Subhankar Banerjee, Rimpa Siva and Purbayan Chatterjee on the eve of the show. Picture by Sanat Kumar Sinha

?Wish I could do something for all challenged people,? Subhankar Banerjee looks wistfully at his mother?s portrait in his drawing room. Kajalrekha Musical Foundation, which he has set up in her name, is doing what it can for a focussed group ? physically challenged musicians.

The foundation is hosting a concert at GD Birla Sabhagar on Sunday to raise funds for the initiative. Lending their music for a cause are vocalist Kaushiki Chakraborty Desikan, sitarist Purbayan Chatterjee and tabla player Rimpa Siva.

Subhankar, who has accompanied every doyen from Pandit Ravi Shankar to Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, grew up seeing his mother struggle against the constraints on creativity that disability can impose. ?She was polio-afflicted since the age of three. Yet, she went on to became a regular artist and lyricist for All India Radio and Doordarshan.?

The foundation was set up in 1998, a few months after Kajalrekha Banerjee passed away. ?During the mourning period itself, I received promise of support from seniors like Ajoy Chakraborty, Budhaditya Mukherjee and Anindo Chatterjee.? No institute has come forward yet, though, making the work dependant on Subhankar?s own financial resources.

The evening the three performed at the foundation?s first show, a scholarship was given to young Piyali Chakraborty, who, like Kajalrekha, is a singer afflicted with polio. ?At the next show the year after, I got a chance to perform before Ajoy Chakraborty and Shankar Ghosh,? Piyali recalls.

Another beneficiary has been Nikhil Dhara, a student of guitarist Debashis Bhattacharya. ?Nikhil is the only earning member of a poor family in Galsi, Burdwan. He walks with a crutch but he is very talented,? his guru affirms.

?When we, able-bodied musicians, have to struggle so hard to make a mark in a niche market like Indian classical music, we owe it to society to help those with disabilities,? says Purbayan, while tuning his sitar for Sunday?s show.