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treasure-trove of knowledge and insightful anecdotes, eminent sarod player Pandit Biswajit Roy Chowdhury is a sheer delight. Wisecracks flow so easily and you don't know whether to take him seriously or dismiss his candid observations as a slip of tongue or off-the-record remarks. But Chowdury means every word he utters and has no qualms about stating things the way they are or as he perceives the world of music. Indeed, the way India is, few want their progeny to carry forward the baton of music. The same was the case with his father Ranjit Roy Chowdhury though he was a sarod player himself and did initiate him into playing the instrument.
However, it was celebrated sarod player Ustad Amjad Ali Khan who after hearing Biswajit Roy Chowdhury play took him under his wings. From him he learnt what a real kurta is as well as how to perform before a microphone. But before you think he has put his guru on a pedestal the candidness in him surfaces. So he calls his guru a great performer but does not put his teaching skills in the same league. In fact, he is rather skeptical about the hallowed guru shishya parampara itself. Instead, he talks more euphemistically about Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande the famed musicologist who wrote the first modern treatise on Hindustani classical music and thus promoted the cause of music immeasurably. On the limited propagation of sarod, once again in his upfront style he declares: “Should we blame the two families associated with the sarod for not doing enough?”He takes a breather and adds: “I guess that would be unfair.” In fact, he considers comparisons rather unreasonable. So Spicmacay might be doing a great service for the cause of music he feels we can't expect others to tread the same path. In the movement called classical music he avers one can't force people to join in. No wonder at his Spicmacay concerts, one of which brought him to Chandigarh, he tells his listeners: “Pay heed if you want to or walk out if you please. Only if you listen attentively you will be enriched.” Beyond this he will not deliver any sermons on how exalted the Hindustani classical music is. Instead, he states, “Treat it like any other profession, attainment and achievement in which is difficult but not impossible.” So the world might go gaga over his individualistic style an amalgamation of the Maihar baaj and the Gwalior style, he refuses to say a word about his accomplishments. And even though he has performed at prestigious concerts like the Tansen Festival, the Shankar Lal Festival, the Vishnu Digambar Jayanti, the Sankat Mochan Music Festival, his memory graph only registers the greats whom he has encountered in his musical journey. Back in time he recalls his overwhelming encounter with Kumar Gandharva and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan who taught him no less than two ragas. Not to forget the stalwart Mallikarjun Mansur from whom he learnt khayal gayaki. He gushes: “They were the maestros, oblivious to the world, totally immersed in their music. Why at one concert Ali Akbar Khan became so engrossed he didn’t even realise it was raining. Such awe-inspiring was their dedication.” Question him what is it that he intends to achieve through his music? Expectedly, the musician who spares none is no less merciless to his own self. So pat comes the jocular reply: “I only want to make money.” Jokes apart, one thing is for certain he is not going to use classical music as a ladder for personal ambitions or to perpetuate myths. Honesty is what drives his candour and that’s exactly what he wants to be reflected in his music. Sarod vs
sitar “Alas in the realm of sarod playing we have no one like Pandit Ravi Shankar. “ With these words, Pandit Biswajit Roy Chowdhury explains why the sarod has not become as popular an instrument as the sitar. Of course, there are other reasons too. Sarod's technical complexities he asserts makes it a rather onerous instrument to master. He adds, “Besides though it is far more difficult to play than the sitar, it is placed in the same paradigm and the same virtuosity is expected from a sarod player overlooking the fact that an average sitarist can any day play better than a gifted sarodist.
“ World is an oyster Without a doubt, surviving in the world of classical arts is not easy. But Chowdhry feels that technology has made things easy for artistes. So much so that he adds “With just a click I could be playing in Honolulu tomorrow. “ Having performed around the world, he is all praise for audiences abroad. He says, “They listen with such rapt attention that in Tokyo while playing in the presence of 5,000 strong listeners one could have heard even a pin drop. “ Yet this recipient of Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) from the French government ultimately loves to perform in India. “They were the maestros, oblivious to the world, totally immersed in their music. Why at one concert Ali Akbar Khan became so engrossed he didn't even realise it was raining. Such awe-inspiring was their dedication.”
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