The man who gave classical music a regular stage in Salt Lake was felicitated last Saturday by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. Sujit Bhattacharyya was handed the Parvathi and K.V. Gopalakrishnan endowment at a programme held at the school auditorium for giving young talent a platform over three decades through his organisation Salt Lake Cultural Association.

“Proficiency in classical music is tough to acquire but I would give more credit to the organisers of classical music programmes, especially if young talent is showcased. It is not easy to judge what a musician would be like in 10 years. It is even tougher to carry on doing this for so long. I hope the younger generation takes up the baton from him and carries on under his mentorship,” said Bikram Sarkar, retired IAS and a two-time MLA who stays in AD Block.

The president of the association Asit Kumar Chatterjee recalled the first annual concert 30 years back. “Now we have some resources. Then he was alone. But he was fired by this passion to make this happen. People are ready to loosen their purse strings for Durga puja or Kali puja but tell them you want to organise a classical music concert and you will get neither help nor audience.”

Acclaimed tabla player Suven Chatterjee recalled being scolded on multiple occasions by “Sujitda”. “I called him Sujitda instead of kaku since he was so handsome and I was worried that he might scold me if I called him uncle,” he smiled, adding how he got a chance to play with doyens like Girija Devi and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt at the conference’s programmes down the years.

Sitarist Mita Nag, daughter of Pandit Manilal Nag, recalled how Bhattacharyya had offered her the foyer of Gyan Manch where the annual concert was being held to put up her exhibition on Bishnupur gharana when she met him seeking space.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Front Page> Salt Lake> Story / by A Staff Reporter / Friday – February 24th, 2017