The busiest violinist in town

Sunil Chandra Das has made a name for himself in the music world.

Violinist Sunil Chandra Das is one of the most talented violinist of our country who plays for most of the stage programmes and media like radio, television and audiocassettes both performing solo and accompanying with the singers. He is the busiest violinist in our cultural field.

'Violin is difficult but at the same time a rich instrument.' said violinist Sunil Chandra Das. 'It needs enough patience to learn violin. It is a difficult job, since it requires enough time for the learner. Not everybody has enough time to spare nowadays. A person must have interest in violin and at least one hour time must be spared everyday to master the art.'

Sunil started to play violin when he was 13. His first guru was his father late Matilal Das who was a versatile genius. He used to play tabla and at the same time violin, flute and other instruments. Sunil said, 'I took my first music lessons from him. When I went to Calcutta during the liberation war, I learnt violin under a famous violinist of Calcutta, Ustad Poritosh Shil for six to seven months. And afterwards I started to follow great musicians and practice on my own. And finally I came to a position I now hold as a violinist in Bangladesh.'

He recalled, 'When I was very young, I used to learn tabla from my father. But, there were two Italian violins in our house. The violins belonged to my father and he thought of selling them. He told me that quality violins are not available in Dhaka. He advised me to learn violin so he would not have to sell the violins. Then I started to learn and ultimately became a professional'

He said, 'It's not everybody who can earn by playing violin. One must be an expert in playing if he or she chooses to earn their living by playing. There must be specialty, practice and one should play well to earn from playing.

'I play the violin in media's like television, radio, stage, film and take part in national and international programmes.' I am deeply satisfied by the honour that I receive from all concerned in the music world.

Sunil mentioned with grief, 'There are short training courses of playinginstrument in the Shilpakala Academy like Sarod, Setar, Tabla, Dotara and so on. These are 15 days courses for those who know the Sa Re Ga Ma or the basics of these instruments. But it is extremely unfortunate that there is no course for violin '

Among my favourite violinists I can name my Ustad Poritosh Shil, his son Shomir Shil, Alauddin Mia,classical player Indian artiste N Rajan and Durbadal Chatarjee. They were genius performers.'

Sunil Chandra Das works as a music director of the music and dance department of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. He has performed for many stage programmes abroad like Burma, Hong Kong, India, Russia, Middle East, Italy, Japan, Australia, Turkey etc.

He said with grief, ' Nowadays electrical instruments are more popular. For this, the demand of acoustic instruments is decreasing day by day. If this continues, then it is difficult to say what will happen to our traditional music.'