'Need disciples who can take our music legacy forward'

Aparna Banerji

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Jalandhar, December 25

“Ek Kaushiki mein khush nahi hun. 2-3 chahiye, 10 ho to aur accha hai (I am not happy with one Kaushiki, I need 2-3. It’s even better if there are 10),” said the noted Patiala gharana vocalist and classical music exponent, Pt Ajoy Chakrabarty, addressing the audience at Jalandhar during the 147th Shree Baba Harivallabh Sangeet Sammelan.

Make music part of national edu policy

The future of classical music will be brighter when politicians take interest in accepting music as a humanity-making subject. Music should be made an essential part of the New Education Policy. — Pt Ajoy Chakrabarty, Classical Artiste

Kaushiki is his popular virtuoso daughter. The statement sums up Pt Chakrabarty’s zeal to produce manifold disciples like his daughter, who propagate the musical legacy far and wide.

An avid cosmopolitan musician incorporating various nuanced styles and gharana influences in his gayaki and establishing a training centre, ‘Shrutinandan’, which produces some of the finest young music talents in the country, Pt Chakrabarty has worked relentlessly to promote the heritage of the Indian Classical music.

Speaking to The Tribune on the sidelines of the 147th Harivallabh Sangeet Sammelan, Pt Chakrabarty shared his Patiala gharana lineage, his passionate exhortation for music being made part of educational curriculum and how he sees hope for future in Shrutinandan.

Speaking about the nuances of his gharana, Pt Chakrabarty said despite every musician embracing a certain musical style, it isn’t necessarily the only mark of a musician.

He said, “Indian raga music is not owned by Punjab or Bengal. It’s our country’s property. And although I’m from Patiala gharana – it is not the property of any province or any part of the country. Three persons from one gharana sing in three different styles. Amanat Ali Khan, Fateh Ali Khan or Bade Gulam Ali Khan and my Ustadji (Ustad Munwwar Ali Khan) are different. Their basic bandishes and basic gayaki are the same. But we don’t find two voices identically equal. And the mind intuition and taleem is different for each individual.”

Pt Chakrabarty was initiated into Patiala Gharana taleem by his Guru Jnan Prakash Ghosh; and he did it reluctantly at first. He said, “Two gurus (in classic music) of India did the job in making the next generation — Baba Alauddin Khan (father of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan) and Guru Jnan Prakash Ghosh. They both are incomparable. At one point of time, Jnan Prakash Ghosh told me that ‘Ajoy you should go to Munawwar Ali Khan to exercise the different nuances of Ustad bade Ghulam Ali Khan’s gayaki’. I reluctantly followed his direction (as I was not at all interested in going anywhere else). But guruji saw something in my voice that should be enriched with the Patiala gharana style. That’s how I started learning from Ustad Munwaar Ali Khan.”

On Shrutinandan, he said: “It’s the Silver Jubilee year of Shrutinandan. In this school, for the first time, I introduced a scientific training process accumulated and assimilated from different styles of singing. It’s giving the best results because all the big musicians’ contribution is there. I feel encouraged (with the talent from across the country). In Ludhiana, at Sadguru ji’s ashram, they organise music competition. I got three-four students from there who are singing extremely well. Shrutinandan has four-five students from Punjab. I’m interested to make even one musician of standard from one state – this way the whole country will be changed one day. Swami Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore changed the world. So we have 4-5 students from almost every state.”

Speaking about negative impacts of disruptive social media on music and his efforts for music curriculum in education, he says, “The future of classical music will be brighter when politicians take interest in accepting music as a humanity-making subject. Music should be made an essential part of the New Education Policy.”