HT Correspondent
DIBRUGARH, Nov 4: Flute maestro Pandit Ronu Majumdar enthralled students and the audience with his mesmerising flute performance at MDKG College in Dibrugarh on Monday evening.
Rupak Bhattacharjee on the tabla accompanied Pandit Ronu Majumdar, enhancing the performance and captivating the audience.
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Earlier on Monday, Pandit Majumdar performed at DPS, Dibrugarh, around 10 am.
He played various ragas before the students at MDKG College. Later, he interacted with the students, clearing their doubts about Indian classical music.
The SPICMACAY Dibrugarh chapter organised the program, where Pandit Ronu Majumdar will perform at several schools and Dibrugarh University.
Pandit Ranendra Majumdar, popularly known as Pandit Ronu Majumdar, is a celebrated Indian classical flutist. He began playing the flute under the guidance of his father, Dr Bhanu Majumdar, followed by the late Pt Lakshman Prasad Jaipurwale, and finally the revered Pt Vijay Raghav Rao. He later received advanced training from his grand guru, Pt Ravi Shankar.
Majumdar’s music is rooted in the Maihar gharana, which includes eminent musicians like Pt Ravi Shankar and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Pt. Ronu Majumdar received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2014 for his contribution to Hindustani instrumental music – flute.
A trendsetter, he has played a key role in popularising the flute worldwide.
Among the numerous awards he has received are the All India Radio Award in 1981, the Aditya Vikram Birla Award in 1999, the National Kumar Gandharva Award in 2006, the Pandit Jasraj Gaurav Puraskar in 2008, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from Navbharat Times, presented by Maharashtra’s chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis.
He has collaborated with musical legends, including Gulzar Sahab, RD Burman, Vishal Bhardwaj, Baaba Maal, Asha Bhosle, and Khayyam.
Pandit Majumdar worked on Pt Ravi Shankar Ji’s album ‘Chants of India’ and is renowned both in India and internationally, with many global music releases and Hollywood successes such as ‘Primary Colors’. He has also recorded albums like ‘Passages’ with Philip Glass and collaborated with international icons like Ry Cooder, George Harrison, Michael Stipe, and Jon Hassell.
Pandit Ronu Majumdar’s musical oeuvre is diverse, spanning various regions and genres. He has mastered not only Indian classical music but also fusion and Hindi cinema music.
On the other hand, Rupak Bhattacharjee is a top-grade artist at All India Radio and Doordarshan and is recognised as one of the leading Indian classical percussionists of today.
He was introduced to the tabla at age four by his father, Arun Bhattacharjee, and began his training under Mrinal Kanti Bakshi in the Farrukhabad style. For the past 24 years, he has been under the tutelage of the living legend of tabla, Pandit Anindo Chatterjee.
“Our main aim is to promote Indian classical music, and through SPICMACAY, we are achieving this goal. It is an opportunity for the people of Dibrugarh and students to interact with the exponents of Indian classical music,” said Dr Rajee Konwar, chairperson of SPICMACAY, Dibrugarh chapter.
