18 January,2022 09:11 AM IST | Mumbai | Shovana Narayan
Pandit Birju Maharaj
I would always spend time on stage, but at one point, he told me, âYou won't go on stage for [the next] two years'. Then, in 1968, he had his own performance at a huge festival in Delhi. That is where he launched me as his student to watch out for. What a launchpad I had! It was an [unforgettable] moment for me.
Pandit Birju Maharaj with Shovana Narayan in their early days
When I was learning [under his tutelage], he was still a rising star. So, there was a sense of camaraderie, apart from the guru-shishya relationship. He was a near perfectionist. He had a fabulous sense of creativity and artistry. And he was self-made. He lost his father [Acchan Maharaj] when he was barely nine years old. He learnt from his uncle [Shambhu Maharaj], but, by and large, all that he achieved and grew into was owing to his own [skills]. Unless you are like a [sponge], where you observe and take in the best that you can, you cannot become what he did.
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He wanted to take Kathak to people across the world. He was a good singer, a multi-faceted artiste. Any instrument that he picked up, he'd play well. He sang and composed beautifully. He was strict, but also [jovial] and humorous. He would listen to ghazals and thumris. But, when he would teach, he was a different person.
As told to Sonia Lulla