Dilipkumar Roy
This article possibly contains original research. (May 2019) |
Dilipkumar Roy | |
---|---|
India (now West Bengal, India) | |
Died | 6 January 1980 Pune, India | (aged 82)
Occupation | playwright and musician |
Nationality | Indian |
Genre | Drama, song, essay |
Dilip Kumar Roy (22 January 1897 – 6 January 1980), also spelt Dilipkumar Roy, was an Indian musician, singer, musicologist, novelist, poet, essayist and yogi. He was the son of
Background and education
Son of
Since his childhood, Roy had a fascination for
Romain Rolland and Dilipkumar Roy
In his diary, Inde, Romain Rolland speaks of Roy frequently. He records Roy's first visit on 23 August 1920: "...His is no ordinary intelligence... A young man, tall and well-built, (...) in his complexion the orange-brown of a Créole features, except for the lips..." Talking about his songs, Rolland mentions, "Especially a religious song by Tansen... I find there some affinity with Gregorian melodies and, furthermore, with the Greek hymns that had been at the very source (...)" And Rolland goes on: "By listening to the popular melodies one is better able to grasp the pure and natural genius of the Hindu race. Dilipkumar Roy sings some of them, so charmingly, delicately, cheerfully, poetically, exhibiting such a mastery of rhythm - that they could just as well be popular songs of our own (...) One realizes - how popular art admits far fewer boundaries than sophisticated art." And about Dilip's voice: "He sings with nasal intonations and his voice reaches quite high, with a singular suppleness in the ceaseless blossoming of vocal improvisations and ornaments..." On 24 October 1927, Romain Rolland describes another visit from Roy: "He belongs to a type which is the best of aristocratic India." On listening to an old hymn to the goddess Kali sung by Roy, Rolland mentions: "It is simply captivating, an overflow of passion that implores, laments, reaches fever pitch, subsides, from soprano to bass notes (...) and begins again, with doubled and exacting ecstasy..."
Experiments in music
While in Europe, Roy realised "the greatness and the deficiency" of Indian classical music as practiced by his contemporaries. Instead of mediocre word - supports to elaborate melodic and rhythmic compositions, Roy was convinced that the modern Indian languages, the daughters of Sanskrit, could provide more adequate lyrics for the classical models (as demonstrated by composers like his own father or
Embracing the Cosmic Soul
Whereas the very ancient Indian tradition of
Among the paramount contributions of Roy, is an Indian type of opera, based on the traditional model of the kirtana: this involves an emotional catharsis through a succession of modal and rhythmic patterns, compatible with the classical schools of Indian dance. After a long discussion with Tagore on the subtleties of Bengali prosody, Roy saw the aged poet dedicating him the former's study on the subject, chhanda. Requested by the University of Calcutta, Roy himself also wrote a treatise on the subject, chhandasiki. In one of his letters to Roy, the poet admitted : "I have a sincere affection for you. My heart is attracted by your unmixed truthfulness and frankness." Roy was admired by listeners like
Roy created his own style of fiction, involved in a constant psychological analysis. Most of his characters are mystic or spiritual in their essence, situated at a meeting point between the East and the West. As a poet, instead of following the melodic lyrical style developed by
Last phase
After a second visit to Europe, in 1928 Roy settled at the
In 1953, on returning from a world tour, accompanied by his disciple Indira Devi, he founded the Hari Krishna Mandir in 1959 at Pune. Roy co-authored an autobiographical book titled Pilgrims of the Stars with Indira Devi. Pilgrims of the Stars offers the reader a glimpse into the daily struggles and victories of two great souls. East West Journal stated that the book was, "...as remarkable as it is rewarding for the reader." The book has been translated into Gujarati (translator Ramaṇalāl Sonī; Amadāvāda: Vorā, 1977; and Rājakoṭa: Pravīna Pustaka Bhanḍāra, 1991).
Honoured by the Sanskrit Academy of Kolkata as the 'Source of the Nectar of Melody' (sura-sudhâkara), Roy was elected member of the Indian State Academy of Fine Arts. He was the author of more than 50 records (several of them still reprinted by the HMV-India); 8 volumes of songs with notation; 21 volumes in English and 46 in Bengali containing novels, poems, plays, epistles, reminiscences and essays.
Roy died in Hari Krishna Mandir, Pune[citation needed] on 6 January 1980.
References
- ^ "SNA: List of Sangeet Natak Akademi Ratna Puraskar winners (Akademi Fellows)". Official website. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
- ^ "Roy, Dilip Kumar - Banglapedia". en.banglapedia.org. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- ^ Prohor. "শ্রুতির ভগীরথ : দিলীপকুমার রায় - Prohor". শ্রুতির ভগীরথ : দিলীপকুমার রায় - Prohor. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- ^ "বাংলা ছেড়ে দূরে গিয়েছিলেন, তাইকি তাঁকেও দূরেই রাখল বাঙালি?". EI Samay (in Bengali). Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- ^ "Dilip Kumar Roy: দিলীপ কুমার রায়: একশো পঁচিশে শ্রদ্ধা". aajkaal.in (in Bengali). Retrieved 15 July 2022.
Further reading
- Marie, Honegger-Durand; Roy, Dilip Kumar and Herbert, Jean. (1937). Sri Ramakrishna - les paroles du maltre; entretiens recuellis et publies par Swami Brahmananda; traduction francaise de Marie Honegger-Durand, Dilip Kumar Roy et Jean Herbert. (Sri Ramakrishna - The words of the Master; Interviews recited and published by Swami Brahmananda; French translation by Marie Honegger-Durand, Dilip Kumar Roy and Jean Herbert), Jean Herbert, Paris.
- Roy, Dilip Kumar. (1938). সাঙ্গিতিকী (Sangitiki), Calcutta University, Kolkata.
- Roy, Dilip Kumar & Indira Devi. (1983). The Rounding Off. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay. (Collection of letters and reminiscences of Dilip Kumar Roy and his disciple, Indira Devi)
- Indira Devi (1993) Fragrant Memories (reminiscences of life with Dilip Kumar Roy, 1897-1980). Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
- Roy, Dilip Kumar (). অতুলপ্রসাদ: মানুষ, কবি, ভক্ত (Atul Prasad - Manush, Kobi, Bhakta), Kolkata.
- Roy, Dilip Kumar (1968). Yogi Sri Krishnaprem, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Kolkata.
- Roy, Dilip Kumar (1977). Bhagavad-gita: A Revelation, Hind Pocket Books, India, ISBN 978-0856552649.
- Roy, Dilip Kumar and Indira Devi (1973). Pilgrims of the Stars - Autobiography of Two Yogis.
- Roy, Dilip Kumar (2016). Die Bettlerprinzessin: Das Leben der Mirabai - Schauspiel in fünf Akten, tredition, ISBN 3732347591, 9783732347599.
- Roy, Dilip Kumar (2012). Chaitanya and Mira - Two Plays, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, ISBN 978-8172764609.
- Roy, Dilip Kumar (1955). Kumbha - India's Ageless festival, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay.
- Roy, Dilip Kumar (2012). The Flute Calls Still, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, ISBN 978-8172764586.
- Roy, Dilip Kumar (1955). The Begger Princess - a historical drama in five acts, Kitab Mahal, Allahabad.
- Roy, Dilip Kumar (2011). The Immortals of Bhagavat Pusthaka Bharathi, ISBN 978-8172764494.
- Roy, Dilip Kumar (2006). Among the Great - Conversation with Sri Aurobindo, Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Romain Rolland and Bertrand Russell, Hari Krishna Mandir, Pune.
External links
- Dilipkumar Roy by Prithwindra Mukherjee, in IIAS Newsletter No.8, Rotterdam, Spring 1996
- "Sampadakiya nivedan" by Baridbaran Ghosh in Rachana-samgraha/ Dilipkumar Ray ('Collected Works'), Ananda Publishers, Kolkata, 1997, pp5–12.
- [1] A website dedicated Dilip Kumar Roy. Photographs of Dilip Kumar Roy are available at the website.
- Pilgrims of the Stars Autobiography of two Yogis, Dilip Kumar Roy & Indira Devi