”I grew up in an environment of Classical Music . As a kid it was sheer luck to be cuddled by maestros” Coming from a six generation family of renowned classical musicians, today’s woman dreamer, Mita Nag, a leading female sitarist, is the torch-bearer of that powerful legacy, being the granddaughter of Gokul Nag and daughter of Padmashree Pandit Manilal Nag. She shares her fond memories growing up in a musical household, starting her classical music journey at the age of four, and an interesting story of her grandfather giving Pandit Ravishankar his initial sitar lessons. A truly inspiring woman, enjoy her story below.

1) Classical Music has been a big part of your life. You are the sixth generation sitar player, following your grandfather, Gokul Nag, and your father, Padmashree Pandit Manilal Nag. What was your favorite part of growing up in such a musical household? What are some fond memories or stories you would like to share?

Surely an amazing grace from above to be born into a family of musicians with a lineage of five generations behind me.

Ours is the Vishnupur school of Music, a Guru-Shishyaparampara that had its root exclusively  in the soil of Bengal. My forefathers were not musicians professionally; my grandfather who was really gifted with music, took up Sangeet ( Indian Classical Music) as his livelihood. As an able disciple of Guru Ramprasanna Bandopadhyay of Bishnupur( spelt with a labial ‘b’ in the Bengali tongue), my grandfather, SangeetAcharya Gokul Nag was the court musician of the royal family at Chanchar in Bankura District of Bengal, then undivided.A contemporary of Baba Alauddin, my grandfather later came to Uttarpara as the house tutor of the Bandopadhyay zamindars, where he taught the children of the household, both vocal and instrumental music, particularly sitar.

This was the time when he was at danseuse Udayshankar’stroupe as a musician.

Later he moved to Kolkata at Bagbazar, which was , during the 50s and 60s of the last century, the powerhouse of Kolkata’s music making.

I grew up in an environment of Classical Music . As a kid it was sheer luck to be cuddled by maestros like Pandit Kanai Dutta, Pandit Shankar Ghosh, Pandit V.G. Jog , Ustad Keramatullah Khan Saheb, doyens of the tabla domain.I had seen my father perform in the same night with legends like Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Ustad Amir Khan Sahib, Pandit A. Kanan, the Dagar Brothers Nasir Aminuddin and Faiuddin Dagar, Pandit Rajan and Sajan Mishra and Vidushi Girija Devi, Meera Banerjee, Naina Devi, Parveen Sultana in her youth, Malabika Kanan— all in their peaks.On stage my father was accompanied regularly by tabla maestros Pandit Kishan Maharaj, Pandit Shamta Prasad Pandit Kanai Dutta, Pandit Mahapurush Mishra, Ustad Keramatullah Khan. Today’s  celebrities Pandit Kumar Bose, Pandit Anindyo Chatterjee , Pandit Ananda Gopal Banerjee, were then rather young; some of them came to our residence to practice with baba.

Surely, those were golden days when I dreamt of catching a star above.

One fond memory is of accompanying  baba on the tanpura at Mahajati Sadan, the most prestigious auditorium in North Kolkata, when I was ten years old. This was  at Tansen Music Conference’s All Nighter in which Pandit Swapan Chauduery in his handsome youth blasted on the stage with Baba’s  power packed sitar. He had played Raga Bhatiyar and I was wearing a purple Baba suit, strumming confidently the 5 stringed drone with eyes wide open at 4a.m. 

Another sweet memory dates back to my girlhood around the age of six when Baba took me on an afternoon visit to OutramGhat on the Ganges . On the way back he slipped into All India Radio Station, Kolkata at Eden Gardens—when I first understood that human beings do not squeeze into the rectangular box to be heard but this is the place from which music is aired .What an astonishment to visualize for the first time, music being recorded in spools!It was there that Baba introduced me to UstadKeramatullah Khan Sahib who was also an All India Radio staff, then accompanying someone in the studio.

These astounding experiences sat in my memory, never to be deleted and helped me mature at an early age.

Many such stories crowd the mind and make me nostalgic now, in my early fifties.

2) You have been playing sitar since the age of 4 and had your debut performance at age 10. What are the personal characteristics you believe every classical musician must have?

Every Classical Musician ought to be a grim-jawed skilled labourer in his field.

The only difference between a labourer and a classical musician is that the latter deals in performing arts, fine arts where aesthetic sensibilities define the parameters of creation. There shouldn’t be any compromise with his riwaz, his meticulous practice, without which perfection is a far fetched dream. To be a Level I artist, he or she must show reverence to the artistry of co artists and colleagues as well as be respectful to all other genres of music, folk,, pop, jazz, ethnic whatever forms they may be.Being disciplined also matters.

3) What is a performance that you are particularly proud of?

I would like to mention four performances I am equally proud of: My duet with my father at Saptak Music Festival, Ahmedabad, 2005, accompanied by table legend Pandit Kishan Maharaj 

World Music Institute concert in 2006 at New York Symphony Space Theatre, which was a duet with my father.We were accompanied on the Tabla by Pandit Ananda Gopal Banerjee, veteran table player at Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata

My first solo at Dover Lane Music Conference, Kolkata, 2013 where Pandita Anuradha Pal from Mumbai accompanied me. It was the first time that a famous Kolkata event was showcasing a woman sitarist with a lady table player.

My first recital at Darbar Festival ,London in 2015.

These are milestones.

4) As a women empowerment platform, share your thoughts on women empowerment. Who is a woman in your life that you admire greatly.

In every age, in all patriarchal forms of society women have always faced tremendous challenge whenever they have tried  to assert their intellectual properties and rights, be it in the field of literature or science , politics or arts. In spite of difficulties and oppositions women have borne the hardships , have overcome the hurdles that have come in the way of their freedom of expression, and they have finally succeeded in winning their position in society.

Who had imagined that the post of the American Vice President would be won by a lady of Indian origin!!!

In my life I admire greatly the determination and fighting spirit of my mother whose sacrifice and protests in a typical prejudiced middle class family made me what I am and provided me the strength to fight against all odds.

I am the first woman in my family to take up a job and to establish myself as an artist at the same time. Of course, the challenge continues to this day.

5)  There is a fascinating story about Pandit Ravishankar having taken initial lessons in Sitar from your grandfather, Gokul Nag. Pandit Ravi Shankar wrote about this in his autobiography. Would you like to elaborate on that?  

 When my grandfather was in danseuse Udayshankar’s troupe, as a leading musician ,around 1934, Pandit Ravishankar, then a teenager came with his elder brother to Uttarpara, a Northern Suburb town of Kolkata, culturally very upbeat at that time, and was fascinated by my grandfather, Sangeetacharya Gokul Nag’s performance.

It is said that Uday Shankar had put young Ravishankar under my grandfathers training for sometime,at a monthly tution fee of Rs 10-. However, Ravishankar finally went to Maihar to learn from Baba Alauddin. He never seemed to agree with the fact that he had taken lessons initially from my grandfather although he shared a very friendly relation with him, he himself mentions, during that period of my grandfather’s association with Udayshankar’s troupe..

It still remains an unresolved issue..

6) As Dreamcatchers, what is your next big dream? 

Definitely, to make my gharana, Bishnupur, more popular and  preserve Bengal’s own music through an institutionalized Guru Shishya tradition. Already our disciples are dedicatedly training more and more learners through the portal bishnupursitarlegacy.com

Thank you Mita for sharing your amazing story with us! We are excited to have you in our empowered women’s network!

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