Das, Sudhin
Das, Sudhin (1930-2017) a legendary music personality of Bangladesh. He was a singer, music researcher, music teacher and organizer. His contribution to music and cultural sphere in Bangladesh is undeniable. His successful forays into almost every branch of Bengali music have made him an institution. He was a pioneer in the practice of Nazrul music with pristine melody in Bangladesh. Sudhin Das was originator of the notation of Nazrul Sangeet in early gramophone based tunes and author of the largest number of notation books. He was also the first to publish the notation book of Lalan Geeti in authentic tone.
Sudhin Das was born on 30 April 1930 at Talpukurpad in Comilla town. He was the youngest of ten children born to father Nishikant Das and mother Hemprabha Das. Sudhin Das’s elder brother Acharya Surendra Narayan Das, who grew up in a musical-cultural family, was a renowned music guru of Comilla city. Nishikant Das’ house used to be bustling with local artistes, music students and music enthusiasts. Sudhin Das received his musical education from his elder brother Surendra Narayan Das. Many children came to learn music from Surendra Narayan Das, a disciple of Ustad Alauddin Khan and late Girija Shankar Chakraborty. Young Sudhin Das used to roam around the class and secretly learn music. Seeing his interest in music and ability to pick up songs in his voice, Suren Dash gradually drew him closer to music education. Interest in musical notation and understanding notation accurately began in his teenage. Sudhin Das used to try to sing from Agraj Suren Das’s songbook, especially the different notations of the high music in his early years.
Sudhin Das’s educational career began at Ishwar Pathshala and his formal education in music at the Music Students’ Association founded by Surendra Narayan Das. During the Second World War, when he was a seventh grader, many of the city’s offices including Kachari, were relocated due to the bomb threat in Comilla town. Ishwar Pathshala was also shifted to Brahmanbaria. Sudhin Das was then admitted to Comilla Zila School. In 1946, he passed Matric from there and in 1948, he passed Intermediate from Comilla Victoria College. In 1950, he sat for examinations on two courses of BA but did not attend in the remaining courses. His institutional education ended up here.
Sudhin Das joined the Radio Pakistan in 1948 as a regular artist of modern songs. He moved to Dhaka in 1956. In 1965, he joined the Pakistan Television as a regular artist. Sudhin Das worked for the promotion of Nazrul Sangeet with authentic melody and lyrics. He was a member of the Nazrul songs experts association, the Auranikaran Parishad. He was also a trainer at Nazrul Academy and Nazrul Institute. He was the lifelong advisor of Nazrul Sangeet Sanghstha formed in 2013. Many of his disciples including today’s famous Nazrul and Rabindra Sangeet artists were trained under him.
When Sudhin Das started singing on radio and television, Nazrul Geeti was not a separate music category. Instead, Nazrul Geeti was sung as a modern Bengali song, while the name of Kazi Nazrul Islam was mentioned as composer and lyricist. Accustomed to listening to early gramophone records of Nazrul Geeti (especially those recorded before 1942 under Nazrul’s supervision, before the age at which he full sick) in a family environment at home, Sudhin Das noticed that Nazrul Geeti was being sung by various artists in their own way by changing the tune and the lyrics to a large extent. Such a perversion of Nazrul Geeti haunted him greatly. After independence, Sudhin Das started working on the notation of Nazrul Geeti through Nazrul Academy. Sudhin Das is the author of all the five volumes of Nazrul Swarlipi published by the Nazrul Academy. When the Nazrul Institute was established in 1985, the process gained further flip. Among the fifty volumes of Nazrul Sangeet Swarlipi published by Nazrul Institute so far, Sudhin Das has written the largest number of these recognition of his contribution to music, Sudhin Das was awarded with the Ekushey Padak, the second highest civilian state honor in Bangladesh, in 1988. He also received Nazrul Gold Medal, Naseeruddin Gold Medal, Zebunnessa-Mahbubullah Gold Medal, Shaheed Altaf Mahmud Medal, Churulia Nazrul Academy Medal, Merrill-First Light Award (lifetime award), CityCell-Channel i Music Award (lifetime award).
Sudhin Das passed away on 27 June 2017 in Dhaka. [Azizur Rahman]
