It was one fine evening at my friend's house in Ottawa. As usual, we were talking about music. "Hold on," my friend said. He walked to his music system and put on an LP record. What I heard, I'll never forget in my life. I kept listening.
Voices like these only come from heaven, I thought to myself. The beautiful flawless voice was that of Kankana Banerjee, as he told me afterwards. The evening ended. But I did not come home 'empty handed'. On every opportunity, I made sure that I fill my soul with
this voice. It is sweet. It is enchanting. It is provocative. It is sensuous. It is emotional. It is philosophical. It is miraculous. It is heavenly. And yet it is so earthly. And yet it is so much within our reach.
Few years later, I heard that Kankana Banerjee was performing with Pandat Pratap Narain in Toronto. Him I had also heard in the past. I went to hear them both. A remarkable unforgettable evening this was too.
On Friday, the 30th July 1999, Kankana Ji performed in Toronto again. What can I say? One had to be there to appreciate what she did that evening. Her smooth voice, her mannerism, her appreciation for her accompanying musicians, her smiling face, her extreme desire to please her audience is so well apparent.
But who is Kankana Banerjee? A loaded question. Her art and her personality are equally beautiful. This combination puts her in the most enviable position when it comes to singing art. One comes home with a clear conclusion that there is nobody her equal and like her in the heaven sent art of music and singing.
At the age of seven, Kankana Ji entered the pupilship of the late great Ustad Amir Khan of Indore Gharana. At the age of fourteen she appeared in her first public performance. She has never looked back. After the sudden, and untimely death of Ustad Amir Khan, Kankana kept her musical training under Pandat Pratap Narain
of Mewati Gharana. This is again, a beautiful combination. Now what she does with this blend of two musical schools of thought is even more remarkable.
In my opinion one is an artist only when one creates art from one's own mind. It is obvious that Kankana does it so fluently, naturally, flawlessly, effortlessly, sweetly, and beautifully.
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