I had heard a story from my Guru Manas Da, Pandit Manas Chakraborty, about his father Pandit Tarapada Chakraborty when he was taking lessons from Satkari Malakar.
Pt. Tarapada Chakrabarty with his young Disciple
We know that Pandit Tarapada Chakraborty was born in 1909. Probably in n the 1920s he used to take lessons from Satkari Malakar. We can see this in that a memorial program of Sri Manmotho Ganguly , held in 1940 both Satkari Babu and Tarapada Chakraborty performing on the same stage. Satkari Babu was visually challenged. Tarapada Chakraborty pleaded Sri Satkari Makalkar and started taking his training under him, Tarapada Chakraborty used to walk miles to reach that venue. He used to walk to Satkari Babu’s house and learn music from him. After each day’s learning of the Bandish, he used to ask him about when he should come next. Satkari Babu used to ask him to come only after mastering the Bandish properly. And he visited him the next day. Satkari babu, knowing who has come by the sound of people’s footsteps would say, “You had come just yesterday, and now again you are back! You have already became an Ustad or what” Then he would ask him to sing what he has picked up so far and he sang the Bandish exactly the way he was taught a day back, since he was a ‘Shrutidhar’. Ultimately Satkari Babu had to teach him another new Bandish, and this would continue. Manas Da also had told me that Satkari Babu could sing by hearing the sound of tarapada babu’s footsteps. He never got a chance to sit, and would sing from the threshold of his Guru’s house. He did not like the fact that his extremely talented pupil could learn and pick up the Bandish so easily and so fast. We have a notion that classical music is tough to learn and it takes a long time to pick up, but Tarapada Babu was very different in this respect. It was a great thing to be able to learn it so fast. A Bandish is so difficult to pick up, and to be able to learn it was considered a great thing to learn. From the side of the educators, they were extremely conservative about teaching it to others, and today, I feel the situation has somewhat changed.
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
Gokul Nag, vocal music, dhrupad, sargam, riyaz, practice, repetition, bol, sargam, right hand, left hand, reflex action, Mita Nag, 6-7 year old, beating, 1945, 1946
Father used to teach us how to sing before he would teach us how to play the sitar. We learnt Dhrupad. Once we picked up the raaga, he showed us the sargam on the sitar and asked us to play. That is, he asked us to do riyaaz. We had to play the same thing for a long time, accompanied by bol or sargam. So, for instance, in case of sargam it could be: “g? re s?, g? re s?, g? re s?, m? g? re m? g? re m? g? re, p? m? g? p? m? g? p? m? g?, s? re s? g? re s?, re g? re m? g? re, g? p? m? g? p? m? – inverting it – s? g? re s?, re g? m? re s? g? re g?, s? g? re g?, re m? g? m?, re m? g? m?…”
– How long would you play these?
Pt. Manilal Nag
– For a long time.
– Two hours? One hour?
– No, not one or two hours on every occasion. Forty times, thirty times. Then we changed it again. It’s not like we played the same thing for an hour.
– Was the riyaaz different for your left hand and right hand?
– No. If the right hand moves, the left hand will move automatically.
– Okay.
– The rule is that if the right hand moves well, the left hand will follow suit. I didn’t do anything special for the left hand. If the right hand moves, so will the left.
– You know, I think it is reflex. For every person, the matter of riyaaz is different depending on the reflex.
– I wanted to find out about his.
– I think reflex is the main factor.
– How old were you when you father was training you?
– I was around six or seven years old.
– Even at that age you had a rigorous riyaaz?
– Yes. Otherwise we’d get a beating. I’ve been beaten up many times.
– Beating doesn’t aid in the process of development.
– He was kicked from the first floor and fell to the ground floor because he played football. Such stories are there. He still has a mark on his arm.
– I used to play football. There was a rajbari in Uttarpara where there was a football ground. I was addicted to sports. I played football. At that time Salil Manna’s shots were famous. I stopped that shot. My wrist was dislocated. I had to figure out what I had to do next. I couldn’t go home and say I broke my wrist playing football. If I said that then father would get angry and give me a good thrashing. So, I came up with a plan. I was already quite mischievous by then. So, I made a loud noise and screamed that I had fallen down. Otherwise, I would have received a sound thrashing!
My first guru was my elder sister Mira Sil. Our home had a heritage of music. My elder sisters were all very talented. My eldest sister was a good singer while middle sister was a disciple of Chhabi Bandyaopadhyay. She sang many devotional songs and Kirtans. My elder brother Dr.Arun Sil was the mastermind behind these learning processes. He once decided to send my sister to learn from Birendra Kishore Roy Chaudhury. I remember the incident clearly. My sister asked my brother whether he knew the legendary musician and my brother took out the telephone directory and called the maestro and fixed the time for her to learn from him.
It was in 1968 that my sister was married and went to live in London. Then I started to learn from Birendra Kishore and continued till his death. He passed away in 1974 or 75, I think. Then I got transferred to North Bengal and discontinued learning. I used to learn sitar from him also, as learning Sitar would help mastering the skill of playing Veena with ease. Birendra Kishore used to follow Dhrupad style of Seni Gharana. He taught me Sitar and Veena both.
Rudraveena
I was quite young then, must be 20 years of age, so I didn’t understand a lot of his teaching, I think. He used to sing the things. Gauharbani, Dagarbani and Khandarbani were the fundamentals of my learning. Gauharbani had long Meends and then comes Dagarbani, he used to teach me between Dagarbani and Khandarbani which was typical of Seni Gharana. At first, he taught me small ragas and I passed Prabhakar from there. He used to sing the ragas and had to copy it down then I had to render it through the instrument. I cannot express the teaching learning process more explicitly than that.
I had to go away due to my job, as I told you earlier. When I returned I started learning from Panchanan Roychaudhry. He was a disciple of Birendrababu for sixteen years. The year was 2005, I think. I learnt from him for a period of five years until his death. Before that I used to practise the learnt ragas and my own compositions.
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 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
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.
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.
