| Told by | Dr. Jayasri Seth |
| Obtained by | Suranjita Paul |
| Date | 29 July, 2016 |
| Place | Kolkata residence of Dr. Jayasri Seth, Sath Chashi Para Road, Kolkata – |
| About the speaker | Dr. Jayasri Seth, Guest Lecturer, Rabindra Bharati University |
| Tags | Rabindra Bharati University, Chinmoy Lahiri, Amiya Ranjan Bandyapadhyay, Uma Dey, Usha Ranjan Mukherjee, Chhabi Bandyopadhyay, Braja Rakhal Das, Kirtan, Nimai Chand Boral, Baral, Kaberi Kar, Dhrupad, Dagar Gharana, Faifuddin Dagar, Moinuddin Dagar, Khandarbani Dhrupad, Itu Bhattacharya, Uday Bhattacharya, Choutal, Surfhanktal, Dhamar, Chaturanga, Trivata, Panchamswari, Ragmala, Talmala, Style, Dadra, Khyal, Jorasanko Thakurbari, 1983-87 |
| Language | Bengali |
Dr. Jayasri Seth speaks :
Verbatim:
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??????? ?????????? ?????? ????????? ??????? ???????, ????????? ?????????? ???????????????, ????????? ????????? ?????, ?????????? ??? ??, ????????? ???????? ????????????, ????????? ??? ???????????????, ????????? ??????? ???? (??????), ????????? ????????? ???—????????? ??? ??? ?????? ????? ??????? ?????? ??????-? ????????? ????? ???? ????? ??? ?????????? ?????? ??—?? ????-?? ???? ??? ???, ???? ???? ?????? ??????-?? ???????? ????????????? ??????-?? ?? ?? ???? ????? ??? ??????? ????-?? ?????? ???????? ????????? ?? ???? ????? ??? ???? ??? ????? ???? ??? ?????? ???? ?????? ???? ?????? ????? ?????? ????? ???? ?????? ????????? ????-?? ????? ????? ??? ?????? ???? ?????? ?????????? ????-?? ?????? ?????? ??? ???? ?? ?????? ??? ??? ???? ?????????? ??? ?? ??? ???? ???? ?????? ???? ???—???? ?????? ?????? ?? ???? ??? ????? ??? ???? ??????? ?-?? ???? ???? ??????
??????? ??? ???????????-?? ???? ??? ?????,”???, ???, ?? ????? ?? ??? ???? ???, ??? ??? ??? ???; ??? ???? ?? ??? ??? ???? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???-? ???? ????? ??? ??? ??? ????? ????? ??? ?????? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??, ??? ???? ???? ???? ???”? ????? ??, ?? ????? ??????-?? ??? ???? ?? ??? ??????? ???? ?????—??????-?? ?????? ?????? ????? ?????? ?????????? ????? ???, ?????? ????? ????? ???, ?????? ????? ????? ???, ?????????? ????? ????? ????? ??? ??????????? ??? ????-?? ??? ?? ????? ???, ??? ??????????; (???) ????????? ???? ???????????? ????? ?????? ???? ???? ??????? (?????? ????) ?????? ????? ???; ??? ???? ????? ???? ????? ????? (?????? ??????-?? ??????????? ?? ??; ?/? ??-?? ???????? ????, ?????? ??????-?? ????? ?????? ???) ????????-?? ???? ?????, ?????-? ???????????????? ???????? ??????
??????-? ???? ?????, ????? ????? ???, ????? ??????-?? ???????, ??????, ???????, ???????, ????????????, ?? ????? ????? ???? ?????????? ?????? ????? ????? style ???? ?? ??? ??? ???? ??????-? (???????) ???? ????? ?? ????? ??? ?????? ???? ???? ?????? ???? , ????? ?????? ?? ???? ?????????? ???????????? ????? ???, ???????????? ?? ???-?? ????? ???, ?????? ?????? ????? ????? ???? ???????? ???? ????? ??? ????, ??????? ????, ?????????? ???, ???-?? ??, ???? ?????? ???????? ??? ???, ????? ??? ????? ?????? ???? ????? ????? ??? ????? ??? ?????? ?? ???? ???? ?????? ??????-??? ??? ????? ??? ??????? ????? ??? ?????? ?????, ???? ????? ??? ??????? ??????????? ?????, ”??? ???? ????? ???? ???? ??? ??????-?? ???? ???? ???? ????, ?????? ????? ??? ???-? ????????, ?????? ????? ???, ??? ?? ???, ????, ?? ?? ???-?? ???? ?????? ??????-?? ???????? ???? ????”? ?????? ????????????? ????? ????? ???? ?????-?? ???? ???? ?????? ?????? ??? ????? ??? ?????? ????? ??????? ???? ??? ??? ????????????? ???? ?????? ??????-? first class-? ???????? ????? ?????????????-? ?????? ????? ???? ????? ??????? ????? ?????? ??? ????-????-? ??????? ?????
Verbatim by: Mousumi Das
Translation:
In Rabindra Bharati University I first experienced how total music should be. Rabindra Bharati had many musical streams like Vocal, Instrumental, Rabindra Sangeet, Dance and Drama. They are all in one building so we were intermingled in every way. If drama stream needs some help in vocals they would come to us. Instruments are a constant help to everyone, in songs etc. The programmes that we were involved then, progressed us a lot in our thoughts. Then in vocal section we had Pt ChinmoyLahiri, Pt Amiya Ranjan Bandyopadhyay, Pt Nimaichand Boral, Respected Uma Dey, Respected Usharanjan Mukhopadhyay, Respected Chhabi Bandyopadhyay, Respected Brindaban Banik (Kirtan), Respected Brajarakhal Das- they were all famous in their respected fields.
I am very indebted to Nimaichand Boral and Kaberi Kar, they taught me to love dhrupad. They were both disciple of Dagar Gharana. Nimaibabu was a disciple of Ustad Moinuddin Dagar and Kaberi Debi was disciple of Ustad Fahimuddin Dagar. They taught us alap in a way that we used to forget the timings of our classes, and it would be evening at six instead of five p.m. classes.
In my home I shared these with my Guruji and he told me to hear them well. He used to say “listening to music is the first thing in learning music; if a beat missed it won’t be major thing but out of tuned music is not music at all. You stay rapt in tunes.” I have learnt a lot from these wonderful teachers. How Surafaktal can be sung in Dhrupad, how Choutal or Dhamar can be sung they had taught me separately. It wouldn’t be just if I do not mention It, Uma Bhattacharya, she was the sister of Respected Uday Bhattacharya. She used to attend me, even if I go alone in her classes, although her Gharana (Khandar Bani) was not my discipline. (Dhrupad had a small set of student of 7-8 where as Kheyal had a large number of students).
We didn’t get to learn from Udaybabu but we learnt from Itudi who taught there.
You have to learn Thumri and Tappa in learning Kheyal and you have to learn Chaturanga, Tribata, Ragamala, Talmala, Panchamsawari. All must be sung in different style. In Thumri you can sing in Dadra in other rhythm too but not in Dhrupad. You have to sing Surfaktala in that that rhythm, Panchamsawari in that rhythm, Tribata in Teora tala. In Chaturanga there are four parts, meaningless words, sound of pakhwaj, lyrics of the song and Swarguchha. Tribata has three such part. Dhrupad is a vast subject and I had to listen to many accomplished singers here. So, I decided to sing Dhrupad in future. My Guruji said “it’s a good thing that you decided that. It will help you to improve your Kheyal too. By learning Dhrupad the tuning and the four parts of alap, the last part of which is Jhala is like Tana in Kheyal can be practised too. So, Rabindra Bharati introduced me to the world of Dhrupad and let me earn my place in it. Afterwards I achieved first class in Dhrupad from this university. It was in 1983-87 and the classes were held in Jorasnko Thakurbari.
Translation By: Arundhati Banerjee
Picture Courtesy: Vocal Department, Rabindra Bharati University,
Edited & Designed: Ms. Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee
Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University