Sailajaranjan Mazumdar’s 125th birth anniversary was celebrated at the Triguna Sen Auditorium recently (picture, left). Enakshi Chattopdhyay, one of his students, highlighted his role as a teacher and shed more light on Mazumdar’s life. Two books were also released on the occasion. Some of his early students, such as Madhumadhobi Bhaduri (“E porobase robe ke”), Rina Mukherjee (“Tumi kon bhangoner pothe”) and Ashish Bhattacharya (“Momo dukhero sadhano”) entertained the audience with the precision and the mastery that they were taught with. Mazumdar preferred minimal instruments and most singers opted for the same. Sritama Ray, who sang two tappas just using the esraj for accompaniment, was charming. While “Ke boshile aaji” was compelling, “Aha tomar shonge” was more subtle despite the curated twists and turns in Ray’s approach. Mazumdar’s family members performed “Kobe ami bahir holem” with accuracy.
Jayati Chakaraborty
Jayati Chakraborty (picture, right)brought her distinctive, contemplative tone to her solo recital at Gaane Gaane Jayati at the Kolkata Centre for Creativity. While she said that her throat was sore and she had coughing fits, she found her professional élan eventually. Each song was phrased clearly. She began with the hymn, “Vakratunda mahakaya”. She entertained intermittent requests from the 200-plus audience to dip into her repertoire for songs by Rabindranath Tagore, Rajanikanto Sen and adhunik numbers. She held sway over songs like “Amar ei path chawatei ananda”, “Aami akrito adhom”, and the peerless Hemanta Mukherjee song, “Neel akasher neeche”.
For diversion, she performed the spiritual “Sanshoyo timiro majhe”, a Brahmosangeet that is not often heard. It was a song that had transparency and precision and Chakraborty sang it with consummate skill. The more obvious choices were “Bhalobeshe sakhi” and “Majhe majhe tobo dekha pai”, which were delivered like elements of storytelling. She also reserved some energy for folk numbers like “Tomra kunja sajao go” and “Mon tore keba paar”. She sounded sonorous and fit while performing these, leading to a controlled and lingering finale.
