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Eminent Tabla Player Anindo Chatterjee Refuses Padma Shri, Says "I Have Passed The Phase"

Chatterjee said he would have received the honour with gratitude had it been conferred on him ten years back. He is the second person from Bengal's vibrant music industry, after singer Sandhya Mukherjee, to decline the recognition.

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Eminent tabla player Pandit Anindo Chatterjee has turned down the offer of the Padma Shri honour, saying he is not ready to receive the award at this phase of his career. He is the second person from Bengal's vibrant music industry, after singer Sandhya Mukherjee, to decline the recognition.

Anindo Chatterjee is a distinguished percussionist who has done jugal bandis (duets) with classical maestros like Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. He said on Wednesday that he had received a phone call from Delhi on Tuesday seeking his consent to accept the honour.

The Indian Express quoted, "However, I politely declined. I said thank you, but I am not ready to receive Padma Shri at this phase of my career. I have passed that phase," Chatterjee, who received the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 2002, said.

Chatterjee said he would have received the honour with gratitude had it been conferred on him ten years back. "Many of my contemporaries and juniors were given Padma Shri years ago. Anyway, I said with all humbleness that I am sorry, but I cannot accept it (award) now," said the Tabla player, as quoted by TIE.

Know Anindo Chatterjee

Chatterjee was an illustrious Indian Tabla player of the Farukhabad Gharana school. He was born in a musical family and was a disciple of PanditJnan Prakash Ghosh. Along with solo performances and recordings, he has worked with esteemed musical instruments (sitar, santoor, flute, and sarod) and vocalists.

Chatterjee was a recipient of the prestigious President's Award in 1970 and was the youngest tabla player to perform in the British Parliament's House of Commons in 1989. He received the Sangeet Natak Academy Award for 2002 and performed at the Rashtrapati Bhavan when US President Barack Obama visited India in 2010.

Who Else Declined Padma Honour 2022?

Singing legend Sandhya Mukherjee has also declined the Padma Shri honour on Tuesday evening. Her daughter told TIE, "At the age of 90, having regaled generations of listeners for around eight decades, she deserved something more".

Besides these prominent personalities from Bengal's vibrant music industry CPI(M) leader and former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has also declined the offered recognition of Padma Bhushan on Tuesday. Bhattacharjee was quoted by NDTV saying, "If the government has decided to give me (the award), I refuse it. I am not aware of any such thing. I am not aware of any such thing."

Also Read: Former West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Rejects Padma Bhushan, Says 'No One Told Me'

Contributors Suggest Correction
Writer : Shiva Chaudhary
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Editor : Snehadri Sarkar
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Creatives : Shiva Chaudhary

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