On the beat, on the mark
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Continuing the series on accompanists, meet Shubhendu Das, a tabla player with an agenda: ever upwards.
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PHOTO: R.V. MOORTHY
MAN ON THE MOVE Tabla player Shubhendu Das.
It is not easy to come to a new place where hundreds practise the same profession and make a mark. Yet Shubhendu Das, a tabla player brought up in Kolkata, decided to take the plunge. He came to Delhi just about a year ago and admits he is still finding his feet. Earlier having accompanied stalwarts like vocalist Pandit Ajoy Chakravarty, sarod exponent Parthasarathy and others, he was already a known figure in the Kolkata music circles when he shifted to the national Capital.
Having accompanied only a few musicians here so far, including young vocalist Samina Dey, he has however been noticed by connoisseurs. But perhaps he is used to standing out in a crowd.
"I did my Masters in Percussion Music from Rabindra Bharati University and got a First Class First degree," he relates with satisfaction. "My course was in tabla, pakhawaj and khol, though I specialised in the tabla."
Guru-shishya tradition
But Shubhendu is not a mere degree holder. It is the traditional guru shishya-parampara to which he owes allegiance. At the age of eight, he began learning from Swarupanand Maharaj, a disciple of the legendary Ahmed Jan Thirakwa.
"Later I became a disciple of Pandit Swaraj Bhattacharya of the Lucknow gharana. He is a disciple of Wajid Hussain Khan, Afak hussain Khan, and Hirendra Kumar Ganguly. I still go back to my guru whenever I have holidays and learn with him," he says.
Shubhendu has not inherited a family tradition like some musicians.
"But when I was young, my uncle's house was full of music. I had a cousin there who used to sing. I must have been only six when I used to `accompany' him just for fun. Now he is a professional too. His name is Saroj Das," he recounts.
Atmosphere
But the average `non-musical' family in Kolkata is somewhat different from those in the NCR, finds Shubhendu. "Yes," he concedes. "There is a lot of difference between the musical environment in Kolkata and in Delhi. I live in Noida, and I find it takes a lot of travelling to reach Delhi. But the ordinary people in Kolkata certainly know more about classical music than the ordinary people in Noida, I have found," says Shubhendu, who is currently employed in the music department of a reputed public school in Noida.
Yet he is not here to deride the common man's interest or lack of it. "I came to Delhi because it provides a lot of scope for an artiste. It is not just classical music. I would like to expand my capabilities by accompanying ghazal singers, for example. I like light music too. Back home I accompanied a lot of Nazrul geeti concerts and Rabindra Sangeet. Thumri is another of my interests. I would like to take the opportunity in Delhi to learn more, accompany the greatest artistes and develop my art as a soloist too."
ANJANA RAJAN
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