Dr Balamuralikrishna

Dr. M Balamuralikrishna captivating the Dhaka crowd on his very first visit, at the National Museum. Photo: Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain

'So what is your future goal?" asks this humble me, also clad in a yellow sari with matching yellow flowers in an ardent desire to catch his attention within the short span of time.

However, time was not the factor, as our equation came through instantly, I could see the greatness in this person from whom Pandit Ajay Charabarty was still training. He answered with a murmur 'I want all the styles of music to merge into one. I am a great believer of the oneness of music be it North Indian or South Indian.' He looked at me (caressed the yellow flowers), he looked at my friend Sadya Afreen Mallick.'See both of you are wearing saris. It is not a different dress, only you are wearing in two different styles'. His analogy being over, he expressed his efforts to achieve fruition by recording duos with Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia and Pandit Bhim Sen Joshi and of course Ustad Zakir Hussain. He thinks that South Indian music has remained neglected and needs to join the North in order to be promoted.

In his evening performance, he sang out the South Indian version of the raga Hangsdhani complete with mridangam and violin. An instrumentalist himself, he engaged himself in a duo with the violinist as he sang out his own composition Lavangi, a rare raga with only four notes. As the audience wondered how he was going to make combinations of such scanty notes (morning raga Sa, Re Ma, Dha), he showed his dexterity with the three octaves thereby fulfilling the time with adventurous combinations which can only be possible by this maestro.

Dr. Balamuralikrishna had one message for the future artistes. He thought that currently all artists are eager in their pursuit of earning. This was not so during their times. He believes that if one can earnestly pursue art, then Lakshmi itself will pursue him. He teaches in guru shishya parampara and he has never accepted payment for that, nor will he accept in future. He looked at me and said 'Ask your Guruji next time you see him (meaning Pandit Jasraj), does he take money for teaching? Never'.

Balamuralikrishnaji emits a lot of beauty through his personality. As he sang two Tagore songs during his maiden performance in the National Museum premises on July 11, one could see that he had deep understanding of the poetry and the appreciation for literature. Although he ended the programme with his famous pieces from geet govinda, the audience went home mesmerized, the tune that stayed on with the beauty of lovely meers was Aguner porsoshmoni choyao prane, e jeebon purno koro He filled the cups to the brim, this prolific maestro with his smile, his artistry and his multifaceted talents.

Dr. Nashid Kamal Waiz is a renowned vocal artiste and a Professor of Population Environment, IUB, Dhaka.