Death could only part him from his love for rhythm and that was what happened to tabla maestro Pundit Bijan Chowdhury on Friday night. The auditorium of Theatre Institute, Chittagong (TIC) that evening was full to the brim with music connoisseurs drawn to the performance of eminent flute player Ustad Azizul Islam and Bijan Chowdhury when suddenly the veteran tabla player collapsed on the stage. Th
e 75-year-old pundit was whisked off to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead, said Ahmed Ikbal Haider, director of TIC. “His [Pundit Bijan] wish came true,” said Dolan Kanungo, a famed guitar player. “Last Saturday [September 13] I had an opportunity to do rehearsal with him at my residence...that day he told me he wished to leave the world while playing his tabla.” Pundit Bijan was a true tabla artiste, who dedicated his life to classical music, said Poet Arun Dasgupta. Born on November 4, 1939 in Brahmanbaria, Bijan took tabla lessons from Pundit Shib Shankar Mitra and Ustad Ershad Ali Khan. He lived with his wife and two sons at Hemsen Lane in the port city. He accompanied numerous famous artistes of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan at home and abroad. Most of the famous tabla players of Chittagong are his students. Advertisement The body of Pundit Bijan was taken to Chittagong Central Shahid Minar yesterday at 11:00am when different socio-cultural organisations and teachers and students of music schools paid their last respect by laying floral wreaths there. “It is still unbelievable to me that this is how he left us all,” said Ustad Azizul Islam. “He [Pundit Bijan] has been accompanying me for 40 years with his tabla. From now, his face will appear before me whenever I will perform before an audience.” He was the finest classical tabla player the country had, Ustad Azizul said.
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