Told by	Tirthankar Benerjee
Obtained by	Professor Sanjoy Bandopadhyay
Date	14th  February 2017
Place	3/1/1D Padmapukur Road, Kolkata 700092
About the speaker	Tirthankar Banerjee is a well-known sitar player of Kolkata. He is a disciple of Sitar maestro Pt. Dipak Chowdhury.
Tags	Mili Bose, Shyamal Bose, 70’s, Rabindra Sadan, Begum Aktar, Pahari Sanyal, Hall, Stage, Kolkata
Language	Bengali

Tirthankar Benerjee speaks:

 

Verbatim:

?? ??????? ??? ???? ?? ??? ??? ????? ????, ??? ???? ???? ?? ???? ????? ???????? ?????? ??? ??? ????? ??? ????? ????? ??? ???? ???????? ????, ???????? ???? ??????? ???? ??????? ??? ???? ?? ????? ????? ??? ????? ?????? ??????? ????, ??? ??????? ???? ???? ?????????? ?????? ??????? ???? ?????? ???????? ????? ?????? ?????? ??? ????? ??? ??? ??? ???? ??? ???? ??? ?????? ??-? ????????? ??? ??????? ????, ???? ????? ?????? ??????? ?? ????? ???? ?????- ???? ????? ???? ???? ????? ??????, ?????? ????… ??? ??? ???? ???? ?????? ???? ???? ???????  ?? ?????? ??????? ???????? – ???? ???? ???? ???? ??? ??, ???? ???? ?????? (??????) ????? ????? ???????? ???? ???? ?????? ???? ????? ??? ??? ????? ???? ??????? ????? ?? ??? ????? ???? ?? ??? ?? ??? ???? ??! ??? ???? ??? ???? ??? ???? ????? ????? ????, ???? ??? ????? ????? ???

???? ????? ?????? – ??? ???? ????? ??? ??? ??????? ??? ???? ?? ??? ?? ??????? ???????…??????? ???????, ?? ?????? ????? ??? ???? ???? ?????? ??????? ??? ??????????, ??? ??????? ?????- ???? ????? ????? ???, ????? ??? ????? ??? …… ??? ??? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???? ??????? ???????? ???? ????? ???? ????? ??? ??????? ??? ?????? ??? ?? ??????? ??? ????????? ?? ?????? ??????? ???? ????? ??????? ??? ???? ????? ??? ??????? ??? ???????????? ??? ???? ???????????? ?????? ?? ??????????? ??? ??? ???????? ??, ???? ?????? ????? ???? ??????? ???? ?? ?????? ???? ??? ??? ???? ????? ???? ?? ?????? ???? ?????? ???? ?? ?? ???? ? ???? ??? ????? ??? ???, ???? ?? ?? ????, ??? ?? ??? ???? ??? ?? ????

Verbatim by: Dr. Suranjita Paul

Translation:

I don’t know if someone has told about this incident. I heard this from Shyamal Bose, the husband of Mili Bose.

This happened sometime in the 70s, when begum Akhtar was to sing at Rabindra Sadan. The day of her programme coincided with the wedding ceremony of Pahari Sanyal’s nephew on his sister’s side. Naturally he would have to accompany his nephew as part of the groom’s retinue or ‘barjatri’. But he still paid a visit to Rabindra Sadan as Begum Akhtar would be singing. He went to the hall and sat in the front row.

When the screen went up, begum Akhtar spotted Pahari Sanyal and said, “Why are you sitting there? Come up here, on the stage…” and made him sit beside her on stage. Pahari Sanyal told her, “Begum, I was not meant to be here tonight, it’s my Bhanja’s wedding today. I have to go and join the Barjatri. I came only because you are singing today. It can’t be that you would be singing in Kolkata and I wouldn’t be there to listen! I’ll stay for one song and then leave. Please forgive me , I cannot stay today.

Begum Akhtar said – All right and then started singing.

And she sang it so splendidly, so wonderfully. After the song was over, Pahari Sanyal stood up and said – “Forgive me today, I must leave”….and started walking away towards the wings. But Begum Akhtar had went into the next song in the meantime, and such melody she had put into the opening of the song, it made Pahari Sanyal turn around and sit down there again. Eventually he stayed on for the full duration of the programme.

Later, after the programme was over, he told her, “You can well understand what my position would be in my family after this, what I would have to face when I return home. But what could I do? If you sing like this, what choice do I have? How can I leave such music?”

Translated by: Arundhati Banerjee

Picture Courtesy: Google

http://www.india.com/hindi-news/topic/akhtari-bai-faizabadi/

https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Nai+Roshni+(1967+film)

Edited & Designed: Dr. Suranjita Paul

Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University