great loss amidst rabindrajayanti celebrations

[Vedprakash]

great loss amidst rabindrajayanti celebrations
18 May 2013
meena banerjee pays tribute
AT 80, Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar breathed his last in Mumbai (8 May 8)
while Kolkata was gearing up to celebrate Rabindrananth Tagore's birthday.
This unassuming dhrupad maestro, who was one of the actual forces behind
dhrupad's revival and groomed some of the top ranking dhrupad exponents of
this era, loved Kolkata. The city was home to late dhrupad maestros Nasir
Moinuddin and Nasir Aminuddin Dagar, his relatives, and at times his singing
partners. Old connections die hard and, despite his Mumbai base after the
successful Bhopal chapter, despite his busy schedule as a guru in the
Dhrupad Gurukul near Panvel of the western metropolis which, swamped by
Bollywood's glitz and glamour, shows scant interest in this classical art
form, and despite his frail health, the ustad made it his second home only
to be able to satiate the thirsting students of dhrupad here. At any major
dhrupad soiree, the City of Joy would see him sitting quietly in the
audience.
He belonged to the famous Dagar clan that traces its lineage to Swami
Haridas, the guru of Tansen. The members of this illustrious family were
scattered in different pockets of India - sheltered by music-loving
Maharajas of states like Indore, Jaipur, Udaipur, etc. The latter was ruled
by Maharana Bhupal Singh when Ustad Ziauddin Khan Dagar became his court
musician and groomed his elder son, Mohiuddin, and the younger Fariduddin as
proficient Rudra-veena player and vocalist respectively. But in the wake of
modernity, the privy purses were withdrawn to pave the way for a sovereign
democratic nation. The social upheaval, with new value systems, found the
traditional arts a very soft target.
Under the circumstances, the family had no choice but to shift base for
better opportunities to make a living. Despite the huge waves of changes
that ushered in an era of a materialistic lifestyle in India and which had
little time or respect for traditional values or arts, the family remained
dedicated and immersed in the ageless art of dhrupad and fearlessly went
ahead to introduce its next generation to carry the mantel. Rudra-veena
exponent Bahauddin Dagar, son of Mohiuddin and dear nephew of Fariduddin, is
a sparkling example of the family's unaffected, unmoved resolve.
Ironically, by the 1970s and 1980s, due to its deep spiritual appeal leading
to peace, dhrupad found a firm footing in the West. Concerts and teaching
assignments started pouring in from France, Austria, Germany, even from the
USA! The brothers almost decided to again shift base - and this time their
destination would be Europe. This turn of events most probably made the
sensible and sensitive bureaucrats sit up and put their thinking caps on.
In 1981, Ashok Vajpeyi, former secretary in the Department of Culture,
Madhya Pradesh government, made a bold move and started the Dhrupad Kendra
under the Ustad Alauddin Khan Music Academy, Bhopal - with brothers
Mohiuddin and Fariduddin as gurus.
The first batch had five students. All hailed from families that had little
or no musical background. This did not bother the brothers at all. They were
ready to accept the challenge with an open mind and without any trace of
hesitation in embracing learners from outside their close-knit clan, which
looked at music as a sacred religion. The day would start nice and early
around 4 am. The students, following the footsteps of their Bade Ustad
(Mohiuddin) and Chhote Ustad (Fariduddin), would rise and shine and sing.
While Bade Ustad helped the vocalists to have a deep insight in tantrkari
(instrumentalism), Chhote Ustad taught Gayaki anga (vocalism) to
instrumentalists. While Bade Ustad was more of a philosopher, Chhote Ustad
was the taskmaster who knew how to carry out the job effectively.
Strictly adhering to their music, they exposed the students to other art
forms as well - including dance, literature, dance and the visual arts. All
this broadened students' mental horizon. Inspired by the ustads, a
culture-starved region became the role-model haven of the traditional arts
of India.
And the rest became history. The very first batch produced world renowned
dhrupad exponents like Ramakant Gundecha, Umakant Gundecha and Uday
Bhawalkar!
After the demise of Mohiuddin Dagar in 1990, Fariduddin kept the candle
burning with the great passion of a devotee. He kept giving enlightening
performances and kept teaching all who went to him with a genuine quest.
According to his renowned disciples, which also includes such names like
vocalists Ritwik Sanyal (Varanasi), Nirmalya Dey (Delhi) and Rudra-veena
exponent Bahauddin Dagar (Mumbai), he loved to keep a jovial environment
around him and was an eager teacher.
I experienced this when I went to interview him and showed an interest in
"Kaku-bhed". Very pleased, he readily demonstrated different shades of the
upper tonic and very patiently kept explaining its intricacies and its
impact on a recital. He also asked me to attend his class whenever possible.
But when I met him last in January 2013, during a seminar on dhrupad in
Mumbai, organised by the ITC Sangeet Research Academy (Western region), I
was surprised to see that any issue that questioned his firm belief would
make his frail frame tremble with anger! I could not help but admire such
unflinching blind faith in tradition handed down to the Master by his
elders. He remained immersed in his music, which was his religion, with the
simple faith of a child and refused to accept any disturbing logic-based
scrutiny.
He seemed to believe with his entire being that "real intelligence is the
creative use of knowledge and not merely an accumulation of facts". He
strived to transmit this in his disciples with dogged sincerity. As a guru,
he ensured that the future remains in able hands. History will remain
indebted to him for this great contribution.

Tagore's birthday
Shouvik Dasgupta's Indo Occidental Symbiosis, known for its star-cast in all
its events, staged a significant departure by focusing only on veteran
artistes during this year's Pochishey Boishakh celebrations at Kala Mandir
(9 May). Divided into two sessions, the morning was reserved for
Rabindranather Panchaputra and the evening for Rabindranather Panchakanya.
The morning peaked in piety when Mohan Singh sang "Kobe aami baahir holem"
(Iman Kalyan, tewra). His full-throated voice-throw in "Jaanena shey
kaaharey chaae" with power-packed saath-sangat on pakhawaj by Biplab Mandal
was soul-stirring. So was the softly uttered "Shey toh aajke noy". Another
equally emotive song was "Aami hethay thaaki shudhu" with its heartrending
plea, "Aami jeno na roi durey ei dio mor maan" becoming too moving for
words. I could not hold the tears back; neither could most of the others in
the auditorium. The same happened when the word "Hahakaar" dawned upon the
listeners with all its grave implications in "Prakharo tapanotaape"
(Multani/Bhimpalasi, dadra). Frankly, Singh does not possess the rich voice,
like Gautam Mitra (a la Hemanta Mukherjee), neither is he blessed with the
impressive baritone, like Swapan Gupta (a la Debabrata Biswas, his guru),
nor sounds naturally romantic like Rono Guhathakurata or Ashish
Bhattacharya. His only trump card is his open, truthful, tuneful and
emotion-charged voice-throw. All others added different colours with their
renditions. Mitra excelled in "Jodi haae jeebanpurono naai holo",
Guhathakurata interpreted "Kichhui toh holona" with its intrinsic pathos and
Bhattacharya was his best in "Swapne aamar money holo". Gupta's voice
faltered a bit too much, so did the esraj; but violin accompaniment with
sensitive interludes was very good. Biplab Mandal offered excellent support
on tabla, khol and pakhawaj with dexterity.
The same team, under the expert direction of Pulak Sarkar, supported the
Panchakanya: Purba Dam, Purobi Mukherjee, Dr Chitralekha Chowdhury, Swapna
Ghoshal and Jayashri Dasgupta. All were, musically and literally, past their
prime with faltering voices that found even the upper tonic beyond reach.
Some were not able to keep pace with the tala and laya.
The day also commemorated the centenary year of Tagore's Nobel Prize for
Gitanjali. Apparently, that is why Ranjan Bandopadhyay, with his juicy
comments on Tagore's personal love-life, was spared as a scriptwriter this
once. Instead, Dr Arun Kumar Basu's script, with its focus on love leading
to devotion that scaled spiritual heights, was a welcome change. This script
lifted a lovelorn poet from his private desires and established him on the
high pedestal of Vishwakavi, who transcends his personal longings and grief
and leads to universal love. Both the sessions commenced with a superb
introduction by celebrated compere Madhumanti Moitra, followed by an
aesthetically produced short documentary film on the artistes by the IOS.
The narration between the songs was shared by Pranati Thakur and
Bijoylakshmi Barman in the morning while the evening saw Koushik Sen and
Sujoy Prosad Chattopadhyay trying to infuse some life in an otherwise dull
show. Gautam Basu's stage d�cor and Soumitra Das's sound were superb; but
Srabanti could do with better colour schemes while designing costumes for
Panchakanya and male narrators. Their kurtas with an indigo-yellow
combination and Panchakanya's purple blouses with white saris with some
motifs were far from pleasing. In comparison, Panchaputra and musicians had
better kurtas; and the parrot green saris of the narrators had a happy
look - well suited for such an auspicious birthday bash.

Coming up
18 May: SwarGanga, on its 10th anniversary, pays tearful homage to its
beacon, Purnima Chaudhury, with a documentary film and features Talyatra by
Pandit Suresh Talwalkar, Samrat Pandit and Nandini Chakraborty (vocals). 19
May features Kathak by Pandit Birju Maharaj and Saswati Sen, Kushal Das
(sitar), Kalapini Komkali (vocal), Julie, Susmita and Madhurima
(thumri-dadra); Birla Sabhagar; 5.30 pm daily; invites: Melody (Rasbehari
Avenue).
19 May: Arundhati and Jayanta Chatterjee host baithak to celebrate the 90th
birthday of harmonium wizard Pandit Purushottam Walawalkar, who accompanies
young khayal exponent Sameehan Kashalkar, Sunny Towers; 6 pm; by invitation.
20-26 May: Inaugurated by the President of India, the 1st International
Convention in the 36th year of Spic Macay brings stars of classical music
and dance along with folk songs plus workshops by eminent artistes under one
roof at IIM, Calcutta; day-long events.
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