The viral video where Kolkata girl Samadipta Mukherjee sings to the 40th symphony of Mozart and Lata Mangeshkar praising her efforts on social media are not the only feats of the student of music. She has made her Kolkata teachers proud of her achievement. She had attended a workshop and consequent classes by singer-composer Debajyoti Misra and takes her talim from singer Subhamita Banerjee.
“I had attended a workshop by Debajyoti Misra and he would encourage me to listen to Mozart, Bach and Beethovan. It was around World Music Day that an idea struck me. During my morning riyaz, I thought of trying Mozart’s 40th symphony through sargam. I am a student of Indian classical music and I learnt a great deal about western classical music from him. Besides, I take talim from Subhamita Banerjee. She is my guruma and the reason behind my strong classical background,” Samadipta said.
For her teachers, it’s a matter of great pride to nurture a talent like Samadipta. Subhamita said she noticed her serious approach towards learning music right from the beginning. “Samadipta is a talented girl. She is doing her Master’s in music as well as pursuing English as a subject. Besides, she is a beautiful painter. Her voice and gayaki are excellent. The best part of teaching her is that she is able to understand and adapt easily. I try to teach my students the music notes well so that they can pick up any song or tune. Samadipta has always seriously followed all instructions of my lessons,” she said.
Debajyoti Misra is happy that Samadipta could take his lessons to such a great height of recognition. He thinks the young student has not only made a mark for herself but also made him extremely proud and every music student should be proud of her. “Samadipta is extremely gifted. Her expressions and pitching are bang on. She has a keenness to learn which will take her far. After the initial workshop, she took lessons from me for some time. While teaching her I could gauge that she will be able to take the lessons forward. I used to teach them how to sing sargam to the tunes of western classical music. It easier said than done. Not everyone can pick up the ropes. She tried till she perfected the art,” he said.
Samadipta was overwhelmed as soon as the video went viral and she had been receiving a lot of appreciation from all quarters. But little did she know that soon her inbox would be buzzing with messages informing her that Lata Mangeshkar has personally shared her video while blessing her. “Till now I can’t believe it happened. I was shivering that day. I never dreamt of such a thing to happen to me,” said Samadipta, who started learning music from the age of four.
She comes from a family that has no connection with music but has shown great support to her dreams. Her father guided her all throughout even though he is not a musician himself. So, what are her plans surrounding music? “I want to do research in music and teach music. So, I have taken it up as my Master’s subject. Simultaneously, I would want to do stage performances,” she shared.
When asked since Lata Mangeshkar praised you is playback singing a dream that you see turning into reality soon, she said, “If I ever get an opportunity to work for someone of Lataji’s stature or get an invitation from someone renowned, it will be my fortune. I will definitely take up the work,” she said.
Source: Times of India
