Shovana Narayan: My gurudakshina to him was rabri and paan

Pandit Birju Maharaj

As long as I live, I'll always have gratitude towards him. I was one of his earliest [students] whom he taught in 1964. He came to my house every day for eight to nine years, teaching me for three to four hours without charging a single cent. My parents would keep wondering what we could give him. Since he loved rabri and paan, my mother would lay that out for him. That was my daily gurudakshina to him. He would teach painstakingly, focusing on how the eyes should move, where the elbow should go, and the grace that one should have. He would also do my makeup. If you see my old pictures, the makeup was done by him.

I would always spend time on stage, but at one point, he told me, ‘You won't go on stage for [the next] two years'. Then, in 1968, he had his own performance at a huge festival in Delhi. That is where he launched me as his student to watch out for. What a launchpad I had! It was an [unforgettable] moment for me.

Pandit Birju Maharaj with Shovana Narayan in their early days

When I was learning [under his tutelage], he was still a rising star. So, there was a sense of camaraderie, apart from the guru-shishya relationship. He was a near perfectionist. He had a fabulous sense of creativity and artistry. And he was self-made. He lost his father [Acchan Maharaj] when he was barely nine years old. He learnt from his uncle [Shambhu Maharaj], but, by and large, all that he achieved and grew into was owing to his own [skills]. Unless you are like a [sponge], where you observe and take in the best that you can, you cannot become what he did.

He wanted to take Kathak to people across the world. He was a good singer, a multi-faceted artiste. Any instrument that he picked up, he'd play well. He sang and composed beautifully. He was strict, but also [jovial] and humorous. He would listen to ghazals and thumris. But, when he would teach, he was a different person.

As told to Sonia Lulla