Karuna Sankar Thakuria

How would you encompass within the word count that constrains a cover story the life of an artist enriched by a lifetime of experiences? He has rubbed shoulders with the likes of Shankar-Jaikishen, Sachin Dev Barman and Lata Mangeshkar. A favourite disciple of the legendary Pandit Vinayak Rao Patwardhan and Prof. B.R.Deodhar, he could touch heights where few from these parts could fathom to reach especially in the fifties and sixties. And yet who—fulfilling a pledge left all allures of Bombay-the city of dreams to take up cudgels for the popularization and dissemination of Hindustani classical music in these remote regions. How much do we know of the first Sangeet Alankar (M.Mus) from Assam? The first Assamese instrumentalist to be approved in All India Radio through an all-India interview. An artist to his core, and an individual whose expanse of knowledge of music overwhelmes; yet whose humility leaves one humbled. A silent worker at the foothills of Kharghuli hill—he is Pandit Karuna Shankar Thakuria

                         … How do we begin?

Karuna Shankar Thakuria was born on September 21, 1936 at Kharghuli in Guwahati to Hareswar Thakuria and Champa Thakuria. His father was music director in jatrapartis in the days of yore. Since his childhood, he was initiated to the world of music. As Pandit Thakuria recounts nostalgically, Guwahati in those days was just a big developing village. Kharghuli itself was sparsely populated. There was a road only upto the point that led to the Governor’s residence. Beyond this, it was just a dusty narrow lane—where occasionally a bullock cart, horse cart or at the most a bicycle would trudge by. People mostly preferred to walk. It was a life in proximity to Nature and probably this helped nourish the seeds of artistry in him.

In 1952, the first session of the All Assam Music Conference was held in Guwahati. It was presided over by Pandit Vinayak Rao Patwardhan. Other stalwarts who attended this conference were Narayan Rao Vyas, D.V.Paluskar(vocal), Damayanti Joshi(Kathak), Gopal Mitra(Sarangi) among others. In that Conference, Dr. Bhupen Hazarika’s wife Priyam Hazarika too was to put up a Bharat Natyam performance. But a minor glitch arose when there was a piece of Malkosh raga needed to be played on flute during the performance and there was no flutist at hand.. Someone told Dr.Hazarika of Karuna Shankar Thakuria and the latter was called for. Flute in hand,when young Karuna arrived, Dr. Hazarika asked him to play the Malkosh raga. To which Karuna replied that he didn’t know how to play the said raga. (For though he had had a guru even then, his training in classical music was anything but formalized. Whatever he knew, he had picked up literally on his own) At which Dr.Hazarika took out the harmonium and gave him an idea of the raga by singing it himself. Karuna listened intently and soon picked up the notes and finally played the piece to perfection. Dr. Hazarika was highly impressed by this young man’s talent. He advised Karuna to take music seriously and introduced him to Pandit Patwardhan. Praising him highly before the doyen, Dr. Hazarika urged Pandit Patwardhan to take Karuna Shankar under his wings and guide him in the world of music. Accordingly Karuna was summoned to the house of Tilak Das where Pandit Patwardhan had put up and put to test by the great doyen himself. When Pandit Patwardhan was satisfied with this young man’s potential, he offered to take Karuna as his disciple and told him—“I will keep you at my place like my own son and impart you all knowledge that I have garnered all life. since I am a vocalist I will train you in singing. But only on the condition that afterwards you have to come back to Assam and work for dissemination of the light of classical music in these parts.”This way young Karuna Shankar Thakuria stepped out of home and took the first steps in that road that was to lead him far in life.

“But”, your’s truly interposed, “ didn’t your family object?”

“O yes—they did. At that time, I had just completed by Matriculation and was doing a course in typing. My Parents were worried at the prospect of their only son going away to far off lands—of which they had only heard but never seen—and of which there were such misconceptions. Still—I managed to convince them somehow to let me go—and in fifty-six rupees (which was a princely sum in those days) and after changing trains at Calcutta, I finally arrived in Pune. That one journey changed my life altogether.”

Once there, Pandit Vinayak Rao Patwardhan left no stone unturned to train Karuna in the subtleties and nuances of classical music. For six years Karuna Shankar stayed at Panditji’s place. Besides vocal, Karuna Shankar also trained in tabla under Pandit Samant in Pune. During this stay, in 1958 Karuna also completed his graduation from the prestigious Fergusson College, Pune..

Speaking of those days, Pandit Thakuria stresses the strict disciplinarian and spiritually enriched lifestyle at his guru’s place. He adds how for the first time, he became conscious of the flaws in his pronunciation/diction. To rectify which His guru sent him to the famous Deccan College in Pune for proper training in Phonetics. Pandit Thakuria says in this regard says-- “pronunciation is of utmost importance while vocal classical training . Since the compositions of the ragas are in languages like hindi and urdu, mistake in pronunciation /diction alters the meaning of the bandish(composition).

During his six-year stint at Pune, Pandit Thakuria was also trained in proper tuning of musical instruments under the great scholar and researcher Prof. Balasaheb Achrakar at Musical Mart—which was run by his son.. In this context, Pandit Thakuria says—

“I was very interested in knowing about the origins of the saptak or the seven notes that collectively make up the Indian musical scale. As you should know, the seven notes or swars are derived from different birds and beasts of nature—say the ‘sa’ or the first note is derived from the peacock,the third note‘ga’ from goat, the ‘pa’ or the fifth note from cuckoo bird and so on.

Of course the entire process is not so simple and these derivations are made after prolonged research. ..Anyway, I went to Prof. Achrakar every Sunday and he gave me a lot of insights into the scientific aspects of classical music. Let me add that Prof. Achrakar himself was a reputed professor of Physics.”

Time flew—six years later, in1959, Karuna Shankar packed his bags and journeyed to Bombay—where he trained for another four years under Prof. Balakrishna Raghunath Deodhar. “under Patwardhanji I had learnt only about the Gwalior gharana of Hindustani classical Music. But to have a proper understanding of Indian classical Music, one needs to be initiated into the different gharanas and learn the variations as well as the highlights in the musical forms of the different gharanas . At Prof. Deodharji’s advise I went to the gurus of different gharanas—like Vilayat Hussain of Agra gharana, Kesarbai Kerkar of Aladiya gharana, and Heerabai Barodekar of Kirana gharanas . I was also sent to stalwarts like Bade Ghulam Ali and Bhimsen Joshi to listen to their renditions and pick up knowledge regarding this vast domain of classical music. Besides I was also fortunate to be one of the first four disciples of Deodharji to get scientific training in Voice culture –something that Deodharji had traveled to USA to learn himself.”

Apart from this, during his stay in Bombay, Pandit Thakuria also trained in violin under Pandit Vighreneswar Buwang Shastri and Bharat Natyam under Ratikant Arya.

It is worth mentioning that Pandit Thakuria had also performed in music conferences and prograames alongside his gurus at different places like Kanpur, delhi,Goa besides different parts of Maharashtra.

But—his interests lay elsewhere too. Within reach was the Bombay film industry (the term Bollywood was not born till then). He thought—“since I am in Bombay let me take a chance at the film industry. After all it will be a great experience and I can also earn some extra money.”

With such thoughts, he approached Lata Mangeshkar.In hand, he had a letter from Prof.Achrakar with whom the Mangeshkars were particularly close. Accordingly, one morning he got an appointment with Lata Mangeshkar. “I spoke Marathi—which was so correct that At the first instant Lata bai mistook me for a Marathi . She was really surprised when I told her that I was from Assam.” When she was convinced of his talent and potential, Lata bai put him in touch with M.R.Achrakar, the art director of the R.K.Films. This in turn led to his association with S.D.Barman and Shankar Jaikishan. “I was even invited to both sing and put up a flute recital at the Diwali celebrations of the Mangeshkars.All the time that I was in Bombay, I enjoyed very cordial relation with the Mangeshkar sisters—especially Lata bai and Usha bai.”

Continuing he says--

“I can still remember that day—21st August I was told to go to the Ranjit Studio to meet S.D.Barman. But the chowkidar at the gate didn’t even let me enter. So I had to wait outside the gate for the music directors’ arrival—my box of flutes in hand. After some time, Sachin da arrived. When I told him of the objective of my visit—I was asked to play a piece on my flute. So I opened the box—took out a flute and at the gates itself, played a small piece. Sachin da was satisfied. And I was led in. After this of course I was a regular in their studios. I worked in the music department. And it was amazing how they could create such beautiful modern compositions out of classical pieces.”

This was in 1960-61-62. Technology then was a far cry from these days’. The recording instruments were much simpler. the recording process too was a prolonged one compared to today—where a singer records several songs in a single day. Pandit Thakuria agrees. “At that time, there was this recorder called pherograph. It was a simple instrument. And interestingly, it had to be run every day for if otherwise it became bad. So eavery day we used to record our different classical compositions on which the music directors worked and created beautiful songs .” On being asked about some of the films he’d worked in, he says, with some effort—“It Is hard to recollect—there were so many films. And it is so long off.”Crorepati”, “Love Marriage” I worked in ‘Kaagaz ke Phool’..then ‘Shararat’..I give up” he sums up with a shrug and a smile that make you realize the simplicity of this person.

But –when he first went with Pandit Vinayak Rao Patwardhan to Pune it was with the promise that he will one day return to Assam and work for popularisation of classical music. Fulfilling that pledge Karuna Shankar Thakuria returned to Assam after a decade old stint in far off Mumbai. “But”, he says, “everybody told me to stay back. They said-‘Karuna you are doing so well here. Stay here—you will soon make it big’. But I had given my word to my word. Even Patwardhanji’s sister told me to return and fulfill my promise. Besides there were family reasons too. I had to marry off my sisters. Once I came back, I couldn’t return.”

This was towards the fag end of1963. Upon returning, he opened the Guwahati chapter of the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. Since then the fountain of knowledge from Pandit Thakuria has been flowing incessantly replenishing thirst for knowledge of scores of students—that include established singers like Mahananda Majinder Barua , Nalini Choudhury, Sangeeta Borthakur, Sangita Kakati, Mousumi Chaharia among others.He took the prerogative in setting up music schools and exam centres in Guwahati, Tihu, Chaygaon, Barpeta, Sarthebari, Lakhimpur, Nagaon, Jorhat, Golaghat, Dibrugarh, Duliajan, Tinsukia among other places. In 1967 he was also appointed as an examiner of Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. Since then he has toured different parts of Assam, Bengal among other places as an examiner. He set up the first Master of Music examination centre in Assam in Guwahati. He is also a active member of Governing Council of Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya besides member of audition committee of All India Radio.

Pandit Thakuria was also the first musician to have been approved by All India Radio. Interestingly in that audition his guru(this was while he was still in Guwahai--before he came under Pandit Patwardhan’s tutelage)had failed in the audition. But he declines to inform us further in that direction.

The awards and recognitions that he has received include-Gemini Academy award, the Shatabdi ratna Award (in 2000), the Sangeet Jyoti award (in 2003) besides Sangeet Ratnam from Madhya Pradesh , Shilpi pension from Govt of Assam.

Asked about his favourite raga—he says that all ragas are beautiful –each has its own beauty. Of course he adds that choice of raga is often a reflection of ones vyaktitwa(personality). he is however specific regarding His favourite hour of the day. In his own words—it is “brahma muhurta”—that moment when night is already leaving and day is yet to dawn.
“Its beautiful” emphasizes Pandit Thakuria.. “its surreal”.

Regarding the state of affairs in classical music scenario in the present times, his opinion to put it simply is-- dismal. He admits today there are innumerable music teachers in Assam. But sadly most of them are lacking in sound knowledge of classical music. Most of them by opening music schools at all nook and corners are simply indulging in business. He adds, “classical music is not to be learnt from textbooks. It has to be properly demonstrated by the teacher. For example, the ‘ga’ (the third note) is komal in the ragas Miya Malhar, Darbari Kanada and Bhimpalasi. Yet in no two ragas do the ‘ga’ swar sound the same. This cannot be learnt from any book. There is a definite singing process for each swar in each raga. And that knowledge can be disseminated only when the teacher demonstrates it. In most cases, teachers themselves are unaware of these nuances. They will simply teach the bandish and a few tanas and some aalap and the raga is done with. Because of this, the students too are ignorant—and sadly, often conceited. The teachers themselves are neither keen to discuss all this nor do they show any desire for earning. Once they attain their certificates, they think that they know everything.”

Words of wisdom-undoubtedly—yet it remains to see how much of the desired effect they have on those for whom they are meant. As for the rest of us there were many more pearls of wisdom pertaining this silent worker that yours truly would have loved to string—yet could not do so owing to the constraints alluded to right at the beginning of this write up. This is all for the moment. Hopefully yours truly will come up with a fuller account of this true artist in times to come. Till then-- its adieus…

[published in melange,the sunday supplement of The Sentinel in 2008]