Told by	Pt.  Santosh Banerjee
Obtained by	Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee
Date	5th April, 2017
Place	Santosh Banerjee’s  Residence , Kali Temple Road, Kolkata
About the speaker	Renowned Sitar Player, Formerly attached to the  Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University as a faculty member. One of the prime disciples of Ustad Dabir Khan.
Tags	Lakkhan Bhattacharya, Sitar, Harish Park, Bhawanipore Police Station, Kalighat, Firoz Khan, Mukherjee Para Lane, Tuning, Gat, Tabla, Sam, Vilambit, Avartan, 1948
Language	Bengali

Santosh Banerjee Speaks :

 

Verbatim:

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Verbatim by: Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee

Translation:

Lakshan Bhattacharyay was a renowned Sitarist of that time, and produced many good students. None of them, however, made their mark later on. Lakshan Bhattacharya was addicted to a number of substances like Opium. Some common acquaintances often played host to him and kept him as a guest in their homes. But that could not draw him away from the addiction. Later he was known to have resorted to venom abuse from snakes. After that, he would not wake up for a week. A man like this, however, was outstanding while playing his instrument.

Once he was lying in Harish Park after having consumed some substance, and the police had taken him away as a drunkard to Bhowanipore Police Station. The Officer in Charge came and asked, “What is the matter?” And was told that he had been picked up as an inebriated person. But the OC recognised him and spoke to him in familiar terms, addressing him as ‘Lakshan-da’. “ Whom have you picked up?” he said, and took him home in a car. Many a time I have seen him lying on the side of the road, when he was staying nearby. He stayed near Kalighat, Kali Lane or thereabouts, at someone’s house or at his sister’s place. He died there too. This I know, but he was also an erudite man, and a great Sitarist.

I’ll tell you about one incident that happened at the house of one of his students. Lakshan-da was to play, and accompanied on the table by Firoze Khan. We, being young people, 20 or 21 years of age, had assembled there. This was at a small house on Mukherjee para lane in Kalighat in 1947 or 1948.Anyway, it used to take about an hour for Lakshan-da to tune his instrument. As he used to do,  hetwiddled a matchbox, smoked a Beedi with a Mirzab on his finger, till the tuning was complete.All the while Firoze Kahn waited, rubbing his hands on ice, looking at his tabla. LakshanBhattacharyay started a Gat in Vilambit, with his head down, sitting upright, holding his sitar, not even looking Firoze Kahn in the face. One Avartan passed, two Avartans, then three and four, the Tabla was silent. After sometime, Khan Saheb found an opening and started to accompany. As he did so, Lakshanbabu put aside his sitar and embraced him, “Oh Ustad, you’ve found it at last!” Then he played for another three hours. I came home at three or four in the morning, and was rebuked for it, that I would come to nothing in life. This is the incident I remember, cannot remember what he had played though.

 

Translation by: Arundhati Banerjee

Picture Courtesy: Pt Anindya Banerjee, Renowned Sarod Exponent 

Edited & Designed: Ms. Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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