Pandit Shrikant Bakre Memorial Foundation
(PSBMF)
|| Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu Gurur Devo Maheshwara
Gurur Saakshaat Parah Brahma Tasmay Shree Guruve Namah ||
1991: I was getting my training of Hindustani Vocal at Shri Ram Bharatiya Kala Kendra (SRBKK) from Guruvar Pandit Amaranth Ji, Guru of all Gurus. Suddenly Guruji became sick, and stopped teaching. I felt like an orphan who had no shade on his head. After recovering, Guruji declared that he won’t be teaching at SRBKK anymore. But like a real guru, seeing the dark future of his disciples he called some of the students including me to his residence for training once a week. He had no intention of transferring the scholarship to his account from the SRBKK as I was an ICCR scholar. But the news of his personal training reached to SRBKK administrative authority. Just after two days of our first class, Guruji met me on the gate of a Bungalow at Tansen Marg, Bengali Market. There only Guruji declared that he was no more available for us in any form. I can’t explain the pain I felt. Within days, me and one friend of mine met Guruji at his residence and sought help for the future training. Guruji said SHRIKANT is there in Kolkata. He is my Guru Bhai, contact him. If he had the facility of taking ICCR students then he would be the right person for your future training. I’ve forgotten how I collected the address of Pandit Shrikant Bakre Ji, who used to live at Shashi Sur Lane, Kalighat, Kolkata. I wrote him a letter describing the whole situation. I got a reply from Bakre Guruji within 10-15 days on an Inland Letter that he had a school named Saraswati School of Music. We applied to ICCR with that Inland Letter only as proof to shift our scholarship to Pandit Shrikant Bakreji. ICCR gave us green signal and we left Delhi bag & baggage for Kolkata.
PANDIT SHRIKANT BAKRE JI
(1930-1997)
We went to meet Guruji for the first time at his Kalighat residence and I saw a tall Maharashtrian real gentleman in Pajama with an uncovered upper part of the body. He was repairing the gas oven for Maa. We both were still standing as he was doing the job sitting on the floor. He said in Bengali “Boso, boso,” ( Sit Sit ). We sat on the floor. After repairing his gas oven, he took us to his Riyaz Room. We sat on the floor; he sat on a chair facing to us. Without talking much he switched on his electronic tanpura and started singing Raga Miyan Ki Todi. We sat quietly and listened to him until he finished singing and started talking to us. He used to talk very less. He told us to sing something. I sang the Bandish “Pawan Chalat Purvaiya Sehari” learned from Guruji Pandit Amarnath Ji. He said “Achha hai”. Accha hai” was a very favourite phrase of Guruji. He used that in different aspects “accha hai” … When Pandit Shivkumar Sharma Ji asked him at Lady Shriram College (LSR) on a Spic Macay program “aur pandit ji sab kuch kaisa chal raha hai?” Guruji replied, “Accha hai”.
My friend left for his home as it was summer break. I stayed in Kolkata only to start my learning early possible. I was badly needing a room for me and my wife. I asked Guruji if someone known to him could provide us a room on rent. We were temporarily staying at a “mu-boli” didi’s house, at Birati, some 40 Kilometers away from Guruji’s residence. As I was expecting a room nearby his house I requested him to arrange so, he answered, “Main kya Property-Dealer hoon?” O ho my GURUJI... After a little while I sat on a scooter as pillion rider, Guruji was the driver of that scooter. For that particular moment, He was my Krishna and me, Arjun. He drove through the heart of Kolkata to a Mahal type house of one of his disciples. Except Ustad Amir Khan Saheb, who brought a heavy watermelon for Pandit Amarnath Ji, I don’t think any Guru of any Gharana did so for his disciple or a to-be disciple. Somehow, that mahal did not suit me, so I planned to stay at Birati only, in a rented room.
Guruji used to take his class at his residence only, but after our arrival, Guruji got the premises of Burdwan Raaj Badi at Burdwan Road Kolkata, for teaching. I did my all classes on the big verandah of that Raaj Badi as Guruji liked open place, close to the nature. The summer of Kolkata is known to everybody as "Chipchipa", Guruji used to take off his shirt while teaching which showed me a Tall Man, sitting straight like a Palm Tree while singing. He used to be always straight sitting or standing. The first Raga I learned from him is Alhaiya Bilawal and Bhairavi Bhajan 'Shyaam Sundar Madan Mohan'. The journey from Birati to Burdwan Raaj Badi took four different transports – Rikshaw, Local Train, Tram, Bus. It took almost 3 hours reaching the Training Centre. I could continue that troublesome journey only for 3 months. My friend came back to Kolkata. We both planned to escape from Kolkata to Delhi again. We both went near Guruji’s house. I stayed little far from his house and pushed him to convey our decision of leaving Kolkata to Maa Ji. After a lot of “pehle tu, pehle tu”, he went and conveyed that to Guru Maa. Actually I was feeling too much guilt.
Returning back to Delhi, I wrote a letter to Guruji explaining all and gave him my then address and contact number. After some 6 months, one day Shri Sanjay Bhardwaj came to the 2nd floor running in my classroom and told me that Pandit Shrikant Bakre Ji was on the phone on the ground floor. I was scared, excited and nervous. I said “Hello”; Guruji replied, “Helo, Akhil, Bakre bol raha hoon”. “Guruji mera toh jeevan dhanya ho gya” I replied. He said, “Nahin nahin aisa kuch nahin, main yahaan thehra hoon, aakar milo” ... From that till his death he visited Delhi for five-six times and in all those occasions I was with him. He came for different performances for DD Bharati, Spic Macay, All India Radio, Chaturlal Sammelan, Gunidas Sammelan, etc. One visit amongst them was very very special for me when he visited my rented house at Pandav Nagar. He’s my only Guru who has given ‘charandhuli’ to my house. He gave me everything. He knew that I was his Shishya for many lives which I realized after 20 years. In the book “Indore ke Masiha”, Guruvar Pandit Amarnath Ji wrote that, he was Shishya of Ustad Amir Khan Saheb for centuries, which was known to him but not to Ustad Amir Khan Saheb. In my case, the equation is opposite. Guruji Pandit Bakre Ji knew that I was his Shishya for centuries which I was unaware of.
Life was running with lots of ups and downs for 20 years. Guruji left us in 1997, it was completely unexpected as he was only 67 years old at the time of demise. I almost forgot him. My Riyaz with Tanpura was going with lots of experimentations – positive and negative. One phase came which is not very old, I could not sing playing the Tanpura on my own. I wished if someone plays for me, for my Riyaaz as I do not like Electronic Taanpura. No one has that much time in this big city. I used to play the Tanpura for 3-4 cycles only, and something started happening in my body. Later I discovered that it was the meditative state of mind. I was very happy having that feeling for which I had been trying for years. But at the same time, I was very sad for not being able to practice Ragas and Bandishes. As a result I was forgetting lot of Bandishes specially. At the time of experimentation with Tanpuras, I recorded Pa Sa Sa Sa and Ma Sa Sa Sa by my Philips cassette player. Once I remembered that Bakre Guruji also was very much uncomfortable singing with Tanpura playing on his own. Only 6 months back, I searched my old cassettes and found one Pancham-Shadaj Tanpura recording; I started practicing with that. Very soon I realized that my breath is full with Bakre Guruji’s breath. My sound resembled completely with that of Bakre Guruji… I felt the resemblance of thoughts regarding music of Guru and Shishya, that of Guruji’s and mine.
A plan of making a Group for promoting Hindustani Classical Music had been developing in my mind for years. I made a page named First Generation Musicians on Facebook, three years back. The thought was growing up to give FGM a formal shape which could do something practically.
Two dreams came in my sleep in a span of last 2 years. In one dream, four characters were there – Guruji, Guru Maa, Me and most probably Shirish Bhaiya (his son), all wearing white clothes. We were going to offer flowers to someone’s Dargah, at a graveyard, that might be of Ustad Amir Khan Saheb’s. It was a very symbolic dream for me. I became very emotional and impatient to know the present conditions of his family members. Last 6 months changed the “First Generation Musicians” into “Pandit Shrikant Bakre Memorial Foundation”.
One night I was thinking that I’m not having a single photograph of Bakre Guruji. Next day, I opened the Facebook and I got a photograph posted by Vidushi Basavi Mukerji, associate professor, Shanti Niketan – my friend’s friend now my friend as well. Only I can realize the pleasure of excitement getting one photograph of Guruji in which Prabha Atre Ji and Vidushi Basavi Mukerji were standing on right and left respectively with Guruji. I played with that picture like a child and made so many patterns of the same photograph. I attached that photograph with my parents’ picture as my cover picture on Facebook. Because by the time I got the message of Guruji being my Guruji for many lives, I dedicated my page First Generation Musicians to Guruji’s name. I searched the internet in hundreds of ways to get pictures, songs, informations of Bakre Guruji. After a long search I finally got five songs of Guruji and two more photographs.
The time when I was searching for his family’s present condition impatiently, the second dream came in my sleep where Guruji said, “Akhil, mera address badal gaya hai, likho…” Next day I called Bindu Didi (Vidushi Bindu Chawla Ji, President, PANDIT AMARNATH MEMORIAL FOUNDATION) if she was having the contact number of Guruji’s son. She had the number of Shirish bhaiya (Shri Shirish Bakre Ji, elder son of Guruji). I called Shirish bhaiya and introduced myself before asking him for the Date of Birth and Date of Demise of Guruji as I got clear signal from Guruji to do something for him. Shirish bhaiya sent me a sms giving his D.O.B and D.O.D. I started posting Guruji’s photographs, songs, and Bio-Data on different pages of Facebook to make people remember the saint musician of 20th century. I registered my Foundation PANDIT SHRIKANT BAKRE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION on 15th of March 2013 and organized our first program on Guruji’s 16th Barsi on 7th of July 2013.
I had been writing on Music on Facebook for last 4 years. My last topic was on “Naad”. The gist of the writing was that, though singing is considered as ‘Aahat Naad’ but one vocalist should think it and produce it as “Anaahat Naad”. This topic was written much before I heard Guruji’s Basant Mukhari where he sings “Anaahat Naad Pragat Bhayo” or “Anaahat Baajeri” in Patdeep. Though people say that this is the oldest philosophy discovered by our ancient saints, but believe me, I didn’t learn or hear any Bandish where the word “Anaahat” is used in my Ten years training on Hindustani Classical Music from different Gurus. So, my joy had no limits when I discovered the same, which my Guruji sang 50 years back. This is how this festival has got its name “ANAAHAT MUSIC FESTIVAL”. I had in my mind about doing something, but I did not know what that was until Guruji told me that. My whole life is dedicated for my Guruji and his foundation Pandit Shrikant Bakre Memorial Foundation.
- Akhil Kumar Das
(Disciple of Pandit Shrikant Bakre Ji & Founder of Pandit Shrikant Bakre Memorial Foundation)