Annapurna Devi… Poem by Bijay Kant Dubey

Annapurna Devi, the world may appreciate and admire
And talk of him otherwise,
But tell you, tell you,
O, legendary surbahar exponent,
Why has your sitar,
Sitar fallen silent,
Tell us, tell us,
Why you took to seclusion,
Why, why did you relinquish it for,
Was it envy,
Human envy and jealousy,
O, surbahar artist?

I have heard, heard about your surbahar music,
The sitar stringing,
Vocal music breaking,
Rhythms taking over
And splashing,
O, Annapurna Devi,
Say you, say you,
Stay not silent,
Break you the silence
And say you about
Your artistry!

You tell me about the gharana music which but I do not,
The maihar gharana
And the ancient technique
Of original dhrupadi sitar baaj,
Ustad Allauddin Khan,
Ravi Shankar's guru
And his tradition of music,
The gharana
Patronized by
The kings royal
And the musical rendition.

Pt.Ravishankar's son Subho too
Was not less than,
But after a skirmish with him,
He left the sitar for sometime,
Stopped speaking to his father
And thereafter he lost his confidence,
Regained and reconsolidated himself,
But depression took over
And it took a toll on
And he passed away,
Which but Ravi Shankar too could not
In his pride of fame,
Enjoying his elevated presence
In the hall of fame.

Annapurna Devi, on seeing you, have I come to understand it
Someone sacrifices it
And someone gets it,
Which but the world, knows it not,
Which the world feels it not,
Who was it who sacrificed for,
For whom did he grow up,
Definitely someone had been
Who reared him up,
Let him grow into
Into a musical persona?

O, daughter of Ustad Alauddin Khan,
Sister of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan,
Recluse of Hindustani classical music,
Tell us, tell us,
About Subho's son and daughter,
Som Shankar and Kaveri,
Your side, your feelings
And sacrifice
Even Ravishankar too could not,
Maybe he a world-renowned sitarist,
But you far more,
Greater than,
A sitarist extraordinaire!