The two-day 15th ITC Sangeet Sammelan, Kolkata was held at the Aldeen lawns on December 1 and 2, 2007. Mr P.K.Sinha, Trustee, ITC SRA was the Chief Guest who inaugurated the Sammelan while scholars Samarth Nagarkar and Manali Bose sang the invocation.

Organised as a tribute to a legendary musician of Bengal, Sangeetacharya Girija Shankar Chakrabarty, the Sammelan featured less exposed stalwarts from the older generation as well as young performers. On Saturday, the evening began with a vocal performance by ex-ITC SRA scholar Tushar Dutta. He began his performance with khayals in Raga Patdeep, ‘Eri Maye Pee Pardes’ in Vilambit Ektala and ‘Tarasan Lagi Ankhiya Mori’ in ‘Madhyalaya Teentala’. Turning to Raga Des, he sang ‘Langara tohe laj na aye pe’ in Madhyalaya Teentala and ‘Ghana Gagana Ghana’ in Drut Teentala. He was accompanied on the tabla by Sandip Kumar Ray Chaudhuri while Gourab Chatterjee provided harmonium support. In an interview following his performance, Tushar said, “Singing at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy means performing in front of some of the best artistes of the country. While that is really an honour, I was also a bit apprehensive about it, since I wasn’t sure that I would really be able to present everything that I had been working on. This opportunity has further inspired me to work towards greater levels of excellence.”

Child prodigy fourteen year old Yashwant Vaishnav’s scintillating tabla performance in teentala was the next attraction. His uthan, peshkar, tisra and chatusra jati qaida, vistars in different laya, "dhigdhina" qaida of Banaras, “dhirkit & dha ghe ghe” relas, tisra & chatusra jati gats, "dhene gene" rela, tukras, chakradhars, were a treat not to be missed. The nagma in Mishra Kirwani was played by Shrimati Rupashree Bhattacharya. When asked to comment on his performance, Yashwant said, “I have just begun learning and have a long way to go. I know that there is so much that I have to master.” Acknowledging the consistent efforts of his dedicated parents, his Guru Shri Bhale said that guiding this young boy towards greater heights of excellence was a responsibility that he was determined to accomplish.


The coveted ITC Award was then presented to Ustad Asad Ali Khan, one of the most celebrated custodians of the fading Rudra Veena (or Been) tradition, representing the Jaipur Beenkar Gharana, whose family traditions go back seven generations to the 18th century. Accepting the award, the veteran performer requested the Academy to institute a veena class so that the fading tradition could be revived and the rich repertoire preserved for posterity. “I feel that this award recognises the contribution of my forefathers and is an acknowledgement of the role of the veena in the preservation of Hindustani Raga Sangeet,” said the Ustad. He began his veena performance with alap, jod, jhala in Raga Bihag, followed by a gat in chautala. He concluded with a gat in Raga Khamaj, with shades of Sorat and Des. He was accompanied by Shri Dalchand Sharma on the pakhawaj.

The evening concluded with a vocal performance by Dr Vidyadhar Vyas, Executive Director, ITC Sangeet Research Academy. He began his performance with Raga Malgunji presenting khayals “Bana mein charavata juiyan” in vilambit ektala, and “Murali ki dhun suni” in drut teentala, followed by a tarana. He concluded with a bhajan in Raga Khamaj “Udho karamana ki gatnar”. He was accompanied on the tabla by Shri Mukund Bhale while Shri Jyoti Goho was at the harmonium.

The second day’s programme began with a sitar recital by Purbayan Chatterjee, a gifted torch-bearer of the Senia-Maihar gharana. A regular concert performer, that evening he was accompanied on the tabla by Shri Shubhankar Banerjee. He began with alap, jod, madhyalaya jhaptaal gat, drut ektala gat and jhala in Raga Puriya. He concluded with a composition of Ustad Allauddin Khan in Raga Kamod in drut teentala. After the performance, Purbayan said, “I cannot comment about my own performance – that is for others to say. However, every year I attend this Sammelan and I have always found that the music is at such a high level because of the presence of so many great performers. Today thanks to global culture our priorities have changed. Our traditional culture and the reasons for our national pride seem to be getting diluted. Bollywood is a big influence even internationally. Now, those who are in raga sangeet are not playing for Bollywood, although earlier this was not so. Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Ustad Amir Khan, Pandit D.V.Paluskar and later on Hariji and Shivji have all performed for Bollywood. Nowadays things have become very compartmentalized. Global culture has penetrated in such a way that Bollywood does not want the traditional music anymore. We need to do something about it.” Shri Subhankar Banerjee said, “Any performance is a test of one’s ability and accompaniment is a very demanding art. The tone, the raga, the artiste’s personality all matter. Mood and anticipation are very important – it’s like walking on a string. When the tabla is taught, it is for solo performance, not accompaniment. This we learn to develop as we go along, so every performance is a learning experience.”

The instrumental performance was followed by vocal performances. Shrimati Jayashree R Patnekar was the first vocalist that evening. She began her performance with khayals in Raga Shri “Gajarava bajo” in vilambit jhaptala and “Sachi man le” in drut teentala. She concluded with khayals in Raga Sampoorna Malkauns “Bar ja rahi” in vilambit teentala and “Ite Dhundana Ja” in drut teentala. She concluded with a bhajan “E go more shyam”. Her accompanists were Shri Mukund Bhale on the tabla and Shrimati Rupashree Bhattacharya at the harmonium. Delighted at performing for the first time at Kolkata, Jayashriji opined, “Any musical performance is the product of many years of dedicated talim and riyaz. It is only when one is totally dedicated to the art form that good music is possible as our music demands sadhana without any expectations. Mere technical virtuosity does not make a musician. One should aim at developing aesthetics and ragadari.”

The vocal performance that followed was in pure Gwalior gharana style by Pandit Laxman Krishnarao He began with khayals in Raga Bageshree Bahar “Ye dino dahi laga” in vilambit tilwada tala and in drut teentala. He then sang a tappa in Mishra Kafi, Punjabi tala “Yaar di menu talab”. He concluded with a bandishi thumri “Sakhi manata nahi langarawa”. He was accompanied by Pandit Ananda Gopal Bandopadhyay on the tabla while Shri Jyoti Goho played the harmonium. At an interview after his performance, he opined, “To maintain the tradition you have to make a lot of sacrifices. My grandfather made a lot of sacrifices. He used to eat only once a day. There was no money – but for the sake of the tradition he has done it. Earlier there weren’t any incentives for learning music. Now there are scholarships, fellowships etc. Yet there is no marked improvement in the quality of the music. Also, if one is a musician, one is not assured of anything. Money is only for a few artistes, not for all. The other artistes have to struggle a lot. It isn’t like this in other professions. Earlier it was possible for people having different professions to pursue music as a hobby. Teachers, doctors, advocates used to listen to music and learn compositions and talk about it. Now it has gone out of vogue. Earlier many newspapers carried classical music criticisms. Music programmes even Radio National programmes used to be covered. Now the newspaper houses say there is not enough response. Even children these days don’t have elders around them to teach them the traditional culture and the mass media is not projecting it either. This is a cultured art which can only develop with association and we should do something about preserving it. Young people should learn whole-heartedly, think about it and do riyaz without expectations.”

The mother-and-daughter violinist duo of Shrimati N.Rajam and Sangeeta Shankar provided the finale to the event. Their presentation began with a short alap and jod followed by vilambit ektala gat, drut teentala gat and jhala in Raga Gorakh Kalyan. This was followed by a teentala madhyalaya gat in Raga Jhinjhoti and a dhun in Mishra Khamaj. They concluded with a composition of Pandit Omkarnath Thakur in Mishra Bhairavi set to teentala. Samar Saha provided tabla accompaniment. Dr Rajam’s comments after the performance were extremely encouraging. “I need not say that ITC SRA is doing wonderful service to the cause of music. From the very beginning the atmosphere here has been wonderful. Many performers have been nurtured here and they will continue to be nurtured. Whenever I am invited to perform I feel very happy as I really enjoy playing in this atmosphere.” Commenting on the future of classical music in the country, Sangeeta said, “ I have a very, very positive picture because I am working on a project now, which aims at educating children about our traditions and values through music.”