‘Dhaki Samrat’ Gokul Chandra Das gets Padma Shri, says will dedicate award to his guruji
Resident of Machhlandapur of North 24 Parganas district, Gokul Chandra Das started his Bengali Dhak playing lesson from his father, Matilal Das, at the age of five years.
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In 2004, Das got the first prize, named “Dhaki Smarat,” at Kolkata in all Bengal dhak playing competitions. (Express Photo)Gokul Chandra Das, who ended gender bias in Dhak beat by training 400 women, has been named among this year’s Padma Shri awardees.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Das said, “I cannot express my happiness in words. After hearing that, the Indian government decided to not only recognise me but also the art form of Bengali dhak. I am grateful to great tabla maestro Pandit Tanmay Bose, without whom I can’t reach such a position. He is my guruji, and I am dedicating this award to him.”
On the other hand, after hearing on this award, Pandit Tanmay Bose told The Indian Express, “I am very proud of him. Gokul is a deserving musician and the right candidate for this award. The instrument which he used to play single-handedly has taken to a world concert from Puja Mundop. My one of the most lovable personalities is Gokul, and pray for his bright future. After seeing his award, many more youth will come to play Dhaka in Bengal.”
Resident of Machhlandapur of North 24 Parganas district, Das started his Bengali Dhak playing lesson from his father, Matilal Das, at the age of five years.
“My father was a renowned Dhak player of West Bengal as well as East Bengal,” said Das.
In 2004, Das got the first prize, named “Dhaki Smarat,” at Kolkata in all Bengal dhak playing competitions.
“From that competition, Tanmay Bose picked me up, and he gave me inspiration to play Dhak on the classical platform and also gave me necessary practice. After that, I traveled from Britain to America and many more countries and played Dhak with Pandit Ravi Shankar, Anushka Shankar, Ustad Zakir Hussain, and with many more artists. I am grateful to my guruji Tanmay Bose. Because of him, the whole world recognised me,” said Das.
He also said how he started training women.
He said, “Once I went to a music instrument shop in New York to buy a saxophone for my elder son. There I saw a lady playing all instruments to show customers. There I decided I should teach women dhak, which is generally known as a male-dominated instrument.”
He further added, “I returned and started that teaching from my home. I started teaching dhak playing to my daughter, daughter-in-law, and other relatives. That I started in 2010, and now I have more than 400 female students, and they are well established.”
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