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Radhika Mohan Maitra (pronounced and often spelled Moitra, 1917-1981), popularly known as Radhubabu, was one of the finest sarod players of his generation. Perhaps more interestingly, he lived through a period of unprecedented change both in Indian society and Hindustani music. Hindustani music, its social status, and its manner of propagation altered enormously during Radhubabu's lifetime. These changes affected not only his career, but also how the general public and the community of musicians perceived one another. This biographical essay attempts to convey an impression of the spirit of the times in which Radhubabu developed as a musician; many small anecdotes, though not essential to an account of Radhubabu's life, have been recounted since they throw light upon an era of which hardly any trace remains.
The Early Years
The appellation "Radhubabu" comes from "Radhu," a diminutive form for "Radhika," and the honorific suffix "babu," which is something like the Japanese "san" or Hindustani "ji." Since the use of "babu" while referring to a young boy or teenager is somewhat ridiculous, in describing Radhubabu's early years I have preferred to use his name. Radhika Mohan was the eldest son of Rai Bahadur Brajendra Mohan Maitra, the zamîndâr (feudal administrator) of a large estate whose main center was the town of Rajshahi (presently located in Bangladesh, across the Indian border from Maldah in Bengal, India). The zamîndârs lived on the income accruing from the taxes they collected from their estates, this right having been granted them in the late 18th century by the East India Company, the first British colonial administrators of India. The zamîndârs were often addressed as "raja" or "maharaja," depending on the size and prosperity of their estate. They lived with as many of the trappings of royalty as they fancied and could afford. Thus, zamîndârs who enjoyed music often employed masters of Hindustani classical music as court musicians. Indeed, they were largely responsible, through their patronage, for the preservation of Hindustani classical music after royal patronage at the Mughal court declined during and after the reign of Aurangzeb (d. 1707). One of the court musicians in Rajshahi during the 1920s and 1930s was the sarod player Ustad Mohammed Amir Khan of Shahjahanpur, who was Radhika Mohan's first teacher. (This Amir Khan...