BELOVED APPAJI

The percussionist remembers the late thumri queen Girija Devi

Percussionist Bickram Ghosh remembers how his Appaji, Girija Devi, would always enjoy conversations. The doyen of Indian classical music, who died on Tuesday at the age of 88, was like family for Ghosh.

The memory he’ll always cherish is the way she’d lovingly treat him like her son. Girija Devi, called “the thumri queen”, saw his father, the renowned tabla player Pandit Shankar Ghosh, as a brother — she used to tie rakhi on him. The pain of losing someone close is clear in Ghosh’s voice when he says, “Appaji used to call my baba (father) her brother and shared a strong relationship. That she’s no more would take time to sink in. Appaji was an extremely encouraging person. She’d treat everyone as an equal, and never looked down upon juniors. [That’s] why she is loved by all.”

Ghosh adds, “She was an institution in herself. Though it’s said that she belonged to the Benaras Gharana, her unique style is easily identifiable when you listen to her students.”

Eminent names from the world of Indian classical music have ventured into film music, either as singers or composers. Ghosh himself is one of them. Was Girija Devi never drawn to the idea?

Ghosh replies that work in cinema can’t be the yardstick for any artist. He says, “It’s a sad state of affairs that top artists need to cite examples of songs they’ve done in films. Music without the help of cinema is losing steam in India. When you look at the West, (opera tenor) Luciano Pavarotti and (pop legend) Michael Jackson had an identity of their own, independent of films.

“Or, if you go back to the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, during the time of (sarod maestro) Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and (sitar maestro) Pandit Ravi Shankar, indigenous music was popular. While Pandit Ravi Shankar was an international star, (actor) Dev Anand was a national star.”

Ghosh adds that he doesn’t know if Girija Devi was ever approached for films, but he, as a composer, “did make one of her students sing a track for a Bengali film”. ormer One Direction star Niall Horan’s debut solo album, Flicker, has been released. It contains 10 original tracks, including This Town and Slow Hands, and Horan’s new single, Too Much to Ask.

Flicker is the result of a year-and-a-half-long writing and recording process, reports billboard.com. “It’s something that I’ve worked really hard on and I’m incredibly proud of it. This is the first time I’ve put my thoughts and emotions on paper and then onto record and it feels really good,” Horan tweeted. The singer will soon be on his Flicker World Tour 2018, covering cities in Europe, South America, and Australasia.

According to billboard. com: “If Horan hits No. 1 on the Billboard 200, he’ll become the third member of One Direction to score a chart-topping album.” The other two are Zayn Malik and Harry Styles.