Dilip Kumar Roy

Dilip Kumar Roy ( Bengali: দিলীপকুমার রায় Dilīpkumār Ray, born January 22, 1897 in Krishnanagar, Bengal; † January 6, 1980 in Bombay, Maharashtra ) was an Indian musician, musicologist, singer and writer.

Professional life

Dilip Kumar Roy was born the son of Dwijendralal Ray. His family was wealthy. His father wrote national freedom songs and bhajans that made it around the turn of the century the idol of the young freedom fighters of Bengal. He lost his mother at the age of 6 years. At the age of 11 years a private tutor was engaged for the boy, who taught him English, mathematics, history and geography. Besides his native Bengali he learned in a nearby school Sanskrit. From his father he received his first instruction in music. He loved it even in later years to present songs with lyrics of his father. At the age of 16 he lost his father and lived from then on with his wealthy grandfather in Kolkata. In 1918 he received his BA with honors in mathematics and went to Cambridge. Under the influence of Romain Rolland and Rabindranath Thakur, the young Dilip 1920 ruled against the examination for the Indian Civil Service and a career as a professional musician. He learned Georges Duhamel, Hermann Hesse and Bertrand Russell know.

1922 Roy came back to India. He had learned to speak fluent French in Europe, but German and Italian only rudimentary. In Germany he had enjoyed at the singer Jukelius both teaching in the European method of vocal training and violin lessons. However, from training as an opera singer he wanted to know nothing, which is why his teacher Jukelius in this context every time the words "It is a thousand pities, sir ," sighed.

At the invitation of Romain Rolland Roy held as a young musicologist a presentation on the structure and development of the raga at a meeting of the International Society for Peace and Freedom in Lugano. The article was published in the quarterly journal Rupam in Kolkata.

After 1922 he practiced in India classical music under the leadership of Abdul Karim Khan, Fayaz Khan, Bhatkhande and others. By 1927, he traveled throughout India and came so in close contact with its entire musical world. In 1927 Roy traveled to Europe, where he gave lectures on classical Indian music.

His interpretations of songs by the composer Dwijendralal Roy, Atulprasad Sen, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Himangshu Kumar Dutta and Nishikanta was responsible for ensuring that they became popular throughout the country. He recorded more than 100 songs.

For his contributions to music, he was honored with the Sangeet Natak 1965 Akademi Ratna.

Religious Life

Development for Yogi

As a child, Roy was initially full of religious skepticism. First doubts about this attitude caused by the contact with his older cousin Nirmalendu, who was an admirer of Ramakrishna. At whose suggestion he read the book " Kathamrita " that holds the words of Ramakrishna, and visited the author of this book, Sri Ma. He was deeply impressed by his attitude. In his uncle, a doctor, he met the first person who in his spare time entirely devotes himself to the pursuit of the eternal ( nitya ).

In 1923, he met in Lucknow Krishnaprem, whose real name is Ronald Nixon, who impressed him deeply. He was amazed with what this brilliance defended the cause of Krishna against the intellectual hostility of his colleagues at the university. He was impressed by his sincerity and aspiration to want to meet God face to face ( Ishvarsakshatkar ). It was a friendship that was to him more than four decades of great help. Roy fluctuated between a life as an artist and his spiritual longing. He was afraid of one sadhana, which seems to consist of more serious, solemn solitude, privation rich rigor and discipline desolate. From Krishnaprem Dilip was made aware of Aurobindo new interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita. Gradually he realized that the path of a yogi must be gray and lonely, not necessarily. On January 24, 1924, he was given the rare privilege to have a long talk with Aurobindo. He was deeply impressed by his radiant personality and the aura of peace that surrounded him. But he also noted that his purely intellectual quest for the Integral Yoga is not sufficient. He traveled in India and collected songs of Hindu mystics. In 1927 he traveled to Europe for concerts and lectures. At these events, he met in Nice, the Prima Donna Emma Calve, who reported to him in glowing terms of her meeting with Swami Vivekananda in America and how his presence meant that her life took a completely different direction. By another coincidence, he met old friends who kept him from a ship to proceed to recordings to America. Instead met Roy Romain Rolland, who had given a lecture on Aurobindo in Tokyo and this called the prophet of the future of humanity. He then canceled his Continue to the USA and returned to India. But only after a second interview in Lucknow with a friend Krishnaprems and a long night in tears and prayer the miracle happened to him and he answered unconditionally the Yoga of Sri Aurobindo. On 22 November 1928 he arrived in Pondicherry.

In the Ashram

Roy had to follow as every aspirant in yoga, his personal difficulties, completely entrusting his guru and his council. Again and again he tried his own way - such as strict meditation, strict asceticism and similar to fast ( er) to come to the "target" and again his guru had him for such failures "straighten up " and make clear to him that in his Yoga Divine not to titanic effort but to surrender to the goes. And that according to his nature for him loving devotion ( bhakti ) and action (karma ), the two main drives are. Therefore, according to Sri Aurobindo made ​​it clear to him he would get the best and fastest results, if he continues to do with his poetry and his music.

As his Guru had in 1926 already withdrawn from the public, Roy wrote to him in the course of two decades, he remains in the ashram, more than two thousand letters. In this partly personal, partly yoga and relevant world events and issues opinions he gets at least 1000 answer letters from his guru, some of which include more than 12 pages, and which were published later parts. In a letter of 26 December 1931, Dilip, who was veröffenrlicht in Letters on Yoga, Volume 2, Sri Aurobindo wrote:

"I want - and the mother - bring a word of appreciation for your yesterday's music expresses your song of Mahakali was wonderful -. . Full of subtle nuances and great force mother came enthusiastically up and said it was full of life, energy and movement, you could feel the universal forces, which touted itself to this kind Truly, you have spread your wings and brought you into a vast ethereal space ". .

Works

• The path of great yogis. Suhrkamp paperback, ISBN 3-518-06909-8
• Sri Aurobindo came to me. Fischer paperback, ISBN 3-596-23377-1