| Told by | Pt. Manilal Nag |
| Obtained by | Prof. Sanjoy Bandopadhyay & Dilip Mukherjee |
| Date | 12 February, 2015 |
| Place | Residence of Pt. Manilal Nag, 13G Gobinda Mondal Lane, Kolkata 700002 |
| About the speaker | Manilal Nag is a renowned sitar player and an exponent of the Bishnupur Gharana of Bengal. His sitar recitals have been featured in many National Programmes of Music & Akashvani Sangeet Sammelan since 1954. He is a recipient of several prestigious awards including Sangeet Natak Akademy Award in 2001 and
Government of West Bengal’s Highest Civilian Award, Banga Bibhushan in 2015. |
| Tags | Gokul Nag, vocal music, dhrupad, sargam, riyaz, practice, repetition, bol, sargam, right hand, left hand, reflex action, Mita Nag, 6-7 year old, beating, 1945, 1946 |
| Language | Bengali |
Pt. Manilal Nag speaks
Verbatim:
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Verbatim by: Dr. Suranjita Paul
Translation:
Father used to teach us how to sing before he would teach us how to play the sitar. We learnt Dhrupad. Once we picked up the raaga, he showed us the sargam on the sitar and asked us to play. That is, he asked us to do riyaaz. We had to play the same thing for a long time, accompanied by bol or sargam. So, for instance, in case of sargam it could be: “g? re s?, g? re s?, g? re s?, m? g? re m? g? re m? g? re, p? m? g? p? m? g? p? m? g?, s? re s? g? re s?, re g? re m? g? re, g? p? m? g? p? m? – inverting it – s? g? re s?, re g? m? re s? g? re g?, s? g? re g?, re m? g? m?, re m? g? m?…”
– How long would you play these?
– For a long time.
– Two hours? One hour?
– No, not one or two hours on every occasion. Forty times, thirty times. Then we changed it again. It’s not like we played the same thing for an hour.
– Was the riyaaz different for your left hand and right hand?
– No. If the right hand moves, the left hand will move automatically.
– Okay.
– The rule is that if the right hand moves well, the left hand will follow suit. I didn’t do anything special for the left hand. If the right hand moves, so will the left.
– You know, I think it is reflex. For every person, the matter of riyaaz is different depending on the reflex.
– I wanted to find out about his.
– I think reflex is the main factor.
– How old were you when you father was training you?
– I was around six or seven years old.
– Even at that age you had a rigorous riyaaz?
– Yes. Otherwise we’d get a beating. I’ve been beaten up many times.
– Beating doesn’t aid in the process of development.
– He was kicked from the first floor and fell to the ground floor because he played football. Such stories are there. He still has a mark on his arm.
– I used to play football. There was a rajbari in Uttarpara where there was a football ground. I was addicted to sports. I played football. At that time Salil Manna’s shots were famous. I stopped that shot. My wrist was dislocated. I had to figure out what I had to do next. I couldn’t go home and say I broke my wrist playing football. If I said that then father would get angry and give me a good thrashing. So, I came up with a plan. I was already quite mischievous by then. So, I made a loud noise and screamed that I had fallen down. Otherwise, I would have received a sound thrashing!
Translated by: Sarbajaya Bhattacharya
Picture Courtesy: Google
http://www.mitanag.com/adver/106803foundation.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfbWk_Tipis
Edited & Designed: Dr. Suranjita Paul
Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.