Flute, perhaps the oldest folk instrument of India, found its place in classical concerts thanks to the legendary flautist Pannalal Ghosh; but, he died too young to establish his style for posterity. There are very few instrumentalists now who remember this amazing musician or follow his unique style of playing. Well known flautist Sudip Chattopadhyay is one of those rare followers of Panna-babu who have kept the flame burning. Recently, several of his recitals in Kolkata have proved that he is striving to go against the popular stream, and with telling effect. A wonderful converser he spoke about his musical journey candidly.
You are a science graduate (Botany) and the music scene in Bengal is swamped with sitar, sarod and tabla. What led you to choose flute and that too in Panna-babu’s style?
Destiny! I hail from Chakdah of Nadiya district, and therefore grew up in the lap of nature and the musical ambience of our home which always reverberated with my mother Rekha Chatterjee’s singing. Trained under Shibkumar Chattopadhyay of Bishnupur gharana, she learnt numerous traditional bandishes and became an AIR artiste (khayal and tappa) in 1960s. I was initiated to vocal music by her but loved to translate all my lessons on my favourite flute – my ordinary but favourite toy. My maternal uncle Shyamadas Chakraborty, perhaps the oldest disciple of Pandit Ravi Shankar, encouraged me by teaching ragas.
That inspired Ma and she took me, her eight-year old, to Pandit Gour Goswami, the disciple of Panna-babu and an AIR staff artist. The revered guru sent me to Gopal Roy, one of his disciples who lived in Ranaghat, close to our place. This led to a very fruitful association of four years and very often my teacher would take me to his guru, who would assess my progress. After Pandit Goswami’s demise in 1975, Pandit Debaprasad Banerjee, his senior-most disciple, took the responsibility of assessment, noticed me and finally accepted me as his disciple in 1979. A very dedicated guru and himself a flute-maker, he reshaped by chiselling me and my flute. This continued for decades, till my Guruji lived.
Did Pandit Goswami’s image lead you to take up the job with Akashvani?
No. After my graduation I went to Europe with the group of Mahesh Yogi. Tabla virtuoso Shubhen Chatterjee and I were the initial teachers at his Netherland Ashram in 1988 and for one year extensively toured the region to give concerts. That was a huge exposure and helped me grow independently as a musician. My uncle had taught me several of Pandit Ravi Shankar’s favourite ragas like Tilak Kamod, Jhinjhoti, Bhimpalasi, etc that are rarely played in our gharana. I ventured to blend my initial taleem with the present. On my return I post-graduated in music from Rabindra Bharati University, taught there for some time, won the required grade from the Akashwani and took up the job to sustain myself while pursuing my passion which demanded dedication, especially because of the exceptional features of our style.
What are these unique features?
The most important is: Panna-babu, our beacon, adhered to khayal and keertan; because, albeit a truly self-made man, his musicianship had essentially developed under Khushi Ahmed, a harmonium player of Bangladesh, and then under the legendary keertan exponent Chhabi Bandopadhyay. Ironically no flautist taught him, not even at Baba Alauddin Khan’s where he stayed only for about more than one year. In his style the ratio of gayaki anga (vocalism) is 80 per cent and tantrakari (instrumentalism) 20 per cent; whereas in the gatkari-based instrumentalism, as popularized by Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, the ratio is just the opposite. The second very important feature is the seventh hole in our flute that helps in etching ragas with teevra Madhyam and its application as a kan (touch note) with great aesthetic appeal. Another important thing is our placement of fingers on the flute. We curve our fingers towards the mouth while Hari-ji’s style is to curve the fingers outward. The latter is visually more appealing no doubt but keeps the seventh hole out of bound.
In short, you prefer to sing khayal and thumri through your flute!
Yes, that’s right. The impact of my Ma’s singing was further nourished by Panna-babu’s music and later when I came in contact with Vidushi Purnima Chaudhuri, her Purab Anga Gayaki left an indelible mark on my mind. I try to assimilate all that in my music.
