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The journey of a music maker

Anis Mohammad finds richness in a memoir
A pearl is the oyster's autobiography; the autobiography of Pandit Ramkanai Das is his music. He is a legendary music maestro, folk lyric collector and a great musician in Bangladesh. Hs life is not merely an autobiography; it's just music. Born in 1935 at Shalla Upazilla in Sunamgonj under Sylhet division and brought up in a traditional music loving family, Das threads himself through the cultural fabric of the common people.
Music flows in Das's blood. This veteran artiste's family has been preserving and practising music for generations. His parents Rashiklal Das and Bibyomoyee Das, grandfather Prakash Chandra Talukder and great grandfather Ramcharan Talukder were all renowned bards of the greater Sylhet region. Das's daughter Kaberi Das is also a prominent musician. In this memoir we get to know how the people of his time acquires moral lessons from mythical stories. Music is not only his profession, but also his fascination. He himself is the architect of his fate and music is his worship.
Childhood is an eternal source of divine bliss for him. In his childhood he felt amazed at seeing singers, musicians, actors, actresses and dancers together. His poverty could not come in the way of his boundless aspirations and musical genius. In the melancholic voice of his mother in his very infancy he realized that sweetest songs were those which spoke of the saddest thoughts.
It is also learnt that a river in spring cannot be understood by its frozen condition in the winter. Life has both winter and spring and it should be realized by understanding its multiplicity. As music did not bring any mentionable financial input, Das' wife always felt anxious about his music profession. In 1967, when he commenced his musical career as a tabla player and a regular performer of classical, semi-classical, modem, and as a Nazrul Sangeet at Sylhet Radio, his wife Divya Mayi Das for the first time felt very contented.
From his very tender age, Das had a deep fascination for such branches of folk songs such as Kobigan, Boul, Kirton, Urigan,Tikloranir gan, Noukabaicher gan, Trinather gan, Murshidi gan, Jari gan, Shari gan, Jatra gan and the like. He had affiliations with musical groups like Joy Durga, Volanath and Vaggolakshmi. He has interacted with Nilufar Yasmin, Khan Ata, Kalimohon Choroborthy, Umacharan Sarker, Samar Das, Khadem Hossain Khan, Dhir Ali Mia, Waheedul Haque, Sanjida Khatun, Anup Vottacharja, Torun Roy, Binod Chowdhury, Ganga Thakur, Panchanon, Shukla Boidya, Krishnakantha Roy, Mohendra Chokroborti, Pandit Arun Vaduri, Khitish Nag and Khondker Faizuddin. He has high regards for Waheedul Haque. According to him, Waheedul Haque had fathomless knowledge in music that was beyond Das's bounds of knowledge. He always learned something new about music from Waheedul Haque whenever he came in touch with him. Das also affirms that Waheedul Haque, whom he regards as one of his mentors, had a great influence over him.
Sanjida Khatun is a gifted voice of Tagore music in Bangladesh, Das adds. He can never forget the happy moments of playing tabla with this singer. He appreciates the performance of Nilufar Yasmin as well as her behavior. He feels proud to have been acquainted with the versatile cultural personality Khan Ataur Rahman, husband of Nilufar Yeasmin and father of singer and actor Agoon. On the other hand, he has come by much appreciation through accompanying prominent artistes such as Ustad Bahadur Hussain Khan (sarod player), Ustad Amanat Ali Khan, and Ustad Fateh Ali Khan on the tabla. He received classical music training from Kalimohon Chakrabarty and table training from Sri Shurendramohan Sutradhar. However, as he was determined to become a full-fledged vocal artiste, he chose to give up playing the tabla and underwent intense classical vocal training for twelve years under the guidance of Padit Umesh Chandra Roy from Brahmanbaria. He has made frequent visits to almost all parts of Bangladesh, such as Bhairab, Brahmanbaria, Sylhet, Hobigonj and Narayangonj.
We come to know from this work Das used to practise music sixteen hours every day. He would go on to establish the Sangeet Parishad at Dariapara. Later he opened a branch of it in the US to expand the bounty of Bengali music there.
Ramkanai Das portrays an apparently incoherent picture of his life and music history in a very intimate and simple arrangement of words, but one that is complete. He consciously reveals the facts of his life and everything he observes. He has tried to portray the innumerable interconnected and progressive sketches of his upbringing along with the musical history of his time.
In the guise of a musician, he has music transcend into healing. He knows well that without being burnt to ashes, no musician can be a musician. He falls upon the fire and thorns of life; he bleeds to the maximum; he purifies himself through a continual extinction of greed, conspiracy and selfishness. His selfless, sincere and humane qualities will leave a significant footprint for
decades in the musical history of Bangladesh. Despite much conspiracy against him, he has established himself as a reputed singer, musician and music director.
Das observes that the traditional teaching system does not fully reflect educational awareness. A true learner does not know while he is learning and an ideal teacher does not know while he is teaching. Learning and teaching are intermingled and sometimes it cannot be understood when their exchange is happening. He does not feel sorry about his lack of formal education. Selfeducation has illuminated his life to the fullest. His self-education has helped him to of know true intimations of humanity. He has acquired his cultural inheritance from his family and village environment.
Kanai Das is hilariously self-conscious. He truly observes that at the end of life to be a destitute cannot be expectable by a musician. To avoid a musician's misfortune in old age, he/she should not be barred from being somewhat professional. According to him a musician must keep himself update with the passing of time and has to cope with its changing phenomena. Continual update is mandatory for every musician. Moreover, decentralization of genius is to be the goal of every artist. Emancipation of knowledge and intellectual property can help transform the chaotic world into a balanced one.
He also admits that sad memories sink into forgetfulness. A true and enlightened musician is gradually born through long struggle with others and within. Time is a great healer. A musician must believe in the panacea of time. Musicians also need to gather at intervals that can open a gateway to be familiar with one another. Through such gatherings a space of discussion is created that may help increase their artistic excellence.
From this book we come to know that racism is so deep-rooted in human genes that sometimes it can be found even in musicians. That singing classic music can slice away at the wrath in a musician's soul, as he has been told by musician Toroon Roy, is a thought which inspires him profoundly. The more a musician devotes himself to music, the more he comprehends it. The whole of his consciousness is endowed with music. From his autobiography we also know that war is nothing but awaiting uncertainty. The cruelty of the war in 1971 has occupied his mind in all this time since the end of the conflict.
This is a great book and works at many different levels — as intimate autobiography, as powerful literature, and as the story of one who transcends suffering into healing and makes us believe how interesting life is. He offers a roadmap of wisdom to self-discovery and wholeness, both individually and culturally.
As long as music shall last, he will live, especially among music-loving people of Bengal as well as the people all over the world. I wish wide reading of this great book. We pay tribute to his musical talent as well as to the clean image of his character.
ANIS MOHAMMAD IS A FREELANCE WRITER.