Tripti Nath/New Delhi
“Music has no language. It has a universal appeal. It does not discriminate on the basis of religion; it is like a flowing river that provides the same water to everyone. It has equal appeal to everyone irrespective of caste, creed or religion,” says Durjay Bhowmik, a Delhi-based tabla player. .
“Over the years, I have had the privilege of playing with some of the greatest masters of Indian classical music including the late sitar master Ustad Abdul Haleem Zafar Khan and the late Ustad Imrat Khan. In recent years, I have accompanied tabla virtuosos like Sujat Khan, Shahid Parvez and Shahid Zafar .I have also played tabla with Sarangi players Kamal Sabri, Dilshad Khan and many more.
“In daily life, I play with many Muslim artists, which makes it difficult for me to see Hindus and Muslims through a binary lens,” he says. “It is merit and not religion that makes us decide who we choose as accompanying artists.”
The tabla has been Durgay's constant companion for over four decades, and he takes great pride in emphasizing that India has played a very important role in popularizing the tabla. “Music has two aspects throughout the world: rhythm and melody. The tabla ranks first in rhythm. It can go with any type of music. Its grammar is unparalleled. It has a language and thus one can articulate what one is playing.”
Durgay, who hails from Kolkata, started learning to play the tabla from his teacher Dulal Natha at the age of four in North 24 Parganas. He continued to learn from the same teacher until the age of 21.
As a child, he remembers coming home crying after being caned by his teacher who had zero tolerance for any indiscipline by pupils. “My father had a keen interest in music and my mother would keep singing Rabindrasangeet at home. They did not sympathize with me when I complained about my teacher being beaten with the stick. Instead, they told me that the teacher may have beaten me with the stick because I may not have played the tabla well. The beating I received hurt me “At the hands of my teacher 46 years ago, but today, I look at him and my father with great gratitude. I thank God that I had a perfectionist teacher and a visionary mother who could find time from her daily chores to accompany me to classes and to my teacher's house.”
He also mentions how his mother helped him overcome the dilemma of choosing his career. “I started playing the tabla in concerts when I was 16 years old. My first performance was in Calcutta. After obtaining my bachelor’s degree from Calcutta University, I could not decide whether I should proceed with further studies or “Music. I started taking training classes at a chartered accountancy firm, but my mother gave me the confidence to follow my heart, not my head. After that, there was no looking back.”
Durgay, 50, is convinced that Indian classical music is also a way of life. “A teacher teaches you patience and etiquette. Anyone who learns classical music is not going after name or fame. Instead, they are looking for perfection. Tabla offers enormous scope, but institutional learning is not the right way to learn Indian classical music. It is better taught by a teacher.” Old Shishya Parampara.
Although he started teaching tabla online during the coronavirus outbreak and continues to teach tabla online to American, Austrian and Bangladeshi students, Durgay feels the online medium has limitations when it comes to conveying guru Shishya Parampara. So he encourages his students to visit India and spend time learning from him offline.
Over the past 25 years, he has taught drums to over 50 students. When asked if his students included women, he said: “There are very few women drum players. I have been teaching drums for nearly ten years to Jun Haraguchi, a Japanese lady from Nagoya, but what gave me extraordinary joy is that in 2019, I got a chance to watch her performance before my concerts in Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo. . .''
This tabla maestro is selective about accepting applications from aspiring students. “I teach only students who are serious about learning. First and foremost, they should respect the music and the teacher. Let me also emphasize that the relationship of Guru Shishya is very sacred.
Durgay, a tabla player at the Central Communications Office (formerly Directorate of Audio-Visual Propaganda) in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, is very busy. His talent is hugely popular and takes him all over the world from the Ram Temple in Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) to Dartington, a village three hours from London.
Durgay, a graduate artist of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, the cultural arm of the Ministry of External Affairs, plays the tabla with as much ease as the Brazilian drums and the Vienna Youth Choir's piano, cello, guitar along with the good old Indian shehnai, sarod, sarangi and santoor. Sitar and flute.
Although Durgay has given 3,000 concerts in 34 years, he rates his tabla performance during the 2023 Shankarlal festival in Delhi, as one of his most satisfying. Once a year, Durjay goes to 24 North Parganas where his guru, now 88, invites him to play at a festival. “It is very gratifying to see my teacher feeling so proud of me. He has tears in his eyes when he talks about me.
It's not easy to be a drum artist. “Like all musicians, I wake up at 5.30am to go to my sport, no matter what part of the world I am visiting. Sometimes, I get invited to play with 24 hours notice. There have been times when I landed at the airport after performing in a city and had to go to Another city directly from the airport.
On the days when he is in Delhi, he finds time for his wife, daughter and students. “I consider myself really lucky because I have a very understanding wife. Kakoli, as a singer, takes care of not only our daughter, our home and her students, but also the NADD (Noble Arts Documentation and Development Foundation) which she created in 2011. The foundation maintains a digital library of all the concerts that take place During the Art Music. Harmony Festival across India every year between October and March. This project is supported by the Ministry of Culture. ''
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He explains that the name Music for Harmony is inspired by the philosophy of the great Bengali poet Sukanto Bhattacharya who said that we must create a better world for future generations. “Through the Music for Harmony Festival, we are trying to give equal representation to musicians from all communities regardless of caste, creed or religion.”
