Myself and a few other students, training under guru Pt. Amarnath at Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra in Delhi, were awe-struck when we got to hear a cassette containing six Bangla compositions by guru Jnan Prakash Ghosh. The soulful voice of singer Ajoy Chakrabarty, an unfamiliar name then, captivated us so much that we kept hitting the play button on the tape recorder. After a few months, this young singer came to Delhi for his debut concert at Kamani Hall as the opening artiste of ITC Sangeet Sammelan in 1983. I attended the concert and was amazed to see how the melodious voice I had heard in the record transformed effortlessly to render the robust gayaki of the Patiala gharana. Since then I have keenly followed Ajoy Chakrabarty’s music and his rise as an eminent Hindustani vocalist. Yet, he does not take his craft lightly.
Five years ago, I went to Mumbai to attend a music seminar. I wasn’t aware that Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty was in the room adjacent to mine at the hotel till I heard the sound of the tanpura and the famous voice singing raag Bhimpalasi, followed by Yaman, Bagesree and Darbari. His riyaz went on till late in the night. Early next morning I woke up to the soothing notes of raag Lalit. Then came Bhairav and Ahir Bhairav. It was incredible. You then realised what goes into the making of a successful artiste.
Ahead of his concert in Chennai, the veteran vocalist talks about his bond with music and the joy mentoring young enthusiasts.
The veteran Hindustani musician is an exponent of the Patiala gharana
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How difficult was it to make your own space as a musician?
I came from a humble, non-gharanedar background. Thanks to Vijay Kichlu saheb (an exponent of the Agra gharana, he helped ITC set up the Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata) I could enter ITC Sangeet Research Academy as its first scholar. It enabled me to get the feel of what gharana is. And inspired me to rise at par with peers such as Rashid Khan, who was much younger yet much more appealing. During SRA’s famous musical tours in India and abroad under saheb’s supervision, I saw Hari-ji (Chaurasia)ji muffle the flute with his handkerchief and play for hours till we reached our destination. All this led me to immerse myself in riyaz.
So you also teach them film songs, Bengali compositions, ghazals and more.
As a youngster, I fell in love with the songs sung by Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and Manna Dey, Ragpradhan gaan, Baul and Tagore’s songs. My father was untrained but a gifted singer. When he found out my love for music, he encouraged me to choose music as a career, and yet never stopped me from singing film songs or Shyama Sangeet.
Was it not a taboo for musicians belonging to one gharana to listen to artistes belonging to other gharanas, leave alone learning other forms of music?
That’s right. This preservation was possible till the 1950s. Our generation was getting exposed to radio, movies and gramophone records. My father believed that the so-called lighter forms actually help develop the malleability of a singer’s voice and also illustrate the new vistas of emotive singing. It is true! My voice became very flexible even before I could understand the rudiments of classical music. The realization came much later that music, albeit an abstract art, thrives on both, the mastery of technical and emotional aspects of instant music-making.
Do you agree that the large number of gifted young musicians today augurs well for the future of Indian music.
Yes, I agree. Institutions like Shrutinandan have a major role to play in this. So do parents. The way the young combine traditional learning methods with technology has widened the reach of our arts.
I find that many untrained youngsters replicate the legends with amazing dexterity. Do you think such talents too need relentless riyaz?
This is a good question. You see, like Chinese goods, shortcuts never last long but perseverance pays good dividends. For example, when you hear about the Atlantic ocean , you go online or see on television how vast it is to even swallow a ship like Titanic and get overawed. But while flying over the same for six hours you feel helpless because in case of any mishap, death is certain.
What about average artistes having easy access to publicity on social media?
Discerning listeners can easily find out. Others should reach out to experts for a better understanding. As for those seeking easy publicity, the remedy is learning and riyaz. With riyaz you can sharpen your skills and understand the method of expressing the contents as well. The deeper you delve, the more you get familiar with the subject. Surrender to the music, it will own you up and show many new vistas. Once Zakir (Hussain) Bhai was assessing his art of accompaniment and admitted that he is very conscious about ‘Sangat ke dil mein kya chal raha hai’. Keep fine tuning your perception. To accomplish this, I learnt dhrupad from the grandson of Jadu Bhatta and thumris from guru Jnan Prakash Ghosh. This helped me understand the khayal, my forte, better. To sum it all, like the survival of any relationship, music also demands love, respect, belief and surrender.
Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty will perform a concert titled, ‘Dhrupad to Thumri: A Musical Exploration’ in Chennai on January (6.30 p.m.) at The Music Academy. The concert also features Brajeshwar Mukherjee and Ayesha Mukherjee (vocal support), Yogesh Shamsi on the tabla, Ajay Joglekar on the harmonium, and Amaan Hussain on the sarangi.
Published – January 22, 2025 02:39 pm IST
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