The beat is back

His belongings,photographs,recordings,correspondence and the diaries in which he wrote his tabla bols were all lying in locked closets till his son Charanjeet Lal decided to put them on display and converted a part of their house into a museum. It opened to the public on December 1.

“We had wanted to do this for a long time. This is an effort to revive Pandit Chatur Lal in the hearts of all his music lovers again,” says Charanjeet,who set up the museum,called Taa Dhaa,with the help of his daughter Shruti.

“My father was called Taa by his family and Dhaa is the first bol in tabla,” he explains.

A series of black-and-white photographs with Pandit Ravi Shankar,Ustad Ali Akbar Khan,Nikhil Banarjee and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru line the walls. A section has been devoted to his instruments which includes his main concert tabla,a tanpura and an old-style high pitched harmonium used in those days during concerts. Then there is a section of LPs—Drums of India (World Pacific Records),a 33 RPM that was released in 1955,and was the first LP ever by an Indian percussionist.

“I am surprised by their quality. They still work. Also in those times there was no percussionist who had these many records to his credit. Ustad Allah Rakha Khan sahab came to prominence once my father died,” says Charanjeet. “My main aim is to make sure that all the material is available chronologically so that scholars and students can gain something out of it,” says Lal.

Also on display are his notes,and reviews and stories on him that appeared in foreign newspapers. All his personal belongings—his concert kurtas and sherwanis,his rusted Allwyn Prestcold refrigerator which still works,a Konica camera,a spool tape recorder and his correspondence with various people,too are part of the museum.

In another part of the house is a music room where Charanjeet teaches tabla to students. And as the beats of the tabla echo across the museum,it brings with it memories of the maestro and his music.