Life changed for Joydeep Mukherjee this February. A former corporate executive, who gave up his high-flying career for music, the turning point came when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took his name on Mann Ki Baat, a monthly radio programme where Mr Modi interacts with people on issues that matters to the nation.
"I had no idea something like this would happen," says Mukherjee, about the radio programme aired on February 26.
Mukherjee is an instrumentalist and a winner of 2019 Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar, an award instituted by the Sangeet Natak Akademi to recognise emerging and talented artists in the field of music.
“I am one among the 102 Bismillah Khan awardees in this country in the last three years. I was extremely lucky that my name was among the five to six names PM chose to mention in his address. "
During the address, the PM played an audio rendition of sursingar, an ancient musical instrument, which Mukherjee plays and asked listeners to identify the instrument, before introducing him as the composer of the tune.
“At first I thought the PM must be referring to some other Joydeep as Joydeep is a common name in Bengal,” says Mukherjee, who is also into reviving rare and extinct musical instruments such as sursingar, a 250-year-old musical instrument similar to sarod and Radhika Mohan Veena (two distinct plucked instruments used in Hindustani Classical music). "
By evening, the entire media crew started pouring into his house, to get a piece of the local celebrity.
Since the PMs radio broadcast, Mukherjee has been flooded with back-to-back concerts. “Now even some of the big names in the music field, who would have taken years to acknowledge me have started inviting me for concerts,” he said. “It’s a struggle for a first-generation musician like me to get established. Modiji eased that path for me by taking my name.”
A sarod player for over 30 years, Mukherjee decided to become a full-time musician only three years ago, at the age of 37. As a top-level executive in a multinational company, shaping its fortunes, his bosses loved him. “I was the only employee (among a total of 6,000), who was given an exception to listen to music at work,” says Mukherjee, claiming that listening to Ustad Amjed Ali Khan (Indian sarod maestro), helped him boost productivity and overshoot his business targets, consistently, by 20-30 per cent every year.
“So, people thought I must be crazy when I decided to give up my lucrative corporate job to pursue music, full time,” says Mukherjee.
“It was such a difficult thing to do,” he says. “I was drawing a six-figure salary at that time. Generating a steady income from music is extremely difficult. I also had a family and kid to look after. Thankfully, my family stood by my decision.”
Even as a corporate executive, Mukherjee used to juggle between two worlds, practising sarod and performing at concerts during his free time. He was also an artist with the All-India Radio till 2018. "Once I became a full-time musician, I wanted to do something different. That’s how I started reviving sursingar and Radhika Mohan veena. Usually people are into either reviving or playing instruments, I do both."
According to him, it takes about six to eight years of rigorous riyaz (practice) to become even a semi-good performer in these instruments.
Both sursingar and Radhika Mohan veena requires entirely different styles of playing. "Radhika Mohan veena is a combination of sarod and sursingar, so it has to be played simultaneously in the style of sarod and sursingar," says Mukherjee.
"Due to this difficulty over time, artists focussed on one instrument over the other and sursingar went into oblivion," says Mukherjee.
Radhika Mohan veena is an instrument designed by the late Indian sarod player Radhika Mohan Maitra. Mukherjee also played sursingar along with other musical maestros, including Ustad Pyare Khan, Ustad Basit Khan, Ustad Jaffer Khan and Ustad Baba Allauddin Khan.
Reviving ancient and extinct musical instruments are not easy, as there are no skilled instrument makers available today. Getting the sound right is another challenge.
The cost for designing these instruments can vary from Rs 1 lakh-2 lakh, depending on quality, type of wood, hardware materials and embellishments used to decorate it.
“Luckily, my technical background in computer science engineering, helped me a lot with this. I was able to give the exact length and diameter of the strings, to my instrument maker, for optimum tonal quality,” says Mukherjee. The remaking took about two to three years of trial and error.
“Today, I am happy that I can give back something unique for my country. The Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2023) has vindicated my decision to become a full-time musician,” says Mukherjee. “True, my corporate job would have made me a rich man. But I am a happy man now.”
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