The legendary musician KC Dey was the first musical guru for SD Burman. He also learned from Bhishmadev Chattopadhyay and Ustad Allauddin Khan. SD Burman was a very successful composer and singer in Bengali cinema when he decided to move to Bombay to try his luck as a composer for Hindi films - a language he barely knew. He brought in the sound of folk music of the East to Bollywood. Today I want to showcase 5 gems from SD which are raga based.

Malgunji is a complex Raga of the Khamaj Thaat. John Campana describes Malgunji as having elements of Rageshri, Bageshri and a few subtle touches of Jaijaiwanti. It is popularly described as being a combination of Raga Rageshri (in the ascent) and Raga Bageshri ( in the descent). If traditionally Raga Bageshri evokes feelings of separation from the lover, and Raga Rageshri represents reunion, Raga Malgunji depicts the initial realization of the reunion.

What I heard at home as I grew up was almost entirely Hindustani Classical with a limited exposure to a few composers of Western Classical. The radio was our chief source of music. There was of course an old turntable and a large collection of vinyl records that we all heard through the weekend. My father was a classical music buff and if he was home, the radio was on. He would occasionally pull out an old diary and scribble some notes after he heard a piece of music. "I maintain when I have heard what Raga and the name of the artiste", he used to say. "The same raga sung by a different artiste will evoke a different feeling."