City of banks and tanks

In the chapter titled ‘Comilla Days’, authors ANIRUDHA BHATTACHARJEE and BALAJI VITTAL tell us about S D Burman’s first music ‘teacher’ Nobody was sure of her real name. She was addressed as ‘Robir ma’ (Robi’s mother) as she had a son called Robi. She was also Karta’s dai ma (governess; also, foster mother) who would call him Dalim (pomegranate) Kumar for his pink complexion. As was the convention in a royal household, Robir ma was responsible for Karta’s upbringing in the palatial house at Chartha, Comilla. Built on sixty bighas of land (a bigha being 17,452 square feet), the estate of Chartha comprised a tennis court and three tanks, a testimony to Comilla’s reputation of being a ‘city of banks and tanks’. One of the first teachers in Karta’s life was a family servant, Anwar, who taught the young prince fishing using handmade rods from bamboo shoots. But that wasn’t the only lesson which mesmerized Karta. It was Anwar’s repertoire of bhatiyali (boatmen songs sung while rowing against the tide; the genre traces its origins to East Bengal) which he sang to the accompaniment of the dotara (a multistringed instrument mostly used by folk singers in Bengal) that would leave young Karta awe-struck. Later in life, Karta acknowledged Anwar as his first guide in the world of folk music, a genre which many say has a spiritual connection to the soul. And then there was the elderly Madhav, yet another household hand, whose rendition of the Ramayana every Sunday would transport Karta to another world. Madhav knew neither taan nor khatki (taan is an intricate phrase of rapidly sung notes without any lyrics, using vowels; khatki is a short and swift inflection). The beauty of his music was in its simplicity. The Comilla household also served as a stopover for itinerant singers who would sing different forms of folksy music which required no great training to understand — baul, kirtan, bhatiyali, gajan, etc. In 1909, Nabadwip Chandra, at the invitation of the newly-crowned king, Birendra Kishore Manikya, grandson of Bir Chandra, finally joined the offices of the Royal family as President, Council of State, and moved to Agartala, the capital of Tripura (as Tipperah was now called). Thus reinstated, after having been exiled earlier by Bir Chandra, Nabadwip Chandra took young Karta along to Agartala where the youngster’s formal education would begin. In 1901, the literacy rate in Hill Tripura was a mere 2.3 per cent and therefore even after a decade, there weren’t many schools in the area. After careful consideration, Kumar Boarding, a school for the children of royal families, was chosen as Karta’s first alma mater, and he enrolled in 1911. Unfortunately, the school turned out to be a big disappointment. The main reason being that the teaching staff, which was clearly in awe of its royal patrons, was hesitant in enforcing discipline on its young students, lest it should displease their masters. Nabadwip Chandra waited for two years and shifted his son to Yusuf School in Comilla where the young boy continued till grade four. Later, Karta was admitted to Comilla Zilla School, the oldest in town (established in 1837), where he completed his matriculation. For his intermediate and graduation, the young man went to Victoria College in Comilla of which Satyendra Nath Basu, a revered educator, was the principal — a position he held for thirty-one years and three months from 24 September 1899 till the day he died, 3 January 1931. Karta was the first graduate in the Tripura royal family. The year was 1924. However, along with academics, music was also given equal importance in his home. The reason: Nabadwip Chandra, apart from being an able administrator, was a dhrupad singer and a sculptor. He also played the esraj, and had a flair for writing; Bir Chandra wrote poetry, was an accomplished singer, a photographer, and had a great sense of aesthetics. He encouraged musicians, and had once also invited the giant of a luminary like Jadunath Bhattacharya (known as Jadu Bhatta, one of the pioneers of dhrupad in eastern India, whose students included Rabindranath Tagore) to his court. Bir Chandra also hosted Rababi Qasim Ali Khan of the Senia gharana, who tutored Sadu Khan (father of musicians, Allaudin and Aftabuddin Khan) of Brahmanbaria, a village near Comilla. What was more, Rabindranath Tagore happened to be a good friend of both Bir Chandra and Nabadwip Chandra, who initially enrolled his twin sons at Shantiniketan, although it is widely believed that Tagore had expressed solidarity with the uncle rather than the nephew when it came to politics. Shyama Charan Datta was a well known dhrupad artist in Comilla whose disciples included Himangshu Dutta and Shaila Das, the musician and singer Karta would later work with closely. According to Pankaj Kumar Mullick, Shaila Das may have become the best vocalist of the country, had it not been for her sudden death at the age of twenty-six in 1944. Apparently, Datta also wanted to teach Karta, but Nabadwip Chandra had decided to take his son under his own wings. Karta’s brother, Kiran Kumar, owner of a deep, resonating voice, also doubled up as his younger sibling’s mentor and sounding board. Under the guidance of his father and brother, Karta started learning dhrupad, and gradually evolved into an artiste of repute. There are stories of how even at that young age Karta’s singing left an indelible impact on his listeners, and one which was widely retold was about a station-master’s mother who was so impressed with his singing prowess that Karta managed to wriggle out of the warehouse where he and his friends had been locked up for travelling without a train ticket. Like a wander ing minstrel, Karta would also go looking for folk music, meeting many a boatmen and nomadic musicians. Notable among them were Saheb Ali, the Sufi artist, or the noted folk singer, Abbas Uddin Ahmed, who taught Karta the art of ‘voicebreaking’, considered mandatory to express pain in high-pitched songs. As per Karta’s own admission — on rough and hard pathways, in idyllic neighbourhoods, on rippling waterfronts, everyone, and everything seemed to be infused with music. The chirping of birds hidden in the foliage; the ‘everywhere’bauls; the giggles of housewives; the splash of ruddy boatmen; and the humming of respectful babus — music was in the salt, mud and water of Comilla. And Agartala. In fact, the whole of Tripura. Gradually, Karta began giving public performances. Krishnadas Chakrabarti was his usual tabla ‘sangat’ in Comilla, while it was Rampada Babu who would play along during the soirees in Agartala. What may come as a surprise to many, the young musician who was so taken in by the beauty of simple, soulful music was also extremely adventurous by nature and loved going into the forest. Once he and his maternal uncle Madan Sinha — who was more like a friend to him — landed in trouble while on a deer hunting mission, and it was Prafulla Karta who had to intervene and rescued them. An athletic young man, the six feet- tall Karta was also a regular at Comilla Young Men’s Club, and emerged as one of the best tennis players in the state, travelling for tournaments to different parts in the country. He later enrolled as a member of Tippera Club, which was founded by his father. Amongst several sporting activities, football was one of his favourite games and not only did he play as a forward, he also officiated as a referee in a few Indian Football Association (IFA) matches. However, higher education beckoned, and Nabadwip Chandra had him enrolled for MA in English literature at Calcutta University. Curious at the prospect of going to a city to study, Karta agreed, considering the options in Tripura were limited. But ultimately, it would be a toss-up between either being a prince or a musician. The strains of Comilla’s music faded out as the royal carriage set out on its journey carrying Karta to Dacca railway station to catch the train to Sealdah (Calcutta). But Karta carried all of it in his mind, body, heart and soul. He could never go too far away from it…. S D Burman: The Prince-musicianBy Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Balaji VittalPublisher: TranquebarPages: 344Price: Rs 799