Bewitching with the bansuri

Majumdar is all set to enthral Chennai with a performance accompanied by Umayalpuram Sivaraman, Anindo Chatterjee and Rajhesh Vaidhya. “I have many nostalgic memories of performing in the city over the years,” he says. It is not just his musical abilities that define Majumdar. He even designs and uses his own bansuri — ask him why and he says, “The typical bansuris have some limitations, especially when reaching the lower octave. So in 1998, I got one designed specially for me, with my guru Pandit Ravi Shankar’s help.”

While Majumdar respects all musical instruments, the bansuri holds a special place in his heart for obvious reasons. “Every instrument has its own beauty of sound and depth. As far as the bansuri is concerned, it’s surely the most pastoral and ancient instrument in the world and it is God’s own gift to me.” Majumdar’s moments in the film industry are quite fascinating. “My journey in the film industry started in 1981 under the tutelage of RD Burman. Once, I was doing a live show with Asha Bhonsle, which was being watched in the monitor room by Pancham da. Ashaji praising me in the presence of Pancham da, is something I cherish to this day.”

While Majumdar has worked with both Indian and international artistes, collaborations with the former stand out more prominently. “When I work with Indian artistes, I lead the way. When working with foreigners, I need to keep myself abreast of western Classical music, jazz and such.” “I feel loved by the applause of my audience and that cannot be compared with any awards I have received so far. Every moment of my life is blessed with the musical divinity and thoughts. I always feel that I am learning the bansuri as a beginner and one lifetime is not enough to even understand how much music is left in this world. A true student of music will always keep going till the last breath of his life,” says Majumdar on a concluding note.