Waxing lyrical on music
PADMA RAMACHANDRAN
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Abhradita Banerjee's dream is to tap the therapeutic effects of music to beat stress.
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On August 19, fans of Salil Chowdhury will gather in Thrissur to pay homage to a composer whose lilting music made him a household name in Kerala.
His songs in Bengali will be sung by a singer, Abhradita Banerjee, who has made Thiruvananthapuram her home. She is not only a singer of repute but also a teacher.
Abhradita feels that the one-to-one system is for those who are passionate about music, for it demands, "tremendous patience, perseverance, dedication and respect for music."
Recently, this talented singer mesmerised her listeners with her soulful music on the occasion of Guru Poornima. Her forte is ghazals, and she has accompanied many reputed musicians like Anup Jalota, Arti Mukherjee and the late Ustad Kala Khan of the Azrada gharana. However, she says that there are very few artistes to accompany singers of Hindustani music in Kerala and so giving concerts here is rather difficult. Discussing a few of the differences Carnatic and Hindustani music, Abhradita says, "Although the swaras are the same , and there are ragas emanating from core ragas in both the systems, the names of swaras, the talas and above all, the style of singing - these are very different. But those who have a knowledge of any one of these systems, can pick up the other as they have a basic understanding of Indian music.
When I studied for Sangeet Visharad and post graduation in music at Indira Kala Sangeet Visvavidyalaya at Khairagarh in Madhya Pradesh, we had to study some of the theory of Carnatic Music as well. So I am able to compare the two systems of music."
Any difficulties in teaching Hindustani music in Kerala?
"A good knowledge of Hindi and proper pronunciation are essential, if the music is to be sung with feeling. Many of my students write down the notation and words for songs in Malayalam. The intonation of the words has to be correct. Many of them study Carnatic music, the influence of which is bound to be felt when they sing Hindustani music. Though the music per se may not be wrong, the difference in style of the two systems must be borne in mind."
"My first guru was Sumati Rajimwale. Then I became a disciple of Pandit Madan Chouhan."
Winner of the first Lata Mangeshkar award in 1991 and the All India Radio national prize for best light music singer five times, Abhradita is keen on making it big as a ghazal singer.
Dwelling upon her plans, she says, "I do have one great passion and that is to develop music as a therapy for combating stress."
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