পাতা:রবীন্দ্র-রচনাবলী (ষোড়শ খণ্ড) - সুলভ বিশ্বভারতী.pdf/৭১৭

গ্রন্থপরিচয় “ለOዓ S. When I was given an opportunity of hearing Ratan Devi sing some Indian Songs, I felt uneasy in my mind. I never could believe it possible for an English woman to give us any music that could be hailed as Indian. was almost certain that it was going to be something that defies all definitions, and that I was expected to sit listening to some of those contemptible tunes that a foreigner. without the power to discriminate and patience to learn, usually picks up in India. I remembered the unlucky day in my early boyhood, when I was asked by Some English ladies to sing. I happened to know a tune of a non-descript kind which had the reputation, with us, of being of Italian origin, and 1 confidently selected that one in the hope of its being readily appreciated by my audience. I produced an outburst of merriment, quite unexpected in its irrepressible suddenness, and was emphatically assured that it might he anything but Italian. Since then, if asked to sing before Europeans. 1 boldly took my chance and dealt with Indian songs of unexceptionable character. The result used to be less disastrous, but hardly more satisfactory. So I came to the conclusion that mere tunes cannot stand by themselves, and unless given with some idea of the nusical system to which they belong, lack all their lustre and meaning. In recent times the attention of Europe has been drawn to all hranches of Oriental arts. and have witnessed the sight of Europeans listening to Indian music with deep interest. But all the same, it is always difficult to know if their appreciation is not altogether fantastic, and until you hear them sing or play and thus come into the touch of their heart, you cannot realise their true feeling. It is a well-known fact that history is prone to repeat its jokes; and while I was dreading lest it should again be my turn to be the victim of its second perpetration of the one I was subjected to years ago, only with slight variations this time, Ratan Devi began by singing a few European folk-songs with the piano accompaniment. They were delightful, and I prayed in my mind that she should end the evening as she had begun, with the music familiar to her. But fortunately for me, my prayer was not granted. Ratan Devi left her piano and sat on the floor, squatting down in Indian fashion, and took up the tambura on her lap. After the first few notes my misgivings were completely dispelled. The tunes she sang were not of the cheap kind that can easily adapt itself to the uninformed taste of any hasty foreign traveller, satisfying his shallow curiosity. They were Behag, Kandra, Malkussung with all their richness of details, depth of modulations and exquisite