Told by	Ratan  Kumar Sen
Obtained by	Sukanya Sarkar
Date	9th March 2015
Place	140 B Rasbehari Avenue, Workshop of Tapan Kumar Sen
About the speaker	Ratan Kumar Sen is an instrument manufacturer and exporter. He is the younger son of legendary instrument maker Hemendra Chandra Sen.
Tags	Hemendra Kumar Sen, Radhika Mohan Moitra, Strings, Drum, Plate, Joydeep Ghosh, Narendra Nath Dhar, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Gharana, Hafiz Ali Khan, Tonal Quality, Maihar Gharana, Teak Wood, Tun
Language	Bengali

Ratan Kumar Sen speaks:

Metadata generated by Suranjita Paul

Verbatim:

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Verbatim by: Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee

Translation:

Radhika Mohan Maitra’s Sarod was made of Teak Wood, which would have six ears with eleven Taraf and two Chikari. The Sarod would have a total of nineteen strings. Radhika Mohan used to customize his instruments in a way, where he asked to change it a bit. He used to add a string to the Pancham of  Khad( Kharaj)  and take one off the Jowari, so that there were five main strings in total. There were thus one Jowari Sa string, two Chikari, and thirteen Tarafs. This was their speciality. At the head of the instrument, he would also place a Tumba.

– Do you remember the year when you made the Sarod for Radhika Mohan Maitra?

– In the very beginning, it was father who used to do all the making, and I have no idea about that. I have only heard from my father about it.

– What was the diameter of the drum of these Sarods?

– The diameter was of eleven inches, along with the nineteen inch plate. Initially the size of the drum was smaller, but later they converted it into the eleven inch drums.

– Did you make Sarod for any student of Radhika Mohan Mitra?

– Yes. Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Naren Dhar, Joydeep Ghosh are some of the names I remember now. Father used to work on the instruments and we used to help him. After my father’s demise, I have also worked for these people.

– Is there any difference in the making of the Sarod of these people and the other Sarod players?

– Radhika Mohan Maitra’s Sarod and Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan belonged to almost the same type of made. Only difference was that there were eleven Tarafs in Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan’s Sarod , while there were six ears and two chikari in Radhika Mohan Maitra’s Sarod. Otherwise, all Sarod were made of Teak wood. The speciality about Teak wood is that the tonal quality of Sarod made from this wood has a sharp and sweet tune. The Sarod from the Maihar Gharana are made of Tun Wood, and these Sarod would bring out a sweet tune and  bold tune, and also the treble was more in this type of  Sarod.

Translated by: Ankana Das

Picture Courtesy: Google

https://www.google.com/search?q=radhika+mohan+maitra&client=firefox-b-ab&tbm=isch&tbs=rimg:CcZWhv9EyPwqIjjryJz6odBelmyfJ4pDp9BbdW5zudpMTAs0sVQFNIo21z264UC-VNrZ5omcsV39GsutCRxk1btRqyoSCevInPqh0F6WEZGZFnMRyyEnKhIJbJ8nikOn0FsROj6ZHmnvmtwqEgl1bnO52kxMCxEiNXfDTkUiGCoSCTSxVAU0ijbXEfjKk-uN_1Kz5KhIJPbrhQL5U2tkRD1TNNSCcF_18qEgnmiZyxXf0ayxGRmRZzEcshJyoSCa0JHGTVu1GrEZGZFnMRyyEn&tbo=u&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiQvdjB_6fbAhVVWysKHeL1DLoQ9C96BAgBEBg&biw=1366&bih=631&dpr=1#imgrc=YOPjzAnG-39wlM:

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-ab&biw=1366&bih=631&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=yL4LW-WXI4WurQH1naeYCQ&q=hafiz+ali+khan&oq=hafiz+ali+khan+&gs_l=img.1.0.0i30k1j0i5i30k1j0i24k1l2.3604.41681.0.43534.15.15.0.0.0.0.169.2232.0j15.15.0….0…1c.1.64.img..0.15.2223…0j0i67k1j0i10k1.0.TNMn7ur4WHY#imgrc=pXsR5hhylu07AM:

Edited & Designed: Ms. Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee

 

 

 

 

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