“What words fail to express, melody does,” to paraphrase Rabindranath Tagore, who did not know then that there will come a day when the faulty education system of the land will produce “highly educated” people bereft of not only English and Sanskrit but also of traditional Bengali and Hindustani languages. Many young musicians choose to remain oblivious to scriptures, treaties and even the simple lyrics of classical music and strive to say it all through melody!
Albeit puritans always claimed that the land is incapable of producing top-ranking khayal singers, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, the Awadh’s exiled ruler who spent the last part of his life in Bengal, inundated the region in the intoxicating melody of thumris. With time, despite Bhairavi’s pathos, the heart-wrenching import of the Nawab’s “Baabul mora naihar chhooto jaye” got lost; because at times “Baabul” became “babool” (a thorny tree)!
And, the popular concept, that the khayal compositions are mere pegs to hang the ragas on, is a fallacy. “It is for nothing that the great composers like Sadarang and Adarang penned lyrics before setting them in tune,” said Dr. Rita Ganguly conducting a workshop organised by the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre at its majestic Bharatiyam Cultural Multiplex in Kolkata’s Salt Lake city recently.
EZCC could not have found anyone more suited than this Sangeet Natak Akademi and Padma Shri awardee to handle the subject related to the “literature of music” with proper voice modulation and enunciation within the framework of raga and taal. The eleven-day workshop covered idioms like Dhrupad, khayal, thumri, chaiti and ghazal.
Fillip to vocalists
It was attended by well- trained young musicians. On the final day, a bunch of these talented vocalists were presented by Ganguly on stage to showcase their grasp on the subject taught.
“Moulding trained musicians is far more difficult than handling raw talent. In a way, I am being tested today”’ said a visibly nervous maestro who has a doctorate degree, given numerous recitals all over the globe, trained actors at the National School of Drama, founded Kaladharmi (an organisation promoting performing arts) and Begum Akhtar Academy of Ghazals. Having evaluated and guided musicians all her life there was no need for nervousness as she won hands down. Kolkata's aspiring musicians can make the best out of such opportunities offered by the team EZCC with Ganguly at the helm of affairs.
