A Noteworthy Act

Daughter of renowned classical singer Ajoy Chakrabarty,Kaushiki’s biggest moment in life is her gandha bandhan ceremony — where Guru Jnan Prakash Ghosh tied a thread around her wrist in accordance with the guru-shishya parampara,at the age of nine. The Kolkata-based vocalist’s recent body of work hints at her love for experimentation. The musician is working on rediscovering thumri,though it will be some time before she can present it on stage. “The evolution of thumri is closely connected to the changes in our society. For the last few decades,the records of its evolution process have been missing or are being found in fragments,so it will be a while before we join the dots. Then again,it is a passion,one that has also taken on the form of an addiction,” says the 33-year-old former student of Kolkata’s prestigious ITC Sangeet Research Academy.

Not surprisingly,her love for Indian classical music stems from her musical roots. Chakrabarty clearly remembers sitting in on her father’s all night riyaaz sessions,where he played the swaramandal and a disciple played the tanpura. As someone who reveres the genre,she feels that Indian classical music is now being neglected.

Yet,she hasn’t let her traditional music conditioning restrict her taste in music; rather she has,over time,opened up to other genres as well. “I identify more with the spontaneity and the innocence of Indian folk music but since the past couple of years,I have taken a keen interest in world music. Apart from khyaal and thumri,I listen to ghazals,Sufi music and even Yaani,Michael Jackson and Yo Yo Ma,” she says.

In fact,Chakrabarty has stepped out of her ‘turf’ to establish herself as an independent artiste. After having lent her voice to films and performing at Coke Studio with Shantanu Moitra,she is now singing a playback number for an upcoming film,Gulab Gang. “When you are singing a song for a film,you try to get into the mood of the song and emote through it,whereas during riyaaz,it is about getting into a space to allow music to happen through you,” she says.

mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com

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