Radhika Mohan Maitra (1917-1981), popularly known as ‘Radhu Babu’, was one of the finest musicians of his generation and one of the greatest musical legend India has ever produced. He was not only an exceptional Sarod player but was expert in other fretless instruments like Sursingar, Tanseni or Dhrupad Rabab, Sur-Rabab and his self-created Mohanveena in 1948. He can also play fretted instruments like the Sitar, Surbahar, Rudraveena and Esraj as well. Perhaps more interestingly, he lived through a period of unprecedented change both in Indian society and music. Hindustani music, its social status, and its manner of propagation altered enormously during Radhubabu’s lifetime. These changes affected not only his career, but also how the general public and the community of musicians perceived one another. He trained around 50 disciples in his lifetime, Padma Bhusan Pt. Buddhadeb Dasgupta being the most renowned among them, followed by Samarendra Nath Sikdar, Rajanikanta Chaturvedi, Kalyan Mukherjea, Pranab Kumar Naha, Nrisingha Mukherjee, Hariballabh Das, Arun Chatterjee, Somjit Dasgupta and many others.
These extraordinary disciples might not come to the limelight as Pt. Maitra or Buddhadeb Dasgupta, but they have had a great wisdom and musical knowledge as Pt. Maitra imparted his teachings to them. This resulted in a very successful 3rd generation of musicians who received ‘taalim’ from his disciples creating a strong ‘Parampara’. Joydeep Mukherjee, a grand disciple of Pt. Maitra and a disciple of Pt. Pranab Kumar Naha (who had been a disciple of Pt. Maitra from 1959-1981), is taking this great legacy ahead not only as a very successful Sarod player but in four other instruments – Sursingar, Sur-Rabab, Tanseni Rabab and Mohanveena (invented by Pt. Maitra in 1948). This makes Pt. Mukherjee totally unique and stand out in the crowd as none of today’s musicians practice and perform five instruments in major stages across the Nation and the globe. His concerts and shows are very unique and it seems like a scene of history from the days of the Royal Darbars has come down through an invisible time machine. Such an innovation was not anticipated ever in the field of Classical Music but Pt. Mukherjee made it possible. For this innovative work the Honourable Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, has appreciated him in ‘Mann Ki Baat’, the Honourable Bengal Governor Dr. C V Ananda Bose has felicitated him at Raj Bhawan and he was invited by the Central Sangeet Natak Academi to perform in-front of the World Leaders during the G20 summit at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, on 9th September, 2023, where he mesmerized them by the instrument Mohanveena and Sursingar.
Very recently Joydeep has revived the 16th Century Seni Rabab (also called Tanseni Rabab or Dhrupad Rabab) which was invented by the legend Miyan Tansen in the Royal Court of the Emperor Akbar and a 19th Century extremely rare Rabab invented by Ustad Abdullah Khan of the Senia Shahjehanpur Gharana, made in Bengal during 1880s. It was a 16-month long project and is creating headlines throughout the National media, making Pt. Mukherjee a National Youth icon in the field of Classical Music. “After the revival of the Mohanveena instrument (1948) of my Dadaguru, and Sursingar of the 18th century, I decided it’s enough. It takes a lot of efforts to play one instrument correctly and nicely and I am already playing three: Sarod, Mohanveena & Sursingar”, says Mukherjee. “However, on 26th February 2023, when the Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji took my name in ‘Mann Ki Baat’ and appreciated my efforts in the revival of Sursingar, I changed my mind. I decided to give the best of the best of my efforts in this field of music as the PM’s words were very inspiring for a minuscule musician like me – who don’t come from a family of musicians and whose Guru is not that renowned”, he added. He continues, “I decided to walk in the route of my dadaguru (Guru’s Guru), the legendary musician and Sangeet Natak Academi awardee of 1971, the great Pt. Radhika Mohan Maitra, who could play 7-8 instruments at ease with a huge repertoire of ragas. My Guru taught me the intrinsic and advanced ‘Been-baaj’ whatever he received from Pt. Matra, taalim of some 550+ Raagas, countless compositions, different styles of Sarod, Rabab & Sursingar playing and different taals. My musical journey started under his tutelage in 1987, when I was four years old and continued till early this year until his demise. Around 2012 he sent me to Pt. Debasish Sarkar, an amazing percussionist who taught me the intricacies of rhythms, advanced concepts of taals and guided me through innovative projects.”
But things were not the same previously. Joydeep was a meritorious student and completed his Engineering with First Class Honours from Techno India under Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology and also secured a first-class 2nd in MBA from the prestigious Symbiosis in Pune in 2008. He served the corporate world as a marketing and research consultant for 11 years with six figure monthly salary before venturing full time in music in 2019. “My father was a Bank employee and mother a housewife. Though both of them practiced music, father a vocalist and mother a Guitarist, they were non professional and ended their career due to work pressures. But when I decided to quit my six figure salary job to pursue a career in music, they including my wife and in-laws had given their full support.” And the rest was history.
He doesn’t have to look backwards after receiving the prestigious Sangeet Natak Academi’s Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva award for the year 2019 in instrumental music. Today, Pt. Mukherjee and Sursingar are quite synonymous in the classical music world. Speaking about his future plans, Mukherjee said, “I need to re-establish the Tanseni Rabab and the Sur Rabab in the current age just like I am doing to establish the traditional Mohanveena and Sursingar.” He was appreciated by the seniormost classical musician of India Padma Bhusan Pt. Arvind Parikh, aged 98, a disciple of Ustad Vilayet Khan Sahab, in Mumbai earlier this year for his works and performance capability. Joydeep is the only musician in the current times who is taking the legacy of his Senia Shahjehanpur Gharana and Indian Classical Music as well in five different fretless instruments – Sarod, Mohanveena, Sursingar, Tanseni Rabab and Sur Rabab after the legendary music maestro Late Pt. Radhika Mohan Maitra.
