A genius who died young ( 1918-1971)
The world of Hindustani classical music suffered a tragic loss when Chidanand Nagarkar passed away suddenly in Mumbai on 26 May 1971, at the age of 51. His versatility in many fields—cricket, dance, astrology, spirituality and occult sciences, besides his originality and virtuosity as a vocalist, scholar, composer and innovator, put him in a class by himself. He was equally adept as a percussionist and harmoniumist, too.
Nagarkar inherited his legacy of artistic talent from his father, who had a flair for devotional music and stage acting. The home of the Nagarkars was, in fact, a rendezvous place for musical celebrities of the eminence of Ustad Faiyaz Khan. It is natural that such an environment nurtured the sensibilities of young Chidanand right from infancy.
Chidanand was placed under the tutelage of Govind Vithal Bhave, a local vocalist who gave him some sound grounding in the basics of Hindustani music. For advanced studies, he was sent to Lucknow to pursue under the guidance and direction of Acharya S.N. Ratanjankar at the Bhatkande Sangeet Vidyapeeth.
Acharya Ratanjankar was the head of the institution and had already made his mark as one of the most eminent gurus of the time in the field. He discovered in his pupil all the makings of a future celebrity, and gave him the full benefit of his scientific method of instruction in all the genres of Hindustani music, ranging from dhrupad, dhamar and khayal to tappa and thumri. In the course of time, Chidanand achieved eminence in the field, so much so that at the age of 26, he was appointed as the first Principal of the newly started Bharatiya Sangeet Nartan Shiksha Peeth under the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, in Mumbai.
With the initiative and drive so typical of him, Nagarkar soon addressed himself to the task of extending the scope of the activities of the institution in various ways. At the college, he set up a music circle Sangeet Vrind, and enlisted spontaneous cooperation of a glorious line-up of musical luminaries like Kesarbai Kerkar, Ali Akbar Khan and several others, to perform.
He also organised marathon sangeet sammelans annually, in observance of the death anniversary of Pt. Vishnu Narayan Bhatkande, who was his guru’s guru. A distinct feature of this event was the representation given to the young emerging talent, side by side with veterans, which was a trend setter. The annual soirees are still being held with resounding success at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. Nagarkar was rightly acclaimed as a musical genius with a fine sense for the spectacular. His was a massive mode of expression, often reminiscent of Faiyaz Khan, but there was no undiscerning imitation in his approach. Nagarkar`s depictions had an uncanny blend of classical restraint and emotional freedom of the kind that showed his reverence of tradition, and catholicity of outlook in keeping with the changing times.
A bold experimenter and composer, Nagarkar innovated a string of melodies Kaishiki- Ranjini, Ambikar-Sarang and Yoga-Shri to name only a few. He sang them in self-composed bandishes. Most of these ragas and bandishes have achieved pride of place in the vast repository of Hindustani ragas.
Equally deep was Nagarkar’s involvement in other fields. He had taken lessons in kathak dance from the great Shambhu Maharaj. He was a self taught harmoniumist and played the table with practiced ease. He had studied astrology and could quote chapter and verse from Sanskrit treatises on the subject, in support of his predictions. Nagarkar was as temperamental and moody as he was kind and affectionate. There were occasions for sharp exchanges and humorous encounters as well. But in the final analysis, he was a man with childlike simplicity, who bore neither grudge nor malice, towards friends like me.