Vocal Classical
Tappa
(A Vigorous Expression of love)
by Smt.Maya Roy
Srimati Maya Roy was born in 1936 in Howrah. Her marriage with music started at the age of five under the guidance of her parents Sri Panchanan Sarkar and Smt. Shefalika Sarkar. Her parental house was ideal for developing her interests in music as many family friends were locally renowned musicians who often performed in soirees at houses of local dignitaries.
Till the age of sixteen, she was under the rigorous talim of Pandit Abhaypada Bandyapadhyay (a student of Pandit Girija Shankar Chakravarty) of the Agra Gharana, and by then had also acquired some local recognition by winning several competitions in Hindustani classical vocals, mostly in Howrah and Calcutta. She next started taking lessons from Pandit Gyan Prakash Ghosh and continued to do so for the following 3 years before finally becoming a student of Srimati Dipali Nag, of the Sangeet Research Academy, under whose guidance she advanced her knowledge in the Agra Gharana. In 1967, she met Gopal Chattopadhyay (an eminent Tappa singer) and expressed her interest in Tappa. After rendering some first lessons, Sri Chattopadhyay was so impressed by her voice that he introduced her to Sri Kalipada Pathak, the then living legend of Tappa. Kalipada Pathak was a former student of Angelina Yeoward, popularly known as Gauhar Jaan – arguably the first Baiji or dancing girl of Calcutta. Sri Pathak, whom the artiste called `Baba,’ accepted her request and thus rolled her first days of Tappa. It is during the years of training under Kalipada Pathak that Maya Roy found her deepest liking and involvement in Hindustani Tappa (popularly known as Shori Mian’s Tappa, with lyrics mostly written in the Multani/Punjabi language), including Bangla Tappa as propounded by Sri Ramnidhi Gupta.
Maya Roy holds the prestigious Sangeet Prabhakar award from Allahabad University. She has been a regular artiste at the All India Radio since 1954 and has also been closely linked as an academic and teacher at The Sangeet Bharati. However, after her marriage she never performed publicly, though she continued her rewaz with utmost diligence. She is arguably the last of the living female vocalists in Bangla Tappa which is quite distinct - in mood and composition - from its commercial version that has been more popular in Calcutta in the recent times. She resides in Calcutta.
Raag Khamaj :
Mianbe Jadudara (Shori Mian)
Bhalobashibe Bole Bhalo Bashine (Nidhu Babu)
Raag Kafi : Yaadgumare Yaar (Shori Mian)
Raag Surat Malhar : Ke Tomare Sheekhayeche e Prem Cholona (Sridhar Kathak)
Raag Bhairavi
Accompanists :
Tabla : Pandit Sujit Saha
Sarangi : Sri Debshish Haldar
Harmonium : Sri Ratan Natta
Tanpura : Smt. Debolina Chakraborty
