Back in time: Kolkata musicians who are among the last playing these long-lost instruments

How often have you come across a musician from Kolkata playing rudraveena? Or tar shehnai or even sarinda? In fact, if we may ask, have you heard of Brazilian instruments like repinique or pandiero being played in Kolkata? All of these are played here and there are only a few who are trying to play these instruments, which are slowly fading away from the music scene.

Creation of sound

Sayak Mitra, in his late 30s, is the only rudra veena player from Kolkata. Over the years, Mitra has passed through a journey with the veenas of India. rom the first vakra veena, an sian harp, to the fretless stick zither alapini, and then to the first fretted veena kinnari, followed by the rudra veena and Carnatic veena—his journey knows no bounds. “Rudra veena excited me the most, with its movable frets creating complex rhythmic patterns. India has a long history of music, instruments, and dance, and we, as the next generation of musicians and performers, should take up the responsibility of carrying forward the legacy,” says he, a disciple of Piyal Bhattacharya among other gurus, who believes that students should be imparted with more knowledge about the Indian musical instruments through their academic curriculum.

Sarinda spiel

Adisaptagram’s Niranjan Halder, who is also a part of the Bangla folk band Dohar, plays Bengal’s only bowed instrument, sarinda, for three generations. he piece that he plays is almost 150-years-old. he legacy that his grandfather had created, was carried forward by his uncle, and now him. e has a few students and is very eager to teach his grandson the instrument when he grows up. “Right now, there are only a few who can play this instrument, and I don’t know where this instrument originates from. Sarinda is carved from one piece of wood with three strings. But I play and make it with four strings,” says Halder.

The legacy of years

Those who grew up watching Doordarshan, can instantly recognise the signature tune of Saare jahan se achcha, composed and played by Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Ali Ahmed Hussain Khan. Ustad Khan’s son Hassan Haider Ali Khan followed the footsteps of his father, who apart from the Indian ragas, also plays melodious tunes of popular songs on his shehnai. “Popularity and success doesn’t come handy. he beatings from gurus and struggles are a part and parcel of it. Shehnai needs a lot of training and practice. I would love to pass on the art to my next generation, but one thing that really needs to be pointed out is that many musicians are struggling to make their ends meet. I don’t have a space that allows me to teach many students. Most of the time, the accolades and funds from the government are limited to a few musicians, while the others end up struggling all their lives. So it’s high time that the government becomes proactive in looking for the talents and supporting them,” he concludes.

Elevation of sounds

Tar shehnai, a lesser-known instrument in which an esraj is played with a metal ring to create an amplified sound, is rarely played nowadays. Kolkata’s Debasish Halder, who plays sarangi and esraj, is one of those very few people who can play a tar shehnai. Halder learnt the skills of the instrument by listening to shehnai. On asking why the number of musicians playing these instruments are decreasing, Halder says that there’s a lack of gurus here. “Teachers should be more accepting of their disciples and shouldn’t discriminate on the basis of the gharana they belong to. I think it’s not just time, but the effort one must put into learning a new artform, which is lacking somehow,” says Halder.

The international harmony

This one is definitely a bonus. Though they don’t play Indian musical instruments, their effort is worth a mention. Following the footsteps of Monojit Datta aka Kochuda, the Orient Express band members and percussionists Sourav Chatterjee, Deboprotim Baksi, and Dwaipayan Saha are playing a lot of Latin American instruments like caxixi, shekere, tamborim and others. And the music they create is a funky amalgamation of groovy tunes and Afro-Cuban beats. “We are carrying forward the legacy of Latin American music that Monojit Datta and Amyt Datta started. We are trying to let the world know what kind of music we are capable of making,” remarks Chatterjee.