Obituary
January 10, 2001
Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar died on the afternoon of 29th December 2000 in Calcutta. The death occurred on Eid-ul-Fitr, a day of celebration and of rejoicing . A gentle soul, a revered Guru, a Prince of a musical dynasty serving Dhrupad for nineteen generations had passed on.
Disciples who had dedicated whole lifetimes sitting at his feet adoring him and showering caring concern on him as the embodiment of the Muse they worshipped were thunderstruck. They had been orphaned. When they regained composure they exclaimed as if in choral unison ‘Guruji has gone to heaven to embrace his elder brother and Guru, Muinuddin for it is Eid Milan’.
This reaction of his Shishyas, close associates and intimates says more about Aminuddin Dagar and the timeless milieu he created around himself than any words possibly can.
How was Aminuddin Dagar able to ignore and defy the crass and materialistic world around him bearing the hallmark of the 20th century?.
Perhaps the answer lies in Love. The love Aminuddin had for his elder brother, preceptor and Guru Nasir Moinuddin Dagar. Aminuddin’ love for Moinuddin was of the order Lakshmana, Prince of Ayodhya, had for his elder brother, the Lord Rama. Such love is the stuff of myth and legend. The flame of the intensity of such a Love burns away the dross of impurity from the human condition and what is left is Kundan or pure, 24 carat gold. This love was born in adversity and survived through great vicissitudes
The Dagar brothers were still in their teens when their father Pandit Nasiruddin Dagar Shad-shastri [ Master of six shastras] Court Musician Sage and Guru of the Holkars of Indore died of diabetes while still in his thirties.
The young boys Muinuddin and Aminuddin were not fully trained in the family heritage although the elder, Muinuddin showed great promise. This made the senior disciples insecure and intrigue made sure that the teenagers were deprived of the security which the father’s position would have afforded the orphaned family of a young widow with four sons and two daughters. Muinuddin was hounded out of Indore by a threat of death by poisoning. He fled to Jaipur where his mother’s family gave him shelter.
As soon as he settled down Moinuddin got his younger brother over and took him under his wing and as he moved from to Udaipur to learn from Ustad Ziauddin Dagar a legendary Beenkaar of his times.
In the Dagar tradition the acolyte masters the intricacies of Music vocal and instrumental as well as percussion to be able to present a meld which induces trance and ecstasy.
When the Dagars were being taught to sing without using the mouth and only through the nose their mouths were filled with the earth known as Multaani Mittee. While training on the Been the wrist was weighed down with a bangle of great weight and the fingers similarly encumbered so that when the weights were removed the touch would be feather light.
The arduous training paid off when the Dagars became court musicians to the Jodhpur court and shared the honour with Ali Akbar Khan.This was a high water mark in their young lives.
Alas! It was short lived.
Their patron, Maharaja Hanumantsinhji of Jodhpur died suddenly when the small aircraft he was flying struck the transmission wires of Jowai Dam. The quest for making a living in an India devoid of patrons started.
Dhrupad was hardly known outside princely states and zamindaris. The All India Radio was dominated by other schools such as Khayal and its exponents, fearing competition for a share of the ever decreasing cake campaigned against Dhrupad with all the wit sarcasm and spleen they could command.
The Dagar brothers could sing Khayal or any other form of music and indeed trained others in these styles. For themselves they refused to compromise and sang only Dhrupad in public. They made it known and their success won them recognition by at home and abroad. The UNESCO recording of Indian Music had a Dhrupad in it.
The family ailment, Diabetes struck Muinuddin and he died while still in his forties in 1966. Aminuddin was as one bereft and it took great effort to save him from going to pieces. Ultimately he came to the belief that his brother was alive and present whenever he, Aminuddin sang. It was not Aminuddin alone who was singing but a jugalbandi with Muinuddin accompanying him.
Once, in a private soiree Aminuddin had his audience experience thrill after thrill and sheer unadulterated ecstasy ensued. A Dhammaar was the instrument. This musical form usually recreates the bachchanalia of the spring festival, Holi complete with the celebration with colour perfume dance and music coquetry and blandishment and all that can enhance and elaborate Love. The idea is to remember honour and revere the great love of Radha for Krishna by portraying one or more aspects of it.
The poem line sung was :- ‘Saanwarey runga daar dayoa; meiyn toa baoraaee, jaaney kahaa kachhou keenoa’ and the refrain ‘Saanwarey rung daar…’ [Translation: Radha or any Gopi [milkmaid] of Braja says that the Dark hued one, the one who looks like a thundercloud and is called Krishna has thrown colour on me]
Monsoon is Spring time for India the season for a new life a time of rejuvenation and fertility. The thundercloud is potent with its charge of water which will soothe and caress the parched earth and coax it into becoming ready for fertilisation.
The song’s erotic or Shringaara quality was so well brought out that the audience could feel the presence of the lovers and share in their great passion.
As Aminuddin was a bachelor all his life and no one had ever heard of his being involved in a love affair it was baffling and everyone wondered how he could portray an emotion without experience. How could he, the uninvolved one sing so passionately of Love and its domain over its victims?
He was, finally, asked the question uppermost in the minds of the listeners.
Aminuddin replied ‘Is the love of a man and a woman the only Love? What about the love of Man for God or for his Pir (preceptor)? What about my love for my elder brother?
The great disappointment of Aminuddin’s life was that his brother’s son refused to follow the family tradition of Music despite having a good voice and a good ear. Aminuddin felt as if he had taken and not given back.
Fortunately for him recompense came in the shape of disciples who devoted their lives to cherishing him and worshipping the ground he stepped upon. They were Bengalis from Balasore [Baleshwar] in Orissa and learnt the ways of the Sufi he was in matters spiritual. They also learnt to cook from Suraiyya Begum Moinuddin Dagar and all the subtleties of the Rampur cuisine were available in the ashram they lived in at Jatin Das Road Calcutta.
Today when Ashoka Nandi sings Dhrupad and descends into the well which is the Mandra or base it is as if the spirit of Aminuddin and all the eighteen generations of the masters of Music that preceded him are holding her hand to guide her down step after unfaltering step. A Guru is one who can make Gurus of his chosen Shishyas and Nasir Aminuddin Dagar was a true Guru.