GONDA KE LOG-Just a few words about Meena Banerjee

Love and devotion are the key words, as far as music is concerned, for Meena Banerjee. Born in a conservative Bengali family of law practitioners settled in a small town Gonda Avadh; she was exposed to literature, art and music, as these were considered very essential for a well-groomed lady. Meena, therefore, was initiated to classical music at the age of four by Pt Ram Sumiran Misra, a direct disciple of Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar. Her quick grasp and melodious voice did not go unnoticed and she found herself before an appreciative audience pretty early in her life. She was barely eight when her Bhajan recitals won accolades. Numerous competitions and concerts followed thereafter. At fifteen she acquired the Sangeet Prabhakar (B. Mus) Degree of Prayag Sangeet Samiti, securing first division with distinction. The handicaps of being born and brought up in a backward town of eastern UP could not pose problems for Meena. An avid reader with a flair for languages and writing, she sailed through her academics in flying colours winning Merit and National Scholarships, Degree College Gold Medal for the best all rounder of the year and a first class Master's Degree. While doing her master's in Sanskrit, she continued to learn classical music from Pandit Gangadhar Rao Tailang at Kanpur. Her love for Thumri and Ghazals took her at the feet of Shri Malay Chakraborty of Mumbai and later Pandit Ram Saran Dass groomed her as a regular Bhajan singer of Radio (Akashvani), Delhi. But it was Pandit Amarnath, the maestro belonging to Indore Gharana, under whose continued guidance Meena learnt the finer nuances of classical as well as light music and flowered into a fine vocalist. As an Executive member of Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra, New Delhi, Meena also leant her voice as the lead singer of their prestigious world famous productions including Ramleela, Krishnavatar, Meerabai, Shan-e-Mughal etc., directed by stalwarts like Jyotirindra Moitra, Susheel Dasgupta and none other than Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. She accompanied famous classical dancers of Kathak, Orissi and Manipuri. Numerous Radio and TV features and documentary films by Film Division of India have her recordings as a playback singer. On tours organized by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), she has been to many countries of South East Asia, Africa and Europe giving lecture demonstrations, light classical and folk recitals. On a private tour in and around London she gave many recitals of Bhajan, Ghazal, Nazrul-geeti and folk songs. While London Broadcasting Corporation broadcast her recitals, BBC Radio interviewed her and BBC TV recorded a number of her songs for their programme titled 'Ghar-bar' and televised them over a period of time. Back home almost in all the prestigious auditoria of Delhi and a few of Mumbai, Calcutta, Lucknow, Allahabad and Dimapur Meena presented her bouquet of songs to the delight of her audience. A few discs of her Bhajans were cut by INRECO, a cassette titled 'Prem Deewani' by T Series and another of Bengali devotional songs by UD Series hit the market during 80's and 90's respectively. Attracted by the literary grandeur and inspired by its distinct style, Meena learnt Rabindra Sangeet under the able guidance of Smt Sumitra Sen. At the same time as the member of the Academic Research Department of ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Calcutta, a premier institution of Indian classical music, she taught musical terminology and language to scholars and edited ‘Parampara’, the newsletter of the academy, for five years. She is a well-known music critic and contributes relevant articles in a number of prestigious English and Hindi dailies and magazines. The guiding light of her brilliant musical career remains the same - love and devotion.