Mohan Veena & Sarode recital
Impression
by Pandit Radhika Mohan Moitra
The celebrated Sarode Virtuoso Radhika Mohan Maitra, known throughout the country and abroad as 'Radhu Babu', was one of the greatest in the tradition of maestros that our country has produced. One cannot imagine the ceaseless and uncompromising struggle he had to go through, defying all the obstacles and mischief placed in his path to attain the stature associated with his name.Radhika Mohan was the scion of the illustrious Maitra Zamindar family of'Talanda'' in Rajshahi (now in Bangladesh). He was born in 1917 in the house of his maternal grandfather at 46, Chakraberia Road North, in Kolkata.His mother, Binapani Devi, had studied playing the Sitar under the renowned Sitari, Khalifa Enayat Khan Sahib of the Imdadkhani Gharana, who was living in the house of her grandfather, Mohini Mohan Ray, during the material period. At the same time, the Maestro's own grandfather, Lalita Mohan Maitra, himself an accomplished pakhawaj and tabla player, had appointed Sarodiya, Khalifa Mohammed Amir Khan Sahib of the Ghulam Ali Sarode Gharana, as the court musician at his Zamindari at Rajshahi around 1910 and had asked the Maestro to teach Sarode to his two sons, Brajendra Mohan (Radhu Babu's father) and Gopikula Mohan. Radhu Babu was thus fortunate to have been nurtured in an atmosphere of music.
Radhu Babu started learning Sarode under the tutelage of Amir Khan Sahib at the tender age of four. He also benefited from the presence of Enayat Khan Sahib at his maternal grandfather's house. Later, he had the privilege of being associated with some of the greatest luminaries of Hindusthani Classical Music of the 20th Century like Ustad Faiyaz Khan with the encouragement of his own tutor. After the demise of his Guru, he'also received training from Ustad Dabir Khan Sahib, descendant of the legendary Mian Tansen, court musician of Emperor Akbar. He also learnt the pakhawaj tradition of Jaipur under Bhagawan Chandra Sen.Brajendra Mohan had established Aashare Club at Rajshahi, for encouragement of cultural activities. The programmes organized by the club were eclectic, ranging from soirees for classical music, Baul and Kabigan, etc, to literary functions. Luminaries of different disciplines, like Ustad Abdulllah Khan, Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, Ustad Faiyaz Khan, Ustad Enayat Khan, Radhika Prasad and Gyanendra Prasad Goswami, etc., in classical music, disciples of Lalari Fakir in folk music, Atul Prasad Sen in light music, performed during such soirees. Even Rabindranath Tagore associated himself with the activities of the club. This exposure imbibed a catholicity of taste in the young Radhu Babu.
At the same time, Radhu Babu did not neglect his formal education. He stood first in his M.A. examination in philosophy and also completed his LLB. He was a linguist of considerable ability with a sound grounding of Sanskrit , Urdu and English. His position among his contemporary musicians was unique on account of his scholarly frame of mind, inasmuch as he had equal command over music and musicology. He was considered to be a living encyclopaedia of Hindusthani classical music by contemporaries Ustad Mushtaq Ali Khan and Professor Dhrubatara Joshi. He was a performer and mentor par excellence. It is unfortunate that few took advantage of his vast knowledge of the art and the science of music.Radhu Babu was also a poet with a satirical touch. His multi faceted personality enabled him to interact meaningfully with luminaries from different walks of life. These included, among others, a scientist like Professor Satyendranath Bose, a Sanskrit scholar like Mahamahopadhyay Gopinath Kabiraj, a linguist like Professor Suniti Kumar Chattopadhyay and a litterateur like Saiyad Mujtaba Ali.Despite the hard years that followed the Partition of Bengal, Radhika Mohan continued his endeavour to achieve excellence in Sarode and eventually rose to be the Doyen of the traditional Ghulam Ali Sarode Gharana. During his lifetime, he patronized and also extended the tradition with immortal compositions both in India and abroad.
An ingenious person, Radhika Mohan devised three new musical instruments, viz., 'Mohan Veena' in 1943 (named after the Maestro by Thakur Jaydev Singh in 1948), 'Dilbahar' in 1956 and 'Nabadeepa' in 1967. Further, although he was reluctant to play in public the Ragas he composed to give more space to traditional Ragas, he has left a number of new Ragas like Lalita Manjari, Arun Kedar, Shahi Kanada, Geetabali, Alakananda, Abhashree, Mohankalyan, Deepakalyan, Chandra-Mallar, etc. A large number of his recordings (performed between the thirties and the seventies) are preserved at All India Radio, Nations' "«es and Doordarshan.He received Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1971. He had inaugurated the National Programme.of Music of the Doordarshan in 1976. He was in his prime when he announced his retirement from public performance to make way for new generation of musicians.He traveled extensively abroad - in Australia, China, New Zealand and Afghanistan as member of Cultural Delegations, in Manila for a UNESCO concert and in the United States on a personal visit. A number of people were attracted towards him during such visits and later studied music under him.
