The camera zooms in on the marble plaque that reads, ‘Sangeet Mahabharati, foundation stone laid by Ustad Ahmed Jan Thirakwa, on October 20, 1969.’ It then takes you inside a room that has photographs of Swami Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore. From behind a row of vertically-arranged sitars you see Pt. Nikhil Ghosh instructing a student. These visuals are from an episode of the Great Masters series, made by Mumbai Doordarshan on the tabla legend and the landmark institution of music and research he set up in the metropolis. Sangeet Mahabharati, originally known as Arun Sangeetalaya, was established in 1956. Twelve years later, it moved to the present premises.
Last week (January 17 to 20), Sangeet Mahabharati bustled with artistes, music-lovers and Nikhilbabu’s admirers, who had gathered for ‘Shat Pranam’, an event organised by his musician-son Nayan Ghosh to pay tribute to the maestro on his birth centenary. The performance arenawas as surreal as Pt. Nikhil Ghosh’s music — the stage was under a huge banyan tree, there was an amphitheatre-like seating with the cool evening breeze wafting across.
“The response from artistes and art-lovers has been overwhelming. It is at such moments, more than ever, that I realise how my father lives in so many hearts. Because, apart from being an accomplished musician, he was a fine human being,” says Nayan Ghosh, who now heads the institution.
Versatile musician Nayan Ghosh, son of Pt. Nikhil Ghosh
The centenary celebration began on December 11 with the inimitable Ustad Zakir Hussain’s Taalanjali at the Nehru Centre in Mumbai, followed by Kathak ace Pt. Birju Maharaj’s performance.
Born in Barisal in East Bengal (now Bangladesh), Pt. Nikhil’s musical journey took him from his calm riverside village to the busy, narrow streets of Bombay. Like his sitarist-father Akshay Kumar Ghosh and dhrupadia-grandfather Hara Kumar Ghosh he took to music, but his brother, the celebrated flautist Pannalal Ghosh, had a huge influence on him and played a major role in his musical choices.
“My father was not only a brilliant tabla player, but an amazing vocalist too. He was a master of both melody and rhythm. A traditionalist with a progressive outlook, his expansive repertoire drew from the stylistic features of Ajrada, Farukhabad, Lucknow and Punjab gharanas,” says the son, who has inherited his father’s versatility. Known more as a sitar and tabla exponent, Nayan Ghosh is an equally skilled vocalist, who also plays the surbahar and pakhawaj. Nayan’s son Ishaan is also a tabla artiste.
Pt. Nikhil kept enriching his music owing to his close association with stalwarts such as Ustad Fayyaz Khan, Pt. Omkarnath Thakur, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali khan and Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan. He trained under Ustad Amir Hussain Khan, Guru Gyan Prakash Ghosh and Ustad Ahmed Jan Thirakwa.
Legendary flautist Pt. Pannalal Ghosh
“These legends had a deep impact on his mind and music. He was a keen observer and learner. Also, whichever part of the world he was, he never skipped his daily riyaaz ,” recalls Nayan.
But, the one thing he found difficult was to choose between being a singer and a tabla artiste. Finally, in 1945, Pt. Nikhil decided in favour of the latter with the help of his guru Ustad Thirakwa. “And then, he was unstoppable, making his mark both as an accompanist and soloist. He believed the onus is on the artiste to make every performance a musical experience. He would say percussion should not be viewed as just a mathematical exercise. And that it is not only about speed and technique. According to him, percussion can be poetic too. He insisted that irrespective of whether a musician is an instrumentalist or a vocalist, he/she should bring out the distinct personality of each composition.”
A much-in-demand tabla artiste, Pt. Nikhil was also invited to perform at international festivals. He composed music for films. In 1974, he formed the group Traya with his sons Nayan and Druba (a sarangi player), and performed and conducted lec-dems at universities across the globe.
“During his extensive travels, he developed a close rapport with iconic musicians such as Yehudi Menuhin, Benjamin Britten, Larry Adler, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Dave Brubeck,” says Nayan.
“My father would make us (sister Tulika is a trained vocalist) listen to Beethoven, Bach and American Country music. He hated building boundaries around art. He would say open-mindedness is the way forward in life. Someone who believed in wholesome development of personality, he didn’t let us give up academics because we were into music. He even encouraged us to pursue sports. He was an athlete, while my uncle (Pannalal Ghosh) was a boxing champion and an archer.”
At the peak of his career, Pt. Nikhil decided to devote much of his time to teaching. He was eager to share with young enthusiasts the treasure he had assimilated. He developed a teaching method and improved upon the notation system established by Pt. V.D. Paluskar and Pt. V.N. Bhatkhande by using Roman letters and symbols. His efforts resulted in the book Fundamentals of Raga and Tala with a New System of Notation in 1968. He followed it up with a Manuscript Book for easy notation.
“He didn’t stop at that. In 1961, he undertook the Herculean task of documenting and compiling an Encyclopaedia on music that would have minute details about forms of music, ragas, talas, biographies, technical terms, history, instruments, gharanas and more. Around 250 scholars were involved in this assignment. Sadly, he passed away in 1995 before completing it. But we ensured the work did not stop. His dream project was released in 2011, 50 years after he began, as The Oxford Encyclopaedia of the Music of India. Pt. Nikhil Ghosh has left his name in the pages of India’s musical history,” says Nayan.
Nikhil Ghosh performing with Ustad Vilayat Khan and Ustand Bismillah Khan in Bombay
