Tajnagari lost in the memories of Pandit Shivkumar Sharma

Agra. Famous santoor player Pt. Shivkumar Sharma has now become the king of memories. He is no more in this world but can hardly be erased from the minds of the listeners of Agra. The Music Research Institute of ITC Mughal Sheraton Hotel of Sangeet Samvardhan started the campaign of organizing ITC Sangeet Sammelan across the country in 1992 so that classical music could be patronized. In this series, this conference was organized for the first time in Agra in the month of February 1992.

In this, on 25th February, there was Santoor recital by Pt. Shivkumar Verma in which accompaniment was to be given by Ustad Zakir Hussain. Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, with his steady hands, presented a beautiful rendition of first Masitkhani and then Razakhani gats. Expanded itself by stroking the wires. Along with traditional tunes, Shivkumar Sharma also successfully presented new experiments.

Ustad Zakir Hussain, who was accompanying him on the tabla, also tied the sama with his hastlaghav. It was an absolutely amazing atmosphere. The audience was stunned to see the skillful performance of two music stars together.

While talking to journalists at Hotel Mughal Sheraton the other day, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma expressed anger over the neglect of Indian classical musicians on Doordarshan. He said that music education should be started from primary level. Doordarshan and All India Radio can promote classical music but they are not doing so.

He had alleged that there is no transparency in their selection process also. By listening to the cricket commentary on the radio, even the rickshaw puller has come to know what cricket is. But classical music is being neglected. He described the guru-shishya tradition as important in music education. He had said that music education should be added to the curriculum from class 4-5 itself.

Pandit Shivkumar Sharma was not disinterested in film music either. He had told that his association with films is old. He had given the background music in the film Jhanak-Jhanak Payal Baje.

Pandit Shivkumar Sharma also visited the Taj Mahotsav several times. Pandit ji, who gave respect to Kashmiri musical instruments not only in the country but throughout the world, gave melodious performances many times in the Taj Mahotsav. Ghazal singer Sudhir Narayan tells that Pt. Shivkumar Sharma’s personality was very cheerful. Pandit ji and Zakir Saheb used to listen to his ghazals till late night. Now only their memories remain.

-Adarsh ​​Nandan Gupta