The famed violinist of the 70’s musical world of Assam, Minoti Khaund is undoubtedly still a popular violinist today. With her disarming smile and charming manner, the bespectacled Minoti Khaund exudes a comfortable air. Music, she says, takes her close to divinity and accords her peace and tranquility. It is an invigorating experience that exalts her spirits.
Born in a well-to-do Phukan paribar of Jorhat, her father was Manik Chandra Phukan and mother was Nalini Debi. She was raised in a culturally rich atmosphere. Her maternal grandfather, Bisheswar Sharma, was a well-known tea planter and cultural gharana of Jorhat. Being a connoisseur of the fine arts himself, he encouraged Minoti and bought her a violin. So, she started to play at a tender age of 10.
Minoti had her early training in violin from Shri Indreswar Sarma of Jorhat, in the music school of late Darpanath Sarma. She performed in several concerts and festivals. The turning point in her life came when she was performing at the All Assam Music Conference in 1972 and the violin maestro Pandit V.G. Jog heard her on stage and offered to impart his art to Minoti. Her husband Kabindra Ram Khaund and the father-in-law, Deputy Commissioner Rabindra Ram Khaund, were from a traditional family of Assam. However, they supported her and she started her apprenticeship under Pandit Jog. Thereafter started the traditional gururshisya parampara between Minoti and Padmavibhusahan Pandit Jog.
The Rising Talent Conference at Kalamandir, Calcutta in 1978, introduced Minoti as a talented artiste. There has been no looking back since then. The Amir Khan Music Conference at Rabindra Sadan-Calcutta, Benaras, Burdwan, Cuttack, Bhubaneshwar, Tatanagar, Rabindra Natya Mandir-Mumbai, India International Center-Delhi, Mehta Memorial Hall-Allahabad, IIT Festivals, Shankardev Kalakshetra-Guwahati, National Gallery of Modern Art-Mumbai, India Habitat Centre-Delhi, Women’s International Forum-Goa, and Madhusudhan Manch-Kolkatta were the platforms that Minoti performed in and enthralled the audience and press alike.
Soon Minoti became the foremost violinist of Assam. She was conferred the title of Sangeet Jyoti. Minoti started her parallel studies in the field of music and attained Sangeet Nipune from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad, in 1986, bagging a gold medal for her Sangeet Visharad. During this period she was also associated with vocalist Pandit A.T. Kanan of the Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata, and imbibed the “gayaki ang” in her style. She also underwent music studies in the field of raga improvisations and rhythmic patterns of “tala” from sarod maestro and musicologist Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta.
Sunita Bhuyan is a violinist of the Hindustani style and has carved a niche for herself as an upcoming musician of India. Recipient of the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award for Music, she was initiated into music at a tender age by her mother Minoti Khaund. The mother-daughter duo of Minoti and Sunita have performed duets all over the country and abroad, regaling the audience and the press alike with their “jugalbandi”. What makes them great is the selection of their tune, their style of presentation and their attempt to give a semi-classical touch that has a blend of folk and Western classical. Sunita has obtained a master’s degree in Hindustani Music from Prayag Sangeet Samitee, with distinction and has also studied advanced music under the apprenticeship of violin maestro Padmabibhushan Late Pandit V.G. Jog, the award winning violin master whose musical career spanned 50 years. She has been awarded the prestigious Silpi Bata this year by the Government of Assam. Minoti Khaund and her daughter Sunita Bhuyan are on an exclusive UK tour at the prestigious Nehru Centre (the Cultural wing of Indian High Commission) on 26th June and other British cities—Manchester Kalapremi Mandal, Birmingham and Nottingham organized by Rini Kakati, NRI Co-ordinator for the UK. A Glasgow concert is being organized by Mrs. Anima Sharma, an active member of Lancashire Hindu Association.
Picture: Minoti Khand and Sunita Bhuyan
By Rini Kakati, UK
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