Remembering Pt. Kashinath Mukherjee

An Article by Sri Abhik Mukherjee.

The days Ram (Ramprapanna Bhattacharya) and I spent with Guruji (Kashi Jethu and Jethuma) were memorable.

Pt. Ji teaching Sri Abhik Mukherjee

Jethu used to give us some difficult patterns of tans to practice. Ram and I, both very young at the time, got bored with the continuous practice. It was winter time in the district of Birbhum; the air was fine with blue sky and bright sun. We wanted to find any pretext to slip out of Jethu’s house. At one point, our return -journey reservations on the train were not confirmed.  That became our excuse to get out of the house every day after 11am. We would then return during the lunch time and have the delicious dishes cooked by Jethuma. We thought we were smart, but Jethu saw through our plans. A couple of days after the same incident was repeated, Jethu, with his subtle humor, announced at the breakfast table that from now on morning time would be for listening to music and playing alaaps since the reservation guy has a knack of informing these two kids about reservations only when they practice tans.

As a footballer-
Jethu was a good footballer in his college days and played in a number of club matches. Once, returning from a match he was stopped by Radhubabu (Pandit Radhika Mohan Maitra). Radhubabu told him a that footballer’s career only lasts until age forty and that is when the musician’s life and career starts. He requested Jethu not to waste his genius in sports and instead concentrate more on music.  In this way  India got a wonderful artist.

Punctuality-
Ram and I often took Jethu to concerts because he loved to listen to all the budding musicians. He was unusually punctual for an Indian artist. Jethu was often invited as a chief guest, and it so often happened that we would be the first ones at the auditorium while the organizers were still setting up their systems. It was embarrassing for the organizer since the chief guest was on time and no one was there to receive him. But Jethu waited with immense patience without a single gesture of frustration This is a trait we try to emulate today. On India stretch time it’s mostly a given that 6pm concert wouldn’t start until 7pm.

Storytelling-
Jethu was a great narrator with remarkable storytelling capability. He had a wonderful stock of horror and travel stories; he was a widely travelled man. Many times we got to listen to those stories. No matter how many times we heard the stories, each time it was as if we were hearing it for the first time. That’s what he taught us about music too –each time you play the same raga you should develop new ways to express it.

Teaching-

Ramprapanna Bhattacharya & his father with Pt. Mukherjee

He never shouted at his students, no matter whatever the mistakes we made while playing. His was a sweet yet a dynamic personality, and we never dared to speak while he was teaching.
He was a guru open to all new forms of music and always thought about the well-being of his students.
When I shifted to Mumbai and Ram to Pune, he told us to take talim from Pandit Arvind Parikhji. First Ram went to Panditji and then he and Tusharda (Tushar Bhatia) took me to Panditji. I wonder which guru of the present day would do this for his students.

His view on Learning:-
He always taught us to learn from everyone. He said whoever is playing or singing is giving his/her best, so there should always be some good things to learn.
He taught us the necessity of pause in music. In his unique way he would say, “Music is a conversation with the audience. Do we speak fast like a rapper when we converse?  We are introducing the raga to the audience and in any introduction sentences with pauses make the most impact.”