For Chandigarhs Madan family steeped in music, every day is a celebration

The Madan family in Chandigarh has been steeped in music for four generations be it classical, folk or western. For them, every day is a celebration of Sur and Taal.

By Sunil Sharma

Chandigarh, Oct 6 : The Madan family in Chandigarh has been steeped in music for four generations be it classical, folk or western. For them, every day is a celebration of 'Sur' and 'Taal'.

The Madan family's evening starts with a song, which was penned and composed by their ancestor Panna Lal Madan.

A musicologist, Panna Lal was the first, who did PhD in music. He has written many books on music during his lifetime.

And, not surprisingly, like their father, Dr. Panna's daughters - Meera, Neera and Seema - fell in love with music at a very young age.

"My grandfather was the disciple of Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande and Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, the renowned Indian classical musicians. On their visit to Jalandhar, the musicians made sure to introduce music as a subject, especially for girl students. Paluskar suggested that his wife teach music and the Committee of Kanya Maha Vidhaylaya readily agreed. In the meantime, Paluskar fell ill and his wife was busy in looking after him. Committed to the project, Paluskar told his disciple, my grandfather, Devi Chand Madan to continue. My grandfather then became Punjab's first music teacher," said Meera.

Samvadini J Kumar is a fourth generation of Madan family, who also took to singing. Trained under a classical music teacher in Sitar, she also sings both Punjabi folk and Indian classical ragas.

Today, the family elders feel that they have done their bit for music and it's now the turn of the youth to carry forward the legacy.

"Wherever I go, people know me that this is Samvadini, daughter of Jitender Kumar and Meera Kumar. So it's a fun but at the same time there's a kind of pressure on me," said Samvadini.

Although, the each family has gone its way after the marriages of Panna Lal's daughters - one in Mumbai, the others in Jalandhar and Chandigarh, but, whenever, they meet, a stage is always set for them.

ANI