Talim / Classical Music Training
Dr Gopa Chakrabarti has received extensive training from some of India’s most eminent Gurus. Even though her training was interrupted several times due to transfers post marriage, she did not let that deter her and not only did she get fully trained in Kirana Gharana but also got her doctoral degree in music a few years later.
Her music talim began very early at the age of 5 with Master Moshay in Nabadwip, West Bengal who taught her the basics of classical music. Later for a brief period, Shri Makhon Chakrabarti trained her in classical music and Rabindra Sangeet. Interestingly, this helped her later when she did her doctoral thesis on the ‘Comparative Study of Classical Music and Rabindra Sangeet’. It was in her teens that Dr Chakrabarti was first introduced to Gharana sangeet. She learned Raagdaari from Shri Torit Mukherjee, who belonged to the Gwalior Gharana. However, because she was very young, Dr Chakrabarti didn’t fully absorb the knowledge of Gayaki that he imparted to her. She did, however, get a detailed understanding of Raagdaari – rules, principles and structures that make up each Raag-Raagini, and how these are to be sung.
It was when she moved to Junagadh, Gujarat and met Pt Arun Sevak, that she was first introduced to Kirana Gharana. It wasn’t conscious effort on her part to do so. She says, “I didn’t seek out Kirana Gharana, it found me. Since I was in Gujarat and wanted to desperately learn music, I took whatever I got. But it was my good fortune that I found the sweetness of Kirana Gharana.” In Ahmedabad, she took further training from Dr Pradipta Ganguly, who also belonged to Kirana Gharana. It was he who taught her Gayaki Ang of classical music – the exploration and elucidation of certain phrases that identify and give movement to a Raag. Until the Visharad level (BA level of music), Dr Chakrabarti says, she learned music only in an academic way. But Dr Ganguly was the one who taught how to sing in the true sense. And it was then that her music started getting the Kirana Gharana feel.
Even though Dr Chakrabarti belongs to the Kirana Gharana, she is not limited to it and feels inspired by all gharanas. She says, “There are elements that make each gharana special, and I use those in my music – it could be laykari, taan etc. I am eclectic like that. Earlier music was not so widely and easily available for listening as it is today. You had access to only your gharana of music and that’s why people became bound to one tradition. But now music is easily accessible and people listen to a wide variety of gharanas and take inspiration from it. This is the true beauty of exploring music.”