Playing at the 71st Shriram Shankarlal Music Festival, Debashish Bhattacharya had the audience spellbound. Watching his fingers move deftly over the strings, listeners were enthralled with melody of the chaturangui slide guitar, an instrument he invented. Attributing the magic to his gurus and parents, he modestly remarks, “It is all their blessings.”
We meet for a quick bite before Debashish’s concert amidst the green environs of Triveni Terrace Café. With a quick glance at the menu, he asks for aloo tikki and tea. “Nothing like chai to make conversation, riyaz and performance enjoyable,” he remarks.
A geography graduate from the Calcutta University, Debashish chose an unusual instrument — slide guitar — to master and play Hindustani classical music. “The genesis lies in the Hawaiian guitar my father presented me in 1966 when I was three. Plucking it, I was enamoured by its shape and sound, falling in love instantly,” he says, sipping tea. The guitar is still with him. “You can’t ditch your first love, can you,” he jests.
Coming from a family steeped in musical tradition, Debashish must have been tempted to play other instruments. “Yes, I have been attracted to several instruments. I like the melodious sound of sitar and sarod, veena’s lower base sound, santoor’s staccato harmonic natural sound and sarangi’s pathos-filled soundscape.” This enchantment made him learn sitar and sarod from Haradhan Roy Chowdhury and Gokul Nag, a well known sitar player. “From them, I picked the technique of plucking with two fingers and manipulation of fingers to produce varied sounds.”
The vocal training under his mother, Manjushree Bhattacharya of Gwalior gharana and Sunil Kumar Bhattacharya trained in Patiala, helped Debashish hone his skills. He credits his parents for more. “They laid the foundation of my life and music. My mother would sing even while cooking and my father would always be with the tanpura during his spare time. All this created a musical ambience at home. Being strict teachers, they wouldn’t tolerate half-hearted attempts. On missing a note during practice, my mother hit me with the cooking spud. My father would encourage whenever there was a setback but ensured that awards never got to my head. He would make me rehearse a taan several hours till I got it perfect.”
Impressing the guru
All this was not in vain as it prepared him for a gruelling 10-year stay with Brij Bhushan Kabra, a slide-guitar pioneer. “To be Kabraji’s shishya was super tough. During those 10 years I gave no public performance. He did not allow me to write or record during the training sessions, ensuring that everything taught was committed to memory. Further, with him being busy, I could practice with him only from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Never satisfied, he would constantly goad me to do better.”
Debashish Bhattacharya
With praise and accolade coming rarely, Debashish tried harder and harder. “All this made me adept at playing, mentally and emotionally strong. Since, his commendation was rare, I distinctly remember such occasions which were few and far. Once after practising throughout the night, he asked me to play raga Lalit early in the morning. Listening to it intently, he started crying. Waking up my Guru Ma, he asked her to fetch his purse. He fished out ₹100 and gave me saying Tune mera dil khush kar diya . That gift is absolutely invaluable.”
The guru’s confidence in him was such that once in a packed auditorium, he asked Debashish to play. “Unprepared, I was stumped. But when guru commands, you have to bleed for him. So I played raga Bhimplasi followed by Shree. He didn’t say anything to me but told his friends how happy he was.”
Debashish feels varied arts came naturally to him because he never strained but enjoyed what he did. Believing in variety being essence of life, he was game to try everything which pleased him. Academics apart, he played cricket, badminton and football in school and college, learnt different instruments, watched movies and painted too. “Never wanting to be slotted in a mould, I follow my heart’s calling. So I painted for three days continuously till I finished the artwork; read voraciously missing my meals; watched four movies in a row; and practised guitar from dusk to dawn.”
Pointing at the tikki, he adds, “The same holds true for my choice of food too. Never stuck on a particular cuisine, I like to taste local food and relish varied dishes – from pongal, idli and medu vada to dal bhatti churma, chingri malai curry and bhapa ilish.” Unlike many, he is not averse to street food. “How can anyone resist gol gappe, egg chicken roll, fish and chicken tikkas and jhal muri. I never miss eating on the roadside, bread toast with eggs and chai,” he reveals with a twinkle in his eyes.
So is he excessively fond of varied Indian cuisine? “I wouldn’t say that. As a musician, I like to listen to Hindustani and Carnatic music as well as Western music.” Debashish has collaborated with John McLaughlin, Martin Simpson, Jerry Douglas and Jeff Sipe and several others. “Likewise, I am fond of foreign cuisine too. I am partial to French sole with white sauce, Italian pasta with shrimps, cilantro and pesto, Spanish tapas, Mexican burrito and horchata and Chinese sea bass.”
Quick learning
The hot tikis are laid out on the table. The aroma is alluring. Tasting a slice with a touch of freshly made pudina chutney, Debashish nods his appreciation. “The aroma is great and so is the blending of spices. It is neither hot nor bland but perfect in taste.” Realising his liking for food, one wondered if he learnt cooking too. “My first brush with cooking was in New York when being hungry and unable to find something I like, I called up my mother. Those days ISD charges were ₹90 per minute and in three minutes I noted the recipe for fish and egg curry. Rushing down to the 24x7 grocery shop I bought cod fish, coriander leaves, cumin seeds, turmeric powder, eggs, onion, potato, aubergine, and mustard oil. I made rice and egg curry and my friend on return was intrigued by the aroma. We enjoyed each and every bit of that meal.” So did this passion continue? “Yes, I kept learning from my mother and later my wife. For me, my taste buds are my teacher in cooking just like my aural senses are in creating music. I keep experimenting with food and can make delicious sea bass, a mix of dal and vegetables and sauteed fish and vegetables.”
Debashish’s desire to innovate is not limited to food alone. He is credited with invention of three instruments. Called the Trinity of Guitars these are 24-string Chaturangui, 14-string Gandharvi and four-string Anandi. “I was haunted by sounds of sarod, sitar, santoor, veena and vocal rendition of greats like Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Vishnu Digambar Paluskar among others. Trying to replicate them on my 16-string slide guitar was not satisfactory. So, I created these three instruments with special wood and string, sound board and by adjusting the height of the bridge and nut.”
With a life-long commitment to popularise slide-guitar, Debashish has gone beyond inventing. He has established the Universal School of Music in Kolkata, set up a recording company and guitar workshop for research in slide guitars. “I have done this with a vision to ensure continuity of slide-guitar.”
The School teaches a 16-part syllabus designed by him for five years. “When I started learning, there was no reference point for me in the sense there were no slide-guitar recordings or performances to guide me. This syllabus helps in overcoming this obstacle, while the recording company and workshop provides avenues for those who want to do pioneering work in the field.” His efforts are not limited to training youngsters in Hindustani music alone. “I want my students to evolve and develop their own styles in Hindustani, Carnatic, Jazz, Blues and other genres. Being blessed with fine training and upbringing, I want to pass on the legacy.”
