Magical moments: Lunch with Ajoy Chakrabarty
November 27, 2016 will remain forever memorable. The day had dawned with the engulfing melody of classical music – last act of the night – at the Bengal Classical Music Festival. Returning from the programme with the beautiful renditions still tingling my ears, I was extremely excited about the lunch invitation in a few hours at the home of noted singer Sadya Afreen Mallick (my aunt) and her husband Faruq Hasan Mallick. After hardly sleeping for two hours, it was time to get ready to go for the eagerly awaited lunch. It was wonderful to see my family and old friends Kanta Jamil, Milia Sabed, Dalia Nausheen, Nazia Jabeen, Zia Arastu, Zaheed Reza Noor of Prothom Alo and the Arts and Entertainment team of The Daily Star at the lunch along with young talented singers Aloke Sen and Tanveer Alam Shawjeeb. Of course photos and selfies followed the usual “ki khobor!”
I noticed Sadya running downstairs to welcome someone. In a few minutes as we stood by the door, the tall, dignified artiste extraordinaire Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty walked in. An aura of radiance seemed to permeate the room. As we were introduced, he folded his hands to greet us. We all crowded around him as he sat down, cameras clicking, selfies flicking in conjunction with introductions and conversations about the on-going music fest.
Sadya mentioned the enthusiastic crowd at the music fest, at times critiquing the programmes. The self-effacing Pandit responded, “Good – that's the way it should be.” He spoke about music, the importance of understanding the words of songs, and rendering with the right emotions which creates the completeness of the melody.
Upon request, he related an anecdote from his life. He said that in his 40s he was extensively performing all over the world. Prior to every journey for a show he always met with his guru. Before one such performance, he wanted to meet his guru before he left but was not able to and that yearning remained with him. As he boarded the plane he saw his guru boarding the plane also and as he met him in the plane, his guru said, “I know you were wanting to see me.” Chakrabarty ended his story by saying he had numerous similar experiences in his life which made him feel that if you want something desperately, God is waiting to give that to you.
We moved on to the dining table which had an elaborate spread: Ilish machh, chingri, taki machh and chingri-bhorta, papaya salad, vegetables, chicken roast, mutton curry, polao, chhitpitha to name a few. As the conversation flowed at the table, Chakrabarty talked about the unparalleled hospitality of Bangladeshis – the remnant of that warmth prevailing on the other side of Bengal amongst those who migrated from the erstwhile East Bengal, including his family – that ensures that guests never leave without having a meal.
The conversation returned to music and he solely credited Kazi Nazrul Islam for the spread of classical music in Bangla music. I mentioned his live performance in New Jersey where he sang the Nazrul Sangeet, “Shoshane Jagichhe Shyama Ma” which he sang in his unbelievable, ethereal style forever etched in my memory. His response was even more surreal: “I can't take credit; it's Kazi Shaheb's composition and Raag Malkauns bandish which made the song.” I was speechless at his response but later realised that I should have said that the greatness of Kazi Nazrul Islam's composition in Raag Malkauns reached the pinnacle due to Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty's rendition.
After lunch, the pandit listened to performances by Aloke Sen, Tanveer Alam Shawjeeb and Dalia Nausheen. He spoke of the importance of accentuating the meaning of the words by pouring emotions into the song. He expressed his appreciation of Dalia Nausheen's melodious voice.
It was time for him to go and rest before his late night performance at the music fest. As we prepared to bid him farewell, he told us in no uncertain terms, his views on paying respect, "Remember, you can always respect others, but don't forget to respect yourself, because He resides in all of us through His omnipresence".
It was my great fortune to have had the opportunity to spend time with and listen to the profound words of this legendary classical artiste, an inspiration and guru of Indian music worldwide, the ever humble, soft spoken – Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty.
The writer is a noted singer and an engineer by profession.
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