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
1960-61, Radhika Mohan Maitra, Dr. S.R. Chandra, Kramatullah Khan, 1962, Chhaya Bihag, National Programme, Nabadeepa, Durgalal Sharma, Mohanlal Sharma
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.
Sometimes, when he taught the techniques of playing sitar, he would play and teach.
-When was this?
This was in the early ‘50s. Nikhil Banerjee, Arun Chatterjee, Sunil Mukherjee, and Rajanikant Chaturvedi – these four were his disciples at the time. At this time, while he was playing the sitar, it might suddenly occur to him…someone had given a surbahar, it was in their room. So, he would show how to play that as well. He played the surshringar. At that time he might think…when he would train someone for the surshringar, he would teach all three types to Nrisinha babu. In the middle of that, he might think, how would it be if there was an instrument somewhere in the middle of these two. He had a sur rabab. But he never played it. He took the one Nrisinha babu had and played on it. That instrument is now with me. So, then he thought, what would it be like to make a new instrument? So he made something that was like the surbahar, but the body was made of calabash and wood. But the wooden body was cut like a calabash. Then it was covered with hide. The bridge was shorter than that of a surshringar, almost like that of a sarod. He said, “I have made an instrument after my own heart and taken the set of a surbahar, so I shall name it ‘Dilbahar’. He gave it for the first time to ArunChatterjee to play. He played it from the radio station in Patna.
Nabadeepa
Arunbabu passed away when he was quite young. He gave one to Rabi Sen and one is with me. This instrument, with its name, was created in 1956. It had been made a year before that, but it has been played, or was prepared to be played from ’56. No other recording of this instrument being played exists. When Arunbabu passed away, the instrument returned to Radhubabu. He gave it to Rabi Sen, but Rabi Sen never recorded for the radio. He made another instrument after this one. That instrument was called ‘Nabadeepa’.
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
Rathin Chattopadhyay, Ata Hussein Khan, 1950, LIC, Thakur Jaidev Singh, Raja Chhatrapati Singh, Chhaya Bihag, Radhika Mohan Maitra, Krishnarao Shankar Pandit, Paresh Bhattacharjee.
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.
At Kolkata residence of Pt. Subrata Roy Chaudhury 6, Canal Street, Kolkata 700014
About Subrata Roy Chaudhury
Well-known sitar player, scholar
Key words
Amir Khan, Jhankar, Pradyumna Mukherjee, Purabi Mukherjee, A. Kanan, Vasant Bahar, Ramdasi Malhar, Dixon Lane, 1950’s
Language
English
Subrata Roy Chaudhury speaks:
Text Version:
As for example, Amir Khan Sahib’s introductory concert. It is said that Amir Khan Sahib used to visit Jnan babu every day. Every day because he didn’t get a chance to perform and one day Amir Khan Sahib decided to leave Calcutta. He had problem in Vilayat Khan’s household because there would be a divorce between Vilayat Khan’s sister and Amir Khan Sahib, they were married. And then Amir Khan Sahib to get out of Calcutta was accumulating money. He only gave tutorial to two or three. Pradyumna Mukherjee, he taught, he taught Purabi Mukherjee and someone else. And he used to save this money every time so that he could go to Bombay. And one day decided – I will leave for Bombay. So he went to Jnan babu. This was told to me by A. Kananji who also Amir Khan’s oldest disciple. So he went to Jnanbabu and said- ‘Jnan babu, apke Ghar aate aate to mera chappal tut gaya. Ab to mujhe gawaiye conference main’ .(Jnanbabu,literallyI torned my chappals after visiting your house regularly. Please give me a chance to perform in a conference). Jnanbabu said – Ha ha, yeh to karna hi padega’ (yes yes, of course this is surely needed to be arranged.) ab kab ja rahe hai? (When are you going?).
Ustad Amir Khan in a concert
– So did the concert happen in Jhankar?
(He) Make shift within fifteen days one concert was arranged. And Amir Khan Sahib…I have that recording, not here but abroad. I got hold of that recording, Vasant Bahar. People didn’t hear Amir Khan in concert normally. Vasant Bahar and a brilliant Ramdasi Malhar, that was his introductory concert then he went to Bombay and then he signed for Baiju Bawra after which he never looked back, he became over night famous.
Pt. Jnan Prakash Ghosh
– Yes, in Dixon Lane, 20 or 25 Dixon Lane. I don’t remember the number but after Prachi Cinema I have to go into Dixon Lane, the first house with a gate.
– So what would be the period, what time and in which year?
– I went to Jhankar regularly when I started learning Sitar 56, 57, 58.
– Then it should be 50’s.
– Yes, then of course then it shifted from Jnanbabu’s house. It became much smaller. Mukul Chakraborty looked after it some time. And I played there also in 1978 or something.
– I just wanted to know that in this Amir Khan Sahib’s Concert that Jnan Babu arranged didn’t happened around 1950s?
– You can find out two years before Baiju Bawra.
– Ok. Good good. That’s sorted out. It’s Wonderful. Thank you very much.
At Kolkata residence of Pt. Subrata Roy Chaudhury 6, Canal Street, Kolkata 700014
About Subrata Roy Chaudhury
Well-known sitar player, scholar
Key words
Nikhil Banerjee, Mushtaq Ali Khan, Barkatullah Khan, Lynton Street, practicing, John Gomes, Chittagong, Pathuriaghata House, All Bengal Music Competition, , Radhika Mohan Maitra, Rajshahi, Chakraberia Road, Birendra Kishore Roy Chaudhury, Harmonium, Allauddin Khan, Mosque, Ravi Shankar, Jod, Ladi-Jor, Gamak-Jor, Ali Akbar Khan, 1950’s, Annapurna Devi, conservative society, Enayetkhani baaj, Maihar baaj, Calcutta Gharana.
