bajayenge”. All of them were denying. So a tabla player from the same para who came to see the concert and well known to the gentleman was being told to accompany with him. He was told, “Play with him, he is saying he will sing and all” . Only a tanpura was put in sync, there was no other instrument, a tanpura and a tabla. He sang the Malkauns which he had heard from Abdul Karim Khan sahab. He completed it within 10 minutes. As soon as he finished, all people were extremely, not only when he finished rather when he had begun then only within 2- 1 minute people started coming in with their tea cups and sat quietly. And audience of those days were quite socialist. They were sitting and quietly listening. And after listening they started developing a curiosity “Where did he come from? What is the matter? Such a great voice”. People started going in front of the stage and started asking him, “What is your father’s name?.Guruji’s father ‘s name was quite known to the people on those days. Audience said, “Oh, you are his son!” Ghulam Ali Khan sahab was on backstage . Ghulam Ali Khan asked the organizer to bring the person in front of him whoever was singing. He did not see Guruji then. Then Guruji went in front of him. Ghulam Ali Khan praised Guruji and said “Your voice is very nice and your taans are very clean. You will do well.” He said all that.
This is wonderful incident that he showed the courge to sing after Ghulam Ali Khansab’s performance. And after Guruji’s performance the gentleman was quite proud. The gentleman said “Yes. He lives in my house.” Actually, everybody was enquiring “Who brought him? From where?”. The gentleman felt very proud.
Jyoti Goho is a well-known Harmonium player of Indian Classical Music. He is a Musician Faculty in ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata.
Tags
Station Director, All India Radio, A.T.Kanan, Khamaj Thumri, Begum Aktar, Dipali Nag, Sangeet Research Academy, Recording, Studio, Thumri, Kheyal, Amir Khan, Bade Gulam Ali Khan, Rewaz, Talim, Bakul Bagan, Bhawanipur, 1950
A. Throughout this recording Jyoti Goho has referred to his Guru Pandit A.T. Kanan as Guruji. B. This happened after the whole night concert at Mahajati Sadan in 1950. – Editor
Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University
Sri Rantideb Maitra’s Residence, Madur Daho, Kolkata
About the speaker
Renowned Music Collector and Music Connoisseur
Tags
Ravi Shankar, Dhrupad, Chowtaal Chautaal, Tansen, Trina Purohit, Sharbari Roy Chowdhury, Robin Pal, Standing Note, Ballygunj, Satya Kinkar Bandyopadhyay, Gharana, Bishnupur, Talim, Allauddin Khan, Ali Akbar Khan, Khokababu, Birendra Kishore Roy Chowdhury, Dabir Khan, Khandar Baan, Hari Narayan Mukhopadhyay, Benaras, 1998,1999
Language
English
Sri Rantideb Maitra speaks :
Text Version:
Raviji sitting in front of a portrait of Guru Allauddin.
This is about Pandit Ravi Shankar’s singing, it’s outstanding. So I first heard Ravi Shankar singing a full-fledged Dhrupad, full-fledged you know, Chowtal with a Pakhawaj sangat…num tum, alap full-fledged dhrupad sang Tansen Dhrupad songs, and that was Trina Purohit’s house. She had lot of tape recordings from Sarbari Roy Chowdhury and I also heard something. I was really engrossed with the style of his singing…so beautiful and so tuneful. And the Dhrupad exactly as I knew Dhrupad to be you know that the swiping meends and long standing notes, khandani Dhrupad. So I was amazed that how come Ravi Shankar, if he had been a singer he could have been a very famous singer if he had stop played the Sitar. So I was always thinking that from whom he had learnedhis Dhrupad. What was his talim? So his secretary Rabin Pal was very close to me at a point of time and whenever Ravi Shankar came here he used to stay at that LalaSriram’s house in Ballygung and just full of people gate crashing, try to get his photograph, autograph or getting their LP record signed by him so it was very difficult to talk to him, always surrounded by so many people. I also tried to get him once but I could not enter. Even in spite of the fact that Rabin Pal was with me. Because he was having some press conference or something so I was asking Rabin Palconstantly that please ask Panditji from whom he learnt his Dhrupad.
I said ‘did you ask him’?
– No…
– Did you ask him?
– No.
– Why?
– No, actually I don’t know much about the Dhrupad. If Panditji ask me why you are asking me about Dhrupad, what do you know about Dhrupad then I will not been able to answer this thing that thing. Why don’t you ask that?
I said ‘how can I ask? He comes to Calcutta so less so’.
He said ‘ok go to your chamber’. He came to my chamber and he just dialed a number and said ‘Panditji, some person wants to talk to you and he is a great friend of mine’ and just handed over the phone to me. I was so nervous you know but the first thing that came to my mind I spoke. I said ‘Panditji I am a great admirer of your Dhrupad singing.
He burst out laughing…Ha Ha Ha. This is the first time I’m being complimented for my singing.
I said ‘it’s very true Panditji. I get something from the tape recorder.
– Oh I see.
– I am very fond of Dhrupad…very much you know.
– Whom you heard? Whose Dhrupad have you heard?
I said ‘mostly I listen to Satyakinkar Bandyapadhyay’s Dhrupad.
– Oh….he was such a giant and even after listen to him you’re finding my song up to date or to the mark?
I said ‘very much. It is of the same style.
– Oh….really.
Then I asked him that ‘I have a question to ask you Panditji that how is your style of singing so similar to Satyakinkar babu’s style of singing? It is very important.
What he said opened my eyes. What I thought he said. He said that ‘look why our singing styles would be different you tell me’?
I said, ‘No, but you belong to a different gharana. He is from Vishnupur.
– Well. No, that’s not a point. He said, ‘You have heard me singing Tansen’s song. He had also must be singing Tansen’s song.
I said, yes that’s true.
– Then if both of us had get proper talim , then both of us style must be the same. Because both of us singing Tansen that means both us have got the proper talim. So it should be different?
Then I pressurized him, ‘please do tell me from where?
He was so evasive. He said ‘No I learnt from Babaji’.
I said ‘no, it is not possible. I have heard Ali Akbar Khan sahab’s singing and it got nothing to do with your style. He only sings num tum tum and all sorts of things. I also heard Allauddin Khan’s some snatches of his songs…they got nothing, those are just some alap based Dhrupad like Dagars. But you are singing full-fledged Dhrupad.
– No…actually I must have learned something from Khokababu. Khokababu means Birendra Kishore Roy Chowdhury. I must have learnt.
I said, ‘No, because unfortunately or fortunately I heard Khokababu’s singing also’. I said, ‘No it is not similar to your style of singing. It is more like KhadarBani style; it is more like Dabir Khan style. It is not.
– Oh I see. So you have heard Dabir Khan.
I said yes one or two Dabir Khan.
– Ok …then I must have you see I was in Benaras, so you have heard about Hari Narayan Mukhopadhyay?
He was you know taking me down you know to a place where I cannot reach. Hari Narayan Mukhopadhyay, yes I have heard about him but there is no recording of Hari Narayan Mukhopadhyay.
Yes that is exactly the point. Then he was very satisfied. I must have you know during my younger days I heard Hari Narayan babu’s Dhrupad so much that this style must have gone into me and must be sing Hari Narayan Mukhopadhyay’s style.
Then I just gave up. I understood that he was not going to really divulge. So, ‘thank you Panditji. My Pranaam. So there we ended.
The first anecdote is about two great musicians, one Sangeetacharyay Satyakinkar Bandopadhyay and The other Ustad Faiyaz Khan, and it happened at the house of Maharaja Jyotindra Mohan Tagore at Pathuriaghata, The Grandson of Sourindra Mohun Tagore (?). I heard it from Sangeetacharyay Satyakinkar Bandopadhyay himself.
Sangeetacharya Satyakinkar Bandyopadhyay
He said that during that time of royal patronage The royal patrons always looked down on the musicians. In the sense that if they are singing they are expected to sing at a posture, sitting on the ground with tanpuras, pakhawaj, table whatever it is and The Rajas and The Maharajas used to sit in couch, and just listened to their music from a elevated position. He never liked that short of arrangement and once at the house of Jyotindra Mohan Tagore when he was a court singer, in fact Satyakinkar Bandopadhyay was a court singer to Jyotindra Mohan Tagore of Pathuriaghata.
Faiyez Khan and Satyakinkar Babu was suppose to sing in honor of The Maharaja of Gwalior and His Excellency Nizam who were visiting Jyotindra Mohan Tagore at that time and He arranged a musical evening of these two great masters
Ustad Faiyaz Khan
and The first artist was Faiyaz Khan, and he sang Alap and Khayal seating on the ground and Nizam and Mahraja of Gwalior and Jyotindra Mohan Tagore they were just enjoying the music seating on the sofas. And when the turn came for Satyakinkar Babu to sing he just refused to sing. He said that I am not accustomed to sing in this manner because I am a worshiper of Goddess Saraswati and I cannot bring her down to that level where Saraswati would be just, you know, seating beneath the feet of a mortal, so he also reprimanded Faiyaz Khan Sahab, he said that he was such a great Ustad, he was such a great master of music, how he can you know, are you not proud enough of you know, of your music, and if you are proud of your music then how you can humiliate the muse of music in this fashion, you should never do this in future, you are quite rich, you can afford not to sing, and he said that I can also afford not to sing and I will not sing. So what happened, there was an altercation Jyotindra Mohan Tagore and Satyakinkar Babu and to avoid any other, you know untoward incidents or embarrassment a makeshift arrangement was made, another spring sofa was brought at par with the Maharajas and Satyakinkar Babu said that you know he used to , he sat on the sofa but unfortunately it was a spring sofa, during that time, and he was, his entire thing went down with the spring, with his pakhawaj player and everything, and it was so uncomfortable, but he said at least you know the pride of music was saved for that day. That was one incident which he told me. This period must 1927-28, during that time.
