Told by	Sri Ritwik Ghosal
Obtained by	Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee
Date	29th  December, 2016
Place	Paikpara
About the speaker	Marine Engineer, Musician, Music Connoisseur. He learned tabla with Sri Ashis Mukherjee [disciple of Pandit Shankar Ghosh].
Tags	1975, 1970, Kolkata Maidan, Bango Sanskriti Sanmelam, Vishmadev Chattopadhyay, Harmonium, Organizer, Nikhil Banerjee, Shudh Basant, Raag, Rag, Ashis Mukherjee
Language	Bengali

Sri Ritwik Ghosal speaks :

Verbatim:

?????????? ????, ??? ?????? ?????? ???? ???????? ??????? ??? ?? ?????? ???????? ????? ???????? ?????????????? ???????? ???? ?????? ???? ?????? ?????? ?? ??? ?????? ???????? ???????????? ?? ??? ???, ?? ???? ???????? ????????, ?? ?????? ?????? ????? ????? ???? ?? ??? ???, ??? ??? ???? ???, ??? ???? ?????????? ?? ????? ??? ??? ??????? ????? ?????, ?? ??? ??????, ??? ???????????? ???? ??? ???????? ??????, ????????? ??? ???, ?? ?? ??????, ????? ??? ??? ??? ???? ????? ???, ???? ??????????? ???? ????? ???????, ??? ??????, ??? ??? ??? ?????, ??? ???? ???? ????? ??????? ????? ???? ???? ???? ??? ???, ??? ??? ?????? ???, ????? ??? ????, ?? ?? ??? ???? ????? ?????????, ?? ??? ???? ???? ??, ???? ????? ???? ?????, ???? ???? ?????, ??????, ????????? ??? ?? ?????? ???? ?????? ?? ????????????? ??? ???????? ??????, ??? ????? ???? ??? ?????  ???? ?????? ????? ?? ??? ???? ????? ??????, ??? ????? ???, ??????? ?????????, ??????? ????? ?????????, ????? ???? ????? ????, ?? ???? ????, ???? ???? ???????? ????????? ??????? ??? ??? ????? ?????????? ???????????? ????? ????? ??? ?? ???????????? ???? ???????? ??????, ??? ???? ????? ??? ???? ????, ???? ????? ?????, ???? ???????? ?????, ???? ?????-

“?????? ???? ?????? ????, ???????? ?????? ?????????? ?? ???? ????? ‘????? ??????”

?????? ??? ?????, ??? ????? ????? ?????? ?? ????? ???? ??????????? ??? ??? ???, ????? ??? ?????, ?? ???? ?????? ??? ???? ??????, ????? ???? ?? ?????? ????? ??????? ??? ???? ?????? ?? ???? ???? ??? ?????, ?????? ??? ????????????? ???? ????? ????? ???? ????, ??????????? ???? ????? ?????? ????, ?????? ???? ???? ????? – ‘??? ???? ???? ?????’ ??? ?????? ?????????? ?? ???????, ???? ???? ????, ?? ????? ??????????? ???? ??? ???, ?????? ??? ?? ??????? ??? ??? ??????? ???? ???? ???? ???? ????? ????? ??? ???? ??? ?????? ??? ?? ????? ????? ??????? ???????????? ??? ??? ??? ????, ????? ???? ????? ????

Verbatim: Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee

 Translation:

It was around 1975, Banga Sanskriti Sammelan was held in Kolkata maidan. My family had a great relation with Vismadeb Chattopadhyay and we went to listen to his performance, I was quite young then. On the first day of performance he started to sing and then stopped. He said, he was not in a mood to perform. He set aside his harmonium and left the stage. It was a different time the whole audience was silent. Nobody raised a voice, I can remember only some people sighed with the words that it’s a pity we couldn’t hear him. The organisers were very repentant and they promised a performance in near future in that particular conference. At the last day of the conference, we heard that Vismadeb babu’s performance was on the list. It was a whole night programme and Vismadeb Chattopadhyay was the last performer. We listened the programme whole night and Nikhil Banerjee had performed raga Sudhbasantm prior to Vishmadev.

I heard this from my father, he was inside the greenroom

Vismadev Chattopadhyay listened to Nikhil Banerjee’s recital, staring blankly at the sky, he asked once, ‘it’s Nikhil, isn’t it’. But then again, he was silent. After that he took stage and sang something for a while. I don’t remember the exact raga, but he again stopped suddenly and said, ‘I am not in a mood to sing even today’. Everyone anticipated the repetition of the last days show. But to everyone’s surprise he pulled the harmonium close to his lap as he often did and started to play. I didn’t remember the raga he played but it was mesmerising. It was an out worldly experience. I still remember the beauty of his recital flowing through the audience. And it was the last of the programme because nothing could surpass it.

 Translation By: Arundhati  Banerjee

Picture Courtesy: Google

 https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b&biw=1366&bih=631&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=G84LW8iPDNmS9QOamaeYBg&q=vishmadev+chattopadhyay+harmonium&oq=vishmadev+chattopadhyay+harmonium&gs_l=img.3…990630.1017658.0.1018674.33.18.0.15.15.0.292.2807.0j17j1.18.0….0…1c.1.64.img..0.24.1495…0j0i67k1j0i10k1j0i24k1.0.zkIvWiZID08#imgrc=JKdY1LtobnCoaM:

 https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b&biw=1366&bih=631&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=G84LW8iPDNmS9QOamaeYBg&q=NIKHIL+BANERJEE&oq=NIKHIL+BANERJEE&gs_l=img.3..0l3j0i5i30k1j0i24k1l6.3913.11137.0.11508.15.14.0.1.1.0.218.2107.0j13j1.14.0….0…1c.1.64.img..0.15.2105…0i67k1j0i10i67k1j0i30k1.0.j4kJKRlDSiA#imgrc=zY0RycrcO-0sdM:

 Edited & Designed: Ms. Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee

 

 

 

 

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