| Told by | Pandit Shyamal Lahiri |
| Obtained by | Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee |
| Date | 7th April, 2017 |
| Place | Shyamal Lahiris Residence at Chandi Ghosh Road, Kudghat. |
| About the speaker | Renowned Vocalist, Son of Legendary Musician Pandit Chinmoy Lahiri |
| Tags | Chinmoy Lahiri, Dhaka, Radio, Suresh Chandra Chakraborty, Ananda Bajar Patrika, Editor, Laykari, Tehai, Kheyal, Vistar, Dhrupadi Ang, Bol Bani, Deri Ang, Do Ang, Teen Ang, Char Ang, Accompaniment, Dilip Chandra Bedi, Palta, Gadda Ghasit Taan, Sapat, Terha Sapat, Choutha Sapat, 1941, 1942. |
| Language | Bengali |
Pandit Shyamal Lahiri speaks :
Verbatim:
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???? ??? ?? ???? ?? ????? ????????? ???? ??? ????? ?????? ????? ???? ?????? ???????????????? ?????? ???? ????????? ???? ?????? ?????? ?? ??? ????? ?????? ????? ?????? ??? ??????, ?????? ??????, ????? ?????? ?????? ??????, ???? ??????? ???? ?????? ???, ???? ????? ????? ?????, ?????? ??????? ???? ??? ??? ?????? ?????? ????? ?????????? ?? ?????? ????? ??, ???? ????? ????? ?? ??????, ???? ????? ???? ???, ????? ???? ??? ?????, ?????? ???????
????? ????? ?????, ???? ????? ????? ?? ????? ???? ????? ?? ????? ?? ????? ???? ?????, ??? ???? ????? ???????? ????? ???????
Verbatim by: Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee
Translation:
He was very young at that time- maybe 25 or 26 years old. He used to live at Dhumdhumar at Dhaka, where he used to work at the Radio also. At that time, the Chief Producer was Suresh Chandra Chakraborty, whose son later became the editor for Ananda Bazar Patrika. Suresh Babu had become a very important figure in the career of my father. He had helped my father with a lot of things including taking him to venues, organizing events for him, etc. It happened once that a person belittled my father’s Laykari and said that it was not a big deal to perform.
So he asked the audience to pick up their hands one by one in any random matra and he would take tehai, instantly from that specific matra. I still am getting Goosebumps thinking about that.
Everyone was ready to entrap him, and was raising their hands now and then and father kept on doing the Tehai accordingly. So this raged on like a storm for a long time. At that time, in our Khayal and also Bangladeshi Khayal, there was a mid part, right after the Bistar, it was rarely to be found on that time, there was bolbani in Dhrupadi style. I remember him doing it with Bol Bani (words), which together comprised of the Laykari. This too comprised of a number of Tehai and a number of improvisation Laykari in derhigun, dwigun, and chow gun. He attempted several of these Laykari and used to reach at the ‘Shom’ in an incredible way. This whole procedure was a unique one. You can’t imagine, I can still see it in front of my eyes while talking about it. He would do it with such ease. Players who were not accustomed with playing with him never got a chance in these times. So this was his style of singing. And later in life, he himself started to change and alter his style. During this time, people used to say that he acquired this style from Dilip Chandra Bedi. I have never met Dilip Chandra Bedi, though I have listened to his records and seen him at places. I remembered that he too did a variety of Palta. My father also worked with Palta and he also did a lot of Taana too. For example, he did the Gadda Ghashit Taana, Tehara Sapat, Choukha Sapat, etc. All these experiments and innovations that father used to do were his brain child.
Translated by: Ankana Das
Picture Courtesy: Google
http://profsaxena.com/book-6-avenues-to-beauty/
http://www.sangeeta.info/gurus.php
Edited & Designed: Ms. Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee
Note: Pt. Chinmoy Lahiri was born in 1916. His son pt. Shyamal Lahiri is telling about the incidents when Chinmoy Lahiri was 25 or 26 years old. So the year should be around 1941-42. – Editor
Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University