Living in The Presence

Organising Programmes by Visiting Artists

    A few days after this programme, the Mother informed me through Nolini-da that She had made an arrangement for looking after artists visiting the Ashram, and She was giving me the charge of taking care of these programmes. The subsequent programmes were to be more or less on the same lines as the one we had organised in the Playground. I was asked to go and talk to Pranab-da about it as the Mother had informed him in this regard. I went to see Pranab-da and as soon as I entered his office he said, "Come, come Shobhamoyi, Mother has spoken to me about you. All the arrangements had been made. The Mother also said that if She received any letter related to such programmes, She would send it to you through Nolini-da or me. If Nolini-da or I get any letter or information, we will let you know. Listen, Shobhamoyi, the Mother has given you the responsibility of this work and we will discuss it very frankly with you. If you make any mistake, I will shake you by the scruff of your neck, you understand? You will not escape." Everyone in the room burst out laughing, listening to Pranab-da's words. I folded my hands in salutation, and said, "Dada, I will try to

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    After discussing with Pranab-da, it was decided that the programmes of Visiting artists, if they were held in the Playground, would begin at 8.30 at night after the completion of the regular activities of the Playground and giving people half an hour for finishing dinner in the dining room. If the programme were to be held at the Theater it would start at 8. The Mother had selected the two venues for the programmes: the Playground or the Theater. The music programmes would be held in the Playground, dance and plays at the Theater. If any proposal for a music programme came to me, I was supposed to inform Pranab-da's office, as also for any programme that was to take place at the Theater. The date of the programme was fixed by them; I would then communicate with the artists to let them know about the date, time, place and other details about the programmes. After that, I would prepare the notice of the programme stating the date and time, to be hung on the Ashram notice-board after the Mother had signed it. In those days the number of programmes was very small. Now for these visiting artists' programmes, some arrangements had to be made in the Playground: setting up the stage, mikes and lights. Technicians of the 'Radio and recording section' of the Ashram took care of the sound and lights: Vishwanath-da, Arun, Mahi and Nirmal. The stage in the Playground was set up using wooden planks and hollow blocks, which were stored in a part of the Playground near the wash-basin in the gymnasium. I had set up a group of 10-12 boys to help me and they were the ones who assisted me for the Playground programmes. After the marching and concentration were over and the marching group members had left, we would set up the stage. The stage was set up in front of the Mother's room and the adjoining room to the east, just before the programme and disassembled either immediately after the programme or the following afternoon and the planks and the hollow blocks were put back in their designated places.

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    I organised programmes for quite a number of artists, such as Birendra Kishore Ray Choudhury, a veena-player, Tara Ghoshal, a dilruba player, Jyotsna Bhole, a well-known Hindustani vocalist, Chandralekha, the famous Bharatanatyam dancer and many others. While writing about visiting artists, I am reminded of an incident connected with the reputed singer

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    As the pages of past memories start unfolding, I can recollect a lot of incidents. But I can't write about them all. Here is an incident that I feel was most illuminating. This is a story about our 'Dada'. I had gone to Pranab-da's office for some work. From the entrance, I could hear him speaking loudly to someone in English. "I am telling you that I don't do this work. This responsibility is someone else's. You should go and talk to this person. If she comes and tells us. then we can accept the programme. I can't do anything as it is not my work." By then, I was standing just a little behind Pranab-da. The gentleman enquired, "Where can I find this person?" "She teaches in the school," Pranab-da replied.

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    Quite a few days after this, a group of artists arrived from Orissa. Some devotees from there wished to offer a recital of Odissi dance in the Ashram and requested Govind Tej, a well-known Oriya film director, to organise this. So, Tej-da wrote the script and directed the dance programme, with a group consisting of Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra as the choreographer, Bhubaneswar Mishra, the well-known violinist and director of All India Radio, Cuttack, as the music director, the renowned singer Raghunath Panigrali as lead vocalist, and the famous Odissi dancers Sanjukta Panigrahi, Nandita Mohanty, Kukumina, etc. The Mother had asked Kameshwar-da and me to look for a suitable accommodation for all of them. We found a large house which had a fairly large hall where they could rehearse whenever they wanted. This was my first meeting with an almost entirely professional group, I had to look after them during their short stay here and was also responsible for the organisation of the programme. It was a most memorable experience!

    A couple of days after their arrival, a very touching incident took place. Bhubaneswar-da was a violinist and music composer of great caliber. Very early one morning, l went to their house to check if they needed anything. There were not many guest-houses in the Ashram then. We had to take care of the guests. As I was climbing the stairs, I heard some exquisite violin music. I went and stood in the hall. Bhubaneswar-da was playing the violin. I quietly sat down in a corner of the hall without letting him know, in order to listen to him. After a while, on noticing me, he turned in my direction and said,

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"Shobha-di, it's so good you've come. Can you tell me what this raga is.? A melody has been playing in my head since this morning but I am unable to understand the raga. I have never played this raga before. It seems to be totally new." "Bhubaneswar-da, why don't you just keep playing this raga," I replied, "let me go and make arrangements for recording this." And so I came away and this new raga was recorded and the recording was sent to the Mother. After listening to it, the Mother called it 'aspiration'. Bhubaneswar-da was delighted, and so were we. Unfortunately, quite some time after this recording was done, it got accidentally erased from my spool.

    Raghunath chose to begin their programme with a sanskrit stotra to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother: jayatu sa bhagavannah purnabhago aravinda by TV. Kapali Sastri. He set it to music in a short time and when it was sung the audience was deeply moved by its soul-thrilling rendering! On their subsequent visits to the Ashram, Raghunath always began his performance with jayatu sa bhagavan nah.   

    The time I am writing about they had performed the "Bhagavad Gita" at the Ashram Theater. Kelu-babu lad directed Sanjukta Panigrahi as Krishna and Nandita Mohanty as Arjuna. It was an extraordinary piece of choreography, especially Krishna's 'Vishwarupa darshan': Sanjukta was completely transfigured! The group came to the Ashram several times after that and performed other dance compositions like Vikramorvasie, Geet Govindam, Symbol Dawn (from Savitri), etc. I have seen many other dancers and guns after Sanjukta and Kelu-babu but no one came anywhere near that quality of choreography and dancing. The sheer beauty of voice and expressive charm of Raghunath's singing added an immeasurable magic quality to these performances. The originality of composition and intensity of impact I experienced in their dance, music and lighting (also directed by Tej-da) were quite unique and I felt that I had witnessed Indian performing art at its best. That's why I feel that had we been able to record these exceptional programmes, not just our Ashram, but Orissa, India and the world would have benefitted from

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such amazing compositions preserved for posterity as a part of our national heritage.

    While organising these programmes for visiting artists, I had a couple of unusual experiences. I remember an incident which might be of special interest to readers who are connected With the Ashram. Once, a very fine sitar player came to the Ashram for a few days. In those days, the Ashram had a few guest-houses and he was staying in one of them. I organised his programme and the audience was mesmerised by his music. The Ashram listeners wanted to hear more of his music; however, it was not possible to have programmes everyday at the Ashram. So I organised sessions in different places informally. After finishing our Group activities and dinner, we would gather for these musical sittings. On some days, some of us lovers of music would assemble at the Hall of Harmony at 6 or 6:15 in the morning and listen quietly to his morning ragas. A few days later, it was time for him to leave and we all felt extremely grateful at having received so much from him. We had collected so many musical gems from him. He too was a musician of a very high order and when he found listeners eager to enjoy music, he would give most generously through his instrument. The responsibility of looking after all these musicians was on my shoulders. At the time of his departure, it fell on me to also inform them about their accommodation charges. I used to feel extremely reluctant and uncomfortable about this. One day, I met the Mother and told Her about it.

    I - Mother, we who love music so much, have received a lot from him. We have taken a lot from him. Can't we forgo their lodging charges?

    Mother - Did he say anything about this?

    I - No, Mother. This is just my feeling.

    Mother - Then, don't say anything to him. Let him give the money. I am not saying this thinking of the money, but because I believe that artists too should offer something to the Divine. This should be seen as an offering. That is why let him give. It can only be good for him.

    I felt as if a closed window within my heart had been

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    I remember another incident, a deeply moving one. Two artists had come, a singer and a dancer who were a couple. The singer's parents were from a very conservative background. They did not appreciate their daughter-in-law's dancing in public. There was a lot of disharmony in the family due to this. It reached a point where the dancer decided that the only way out of this impossible situation was to get a divorce. She was determined on not giving up either her dance or her performances in public. The singer felt deeply pained about the separation because he did not want it. I was close to both of them. Both of them talked to me about their personal problem and difference of opinion but we could not arrive at any solution to it together. One day, I requested both of them to send two separate letters to the Mother and I carried them with me, when I went to see Her. After acquainting the Mother briefly about the problem, I handed over to Her their letters. The Mother wanted to know how long they were going to stay in the Ashram. When I told the Mother about their departure date, the Mother agreed to see them. I asked Her if I could accompany them that day. The appointed day arrived and all three of us went up to the Mother's room. Both of them offered the Mother their bouquet of flowers and bowed at Her feet. As soon as they raised their heads after the pranam, the Mother with an exceedingly sweet smile held their hands in Hers and meditated for a while; then, She said, "No more fighting, there will be no separation." After this, She blessed both of them by placing Her hand on their foreheads. Later, I found out from their letters that all disharmony and conflict had ceased and they were pursuing their respective arts in a happy, harmonious way.

    While organising programmes for visiting artists, a couple of questions had cropped up in my mind, so one day finding the right moment I put them before the Mother.

    I - Douce Mère, what should be my attitude and my duty Vis-à-vis these Visiting artists?

    Mother - Your attitude must be that of a simple child of

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    I don't remember for how many years these visiting artists programmes took place in the Playground. But I remember the last programme very vividly. Sanat-da's younger sister (Chandan-di's husband Sanat Banerjee used to live in Nant-euil on the first floor) came to the Ashram for a few days. The Mother had left Her body by then. She used to play the sarod very well. One day she played the sarod in the Playground. One of the problems with classical music is that the alaap (the slow elaboration of a raga) takes time to establish its mood. It cannot be dealt within 3 or 4 minutes. Classical music takes time. That night, she was playing so beautifully that we all completely forgot about the time. Her interpretation was absolutely exceptional and when she ended her recital it was very late in the night.

    The next morning, I was summoned by Pranab-da. I understood at once that it had to do with the late conclusion of the previous evening's programme. Hardly had I got into the office that Pranab-da told me, “These visiting artists' programmes can no longer take place in the Playground. Find some other venue." I kept excusing myself and assured him that this mistake would not be repeated. But Pranab-da was adamant. So I went to see Paru, who was then the Registrar of the school. I acquainted her with the situation and she agreed to host the programmes at the school. From then on, the programmes were organised at the school.

    Looking after these programmes by visiting artists, I have learnt a lot. I have come in contact with many great musicians and dancers and got a chance to experience their deep devotion and dedication to their art. The Mother had told me that artists were sensitive to things of beauty and I

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