Dhak beats may be contemporized for global branding: vocalist

Drawing parallels with the T-20 and ODI and the more classical Test Cricket, eminent vocalist Pt Ajay Chakraborty has said contemporizing 'Dhak beats' for global branding is not a sin.
"What is the harm in stretching the boundaries without tampering the purity of the 'taal' and 'loy," 'the classicist said on the sidelines of 'Rhythm Dhaker Ladai' press meet here.
"If the dhak itself wants to travel beyond Murshidabad and South 24-Parganas who are we to put curbs! If the drummers incorporate new beats in between traditional sounds who are we to raise 'gelo gelo sab gelo' (everything is lost)," the veteran singer said.

Chakraborty, who said the beat concept came off from the pulse tip-tap, said from the beats of life to the blow of wind, there is an internal rhythm at play in this universe, and each single drumming instrument resonates with that.
Recalling how he had incorporated dhak and other traditional instruments like ghatam in his 'bandish' in 1987, Pt Shubhen Chaatterjee said, "After bringing dhak to the centre stage through concerts and such an unique show, now is the time to host shows where the humble Dhaki will occupy the centrestage.
"Rhytthm Dhaker Ladai' discovery Haro will enthrall listeners with his sticks in the first ever such show in the first week of September," he sad.

In a recent international conference of neuro-surgeons in the city, a two-hour performance by previous puja contest winner Dhakis during break mesmerized the foreign delegates who broke into impromptu jigs signifying beats travel across continents, famed drummer-cum-food critic Nondon Bagchi said.

"I had been hooked to percussion after llistening to dhak beats at puja pandals in my childhood. From Mridanghm to Ghatam, from African to Asian instruments, every place sways to the same beat, beats are universally identical, with a single thread passing through. Only the contours differ," Bagchi said.
The celebrity classicists unveiled a fusion album of dhak and other instruments featuring performances of Pt Mallar Ghosh and Pt Shubhen Chatterjee with vocals by Pt Chakrborty andd daughter Kaushiki Desikan.

To revive lost art forms, drummers from 45 puja committees from city will be shortlisted from hundreds for the Rhythm Dhaker Ladai contest by Cycle Pure Agarbathi.