{"id":2340712,"date":"2026-03-22T08:48:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T08:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2340712"},"modified":"2026-03-22T08:48:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T08:48:25","slug":"music-is-much-bigger-than-any-ocean-we-only-know-a-fraction-pt-ajoy-chakrabarty-events-movie-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/music-is-much-bigger-than-any-ocean-we-only-know-a-fraction-pt-ajoy-chakrabarty-events-movie-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Music is much bigger than any ocean; we only know a fraction: Pt Ajoy Chakrabarty | Events Movie News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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For nearly seven decades, Padma Bhushan awardee Pt Ajoy Chakrabarty<\/a> has lived and breathed the nuances of Indian music, or as he prefers to call it, raga music, not just as a performer but as a custodian of its traditions. In a conversation with CT on its 25th anniversary, the Patiala-Kasur gharana exponent reflects on a journey shaped by connection and discipline, rooted in his training under Jnan Prakash Ghosh, and driven by a commitment to nurture future generations.<\/p>\n

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Pt Ajoy Chakrabarty, an exponent of the Patiala-Kasur gharana sits beneath a portrait of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, who heavily influenced his gayaki<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Where the self finds meaning in the other<\/span>For Ajoy Chakrabarty, the answer lies in a single word, \u2018Tumi\u2019 (you). Drawing from Rabindranath Tagore, he reflects that just as waves exist because there is an ocean, and not vice versa, in the same way, \u201cA sense of \u2018I\u2019 exists because \u2018you\u2019 exist.\u201d Without someone to receive, understand or appreciate what an artiste creates, he believes the existence of the artiste loses meaning. It is about the essential need for another consciousness that acknowledges and completes the act of creation. \u201cIf one continues to create endlessly without any emotional or intellectual exchange, then that creation becomes hollow,\u201d says the veteran musician. This idea forms the core of his philosophy, where connection is central and art is never self-contained but always relational, rooted in a shared space between the creator and the listener.<\/p>\n

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Pt Ajoy Chakrabarty performing at Swara Sandhya\u2013Swara Sankranthi 2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The discipline of effort<\/span>For someone who has spent nearly seven decades learning music, Chakrabarty remains disarmingly aware of how little he truly knows, often reflecting, \u201cMusic is much bigger than any ocean we know, because the deeper you dig, you realise there is so much left to know. What we know is probably just a fraction and the rest is yet to be explored.\u201dHis journey is anchored in an uncompromising discipline shaped by years of rigorous practice, where, as he says, \u201cIf I miss my riyaaz (which happens rarely), I do not eat that day.\u201d The rule speaks as much about devotion as about self regulation. Equally central to his philosophy is the practice of self criticism, something he consistently imparts to his students, urging them to look inward and improve through honest evaluation. As he puts it, \u201cLearn to criticise yourself; the more you do that, the more you understand how you can better yourself.\u201dThe art of silence<\/span>Quoting Mozart, Ajoy Chakrabarty reminds us that music is not just about notes but also about the silence between them. \u201cMusic is very much dependent on the silence in between. When there is silence, it creates expectation, but if you keep speaking or creating continuously, that expectation is never formed.\u201d For him, this is where Indian music reveals its depth, in its ability to shape and measure silence, to \u201ccolour\u201d it in a way that allows emotion, meaning and anticipation to emerge as powerfully as sound itself.<\/p>\n

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Pt Ajoy Chakrabarty and a young Ustad Rashid Khan<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A personal journey shaped by struggle<\/span>Born into hardship, with his father (Ajit Chakrabarty) displaced during partition, discipline entered Chakrabarty\u2019s life early, shaping a journey where music was never a matter of choice but a necessity forged by circumstance. That same rigour extended into his approach to parenting, where emotion often took a backseat to discipline, and his daughter, Kaushiki Chakraborty, in his own words, was \u201cmore a student than a daughter\u201d in her early years. As he admits, \u201cI was struggling then, there was no space for indulgence, my interaction with her was only through music.\u201d Even so, he recognises her as a rare and gifted musician, placing her alongside talents like Rashid Khan, while also acknowledging the role of his wife (Chandana Chakrabarty) in shaping her foundation. His son, Ananjan, despite early challenges with his singing voice, found his path in sound engineering, training under Daman Sood, and today contributes to the world of music through technology, extending the family\u2019s musical legacy in his own distinct way.Music within self<\/span>Trained under Jyan Prakash Ghosh, Chakrabarty grew up with two simple lessons: knowledge must be shared and the self constantly questioned. \u201cIn music, imagination is far greater than knowledge,\u201d he says, adding that without it, Indian music cannot exist. He prefers the term raga music over classical music, describing it as a living form shaped by improvisation and inner exploration. \u201cImprovisation comes from within,\u201d he explains, drawing a parallel with Isaac Newton, noting that while apples always fell, gravity was realised only when it was observed, much like truth, which is born from within.Music as a process<\/span>At Shrutinandan, a music academy established by him in 1997, the focus is not just on teaching music but on creating a sustained process of learning. He describes the academy as \u201cnot just a school, but a process through which one can understand and learn.\u201d Drawing from stalwarts of Indian music across genres, he has worked to distil a system for future generations. His over four-decade association with ITC Sangeet Research Academy also reflects a lifelong commitment to sustaining Indian music.There is nothing called effortless; everything comes from deep effort. What may seem simple is built on years of discipline and hard work<\/span>Music is like an ocean, holding both the smallest fish and the largest whale. Looking at the world through music makes it peaceful & beautiful<\/span>The essentials<\/span>At the heart of his philosophy are four values, simple in articulation but increasingly rare in practice:<\/p>\n

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  • Respect<\/li>\n
  • Surrender<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n

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    \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

    \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source timesofindia.indiatimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    For nearly seven decades, Padma Bhushan awardee Pt Ajoy Chakrabarty has lived and breathed the nuances of Indian music, or as he prefers to call it, raga music, not just as a performer but as a custodian of its traditions. In a conversation with CT on its 25th anniversary, the Patiala-Kasur gharana exponent reflects on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2340713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[453667,453670,453669,453668,453671],"class_list":["post-2340712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-ajoy-chakrabarty","tag-music-discipline","tag-music-philosophy","tag-raga-music","tag-shrutinandan"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Music-is-much-bigger-than-any-ocean-we-only-know.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2340712"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2340714,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340712\/revisions\/2340714"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2340713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2340712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2340712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2340712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}