On the eve of
Uruka,
Magh Bihu, this Saturday morning delivers us a shattering blow—more devastating
because of its suddenness and unexpectedness. The legendary Hindustani
Classical Vocalist and the senior-most artiste of the
Kirana Gharana,
Padma Vibhushan
Dr. Prabha Atre has passed away in the wee hours at his Pune residence at the
age of 92. Ragini’s Guru cum friend-philosopher-guide cum an away mother for
both of us for a span of nearly 35 years has ceased all of a sudden, leaving us
helpless and perplexed. It is very sudden and unexpected as, defying even the
nineties, she’s had always been lithe, lively, active and spirited; she’s had
been commuting between Mumbai and Pune constantly—still climbing the three
flights of stairs in her Matunga flat in Mumbai and doing her creative work and
teaching in her Gurukul residence in Pune. Madam, as we called her since 1990,
was to perform tomorrow in Mumbai at the
Sureshbabu Hirabai music conference that
she herself started in 1991 at the
Tilak Vidyalaya Premises,
Vile Parle. Only
last week she called up Ragini asking about her music and everything, and as
always asking about me ‘
Chinmay kya karta hai’ and asking us to come to Pune
to stay with her. Our grief has increased all the more because we’ve been planning
to visit her positively this time, during the last week of January, and this
has come to a naught. We also feel helpless: in a repetitive cycle we
invariably fail to be with our closest ones during times of death or distress for reasons beyond our control
which, naturally, are interpreted by others as mere excuses; this time too we’re
unable to at least go and have a last darshan of the legendary artiste in Pune,
because Ragini had a surgery in a Thane hospital in the last week of December
2023 and has been strictly instructed by the doctor to not travel for one
month. We ask Madam for forgiveness and pray for the eternal bliss of her great
soul.
Memories flood in.
Ragini’s Guru Birendra Kumar Phukan and her father Sangeet Jyoti Bibekananda
Bhattacharyya had suggested Dr. Prabha Atre as her future Guru in Mumbai. Accordingly,
one day I went to the
SNDT Women’s University at
Marine Lines, Mumbai where she
was the then Head of Music. On being directed to her practice room I peeped in
asking the few ladies present inside for Dr. Atre. Her profound simplicity and
modesty struck me the moment she came out into the passage with a warm sweet smile.
I introduced myself and told her about the purpose of my visit. She listened
very carefully and then gave me a telephone number to call her after a few
days. For about fortnight she kept us hanging which, we understood later, was
just to test Ragini’s sincerity and dedication to music learning and to pursue
a career. Finally, she called us over to that SNDT practice room and asked
Ragini to sing, also allowing me to sit on the carpeted floor of the room where
a few other disciples were also present. And Ragini qualified to be the legend’s
disciple along with some sound advice and instructions. That was sometime in
1990 and since then Ragini has been learning from her in various ways—in her
direct class lessons, from the telephone conversations and through the conferences/stage
concerts/lectures. In her classes at her
Mumbai flat as well as in all stage concerts I too was most welcome whenever I could
make it. We were also blessed to have the love and attention of her lovely parents who lived with her in Mumbai.
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In less than two
years I came to know the great artiste from very close quarters and discover the
greatest human being in her. We got bold enough to invite her to
Assam in March
1992 for stage concerts. To our ecstasy she accepted immediately and
spontaneously, without bothering about the fees she normally charged that time.
She performed at
Ravindra Bhawan in
Guwahati and also in
Nagaon. She stayed in
our Sankardev Nagar residence and in
Bauli Bahor, Nagaon, like a most intimate
member of the family. In a souvenir published for the Guwahati concert I wrote
an article on her describing her as ‘The Complete Artiste’. To my profound
delight and gratitude, she praised the article like anything, and later got it
translated into Marathi and published it in a
Marathi music journal.
Over the decades Ragini
stayed and traveled with her on various occasions; both of us lived with her for
some time in her Matunga residence; and she also came to stay with us at our
Wadala government quarters for a few days along with her associate Dr. Bharathi
MD. She occasionally involved me in hers books too and acknowledged my
contribution accordingly. Apart from being a performer par excellence she’s
also been an organizer of music conferences-workshops-competitions, musicologist-author
and an avid music teacher-Guru.
We feel sorry that
we couldn’t meet in her in person for the last few years, particularly after my
transfer from Mumbai. However, she kept up constant contact with us, with words
of advice, encouragement and persistence, both as a Guru and as a mother. Thanks
to my stint in Mumbai Doordarshan News the legendary artiste was humble enough
to request me for publicity for her various events that continued till now. In the
meantime, she started her YouTube channel broadcasts and I used to get the
publicity matter, dot on time every time. The last time she talked to me directly
on phone was in September 2022 (her Birthday on 13th September) when
the celebrations were going to for her 90th Birthday. She gave an invaluable article on various
music theories and guidance to upcoming vocalists that she wanted me to try publishing
in leading newspapers as well as in my blog. In Kolkata that time , I put
in my maximum efforts to justify her confidence in me and published the article
also in my blog. Luckily, I still have the link to that invaluable article.
We have lost one
of the closest persons on earth for us, but we feel she’ll be with us for the
rest of our lives and that her music is all set to go on, forever. A Salute to
The Complete Artiste.
(A while ago I've received the confirmatory email from Dr. Prabha Atre Foundation along with the artiste's full bios.)
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