Dilip-da's harmonium

Dilip-da also helped me indirectly in my musical world. This is how it happened. My very first Bengali teacher was Manodhar. He was my eldest brother's English teacher. He lived in the same place as I did and his room was adjacent to mine. From time to time, Dilip-da would allow Manodhar to use one of his harmoniums, only for practice. It was not a loan because Dilip-da wanted to preserve his harmoniums in excellent condition.

Sometimes, when Dilip-da was displeased with Manodhar for some reason, Dilip-da would get angry and take his harmonium back. At other times, Manodhar would not allow me to play on it when he was displeased with me.

Anyway, Manodhar was the first one to teach me how to play on the harmonium — Dilip-da's harmonium! The very first song I learnt to sing and play on that harmonium I still remember. It was Tagore's famous song, "Parabasi eso…". I played on Dilip-da's harmonium from 1944 to 1946.