| Told by | Sri Rantideb Maitra |
| Obtained by | Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee |
| Date | 4th March,2017 |
| Place | Sri Rantideb Maitra’s Residence, Madur Daho, Kolkata |
| About the speaker | Renowned Music Collector and Music Connoisseur |
| Tags | Ravi Shankar, Dhrupad, Chowtaal Chautaal, Tansen, Trina Purohit, Sharbari Roy Chowdhury, Robin Pal, Standing Note, Ballygunj, Satya Kinkar Bandyopadhyay, Gharana, Bishnupur, Talim, Allauddin Khan, Ali Akbar Khan, Khokababu, Birendra Kishore Roy Chowdhury, Dabir Khan, Khandar Baan, Hari Narayan Mukhopadhyay, Benaras, 1998,1999 |
| Language | English |
Sri Rantideb Maitra speaks :
Text Version:
This is about Pandit Ravi Shankar’s singing, it’s outstanding. So I first heard Ravi Shankar singing a full-fledged Dhrupad, full-fledged you know, Chowtal with a Pakhawaj sangat…num tum, alap full-fledged dhrupad sang Tansen Dhrupad songs, and that was Trina Purohit’s house. She had lot of tape recordings from Sarbari Roy Chowdhury and I also heard something. I was really engrossed with the style of his singing…so beautiful and so tuneful. And the Dhrupad exactly as I knew Dhrupad to be you know that the swiping meends and long standing notes, khandani Dhrupad. So I was amazed that how come Ravi Shankar, if he had been a singer he could have been a very famous singer if he had stop played the Sitar. So I was always thinking that from whom he had learnedhis Dhrupad. What was his talim? So his secretary Rabin Pal was very close to me at a point of time and whenever Ravi Shankar came here he used to stay at that LalaSriram’s house in Ballygung and just full of people gate crashing, try to get his photograph, autograph or getting their LP record signed by him so it was very difficult to talk to him, always surrounded by so many people. I also tried to get him once but I could not enter. Even in spite of the fact that Rabin Pal was with me. Because he was having some press conference or something so I was asking Rabin Palconstantly that please ask Panditji from whom he learnt his Dhrupad.
I said ‘did you ask him’?
– No…
– Did you ask him?
– No.
– Why?
– No, actually I don’t know much about the Dhrupad. If Panditji ask me why you are asking me about Dhrupad, what do you know about Dhrupad then I will not been able to answer this thing that thing. Why don’t you ask that?
I said ‘how can I ask? He comes to Calcutta so less so’.
He said ‘ok go to your chamber’. He came to my chamber and he just dialed a number and said ‘Panditji, some person wants to talk to you and he is a great friend of mine’ and just handed over the phone to me. I was so nervous you know but the first thing that came to my mind I spoke. I said ‘Panditji I am a great admirer of your Dhrupad singing.
He burst out laughing…Ha Ha Ha. This is the first time I’m being complimented for my singing.
I said ‘it’s very true Panditji. I get something from the tape recorder.
– Oh I see.
– I am very fond of Dhrupad…very much you know.
– Whom you heard? Whose Dhrupad have you heard?
I said ‘mostly I listen to Satyakinkar Bandyapadhyay’s Dhrupad.
– Oh….he was such a giant and even after listen to him you’re finding my song up to date or to the mark?
I said ‘very much. It is of the same style.
– Oh….really.
Then I asked him that ‘I have a question to ask you Panditji that how is your style of singing so similar to Satyakinkar babu’s style of singing? It is very important.
What he said opened my eyes. What I thought he said. He said that ‘look why our singing styles would be different you tell me’?
I said, ‘No, but you belong to a different gharana. He is from Vishnupur.
– Well. No, that’s not a point. He said, ‘You have heard me singing Tansen’s song. He had also must be singing Tansen’s song.
I said, yes that’s true.
– Then if both of us had get proper talim , then both of us style must be the same. Because both of us singing Tansen that means both us have got the proper talim. So it should be different?
Then I pressurized him, ‘please do tell me from where?
He was so evasive. He said ‘No I learnt from Babaji’.
I said ‘no, it is not possible. I have heard Ali Akbar Khan sahab’s singing and it got nothing to do with your style. He only sings num tum tum and all sorts of things. I also heard Allauddin Khan’s some snatches of his songs…they got nothing, those are just some alap based Dhrupad like Dagars. But you are singing full-fledged Dhrupad.
– No…actually I must have learned something from Khokababu. Khokababu means Birendra Kishore Roy Chowdhury. I must have learnt.
I said, ‘No, because unfortunately or fortunately I heard Khokababu’s singing also’. I said, ‘No it is not similar to your style of singing. It is more like KhadarBani style; it is more like Dabir Khan style. It is not.
– Oh I see. So you have heard Dabir Khan.
I said yes one or two Dabir Khan.
– Ok …then I must have you see I was in Benaras, so you have heard about Hari Narayan Mukhopadhyay?
He was you know taking me down you know to a place where I cannot reach. Hari Narayan Mukhopadhyay, yes I have heard about him but there is no recording of Hari Narayan Mukhopadhyay.
Yes that is exactly the point. Then he was very satisfied. I must have you know during my younger days I heard Hari Narayan babu’s Dhrupad so much that this style must have gone into me and must be sing Hari Narayan Mukhopadhyay’s style.
Then I just gave up. I understood that he was not going to really divulge. So, ‘thank you Panditji. My Pranaam. So there we ended.
– Time?
– That must be again 1998-99.
– 1998-99. The chamber you called…
– Ezra street Kolkata.
Verbatim by: Dr. Suranjita Paul
Picture Courtesy: Google
http://www.kavitachhibber.com/main/main.jsp?id=ravi_shankar
Edited & Designed: Dr. Suranjita Paul
Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.