Grade4 English Lsn 9 Tansen, The Magical Musician
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Chapter 1 Tansen, the Magical Musician by Ashok Dawar
Almost exactly in the center of India is a town called Gwalior.
In this town is the tomb of Tansen, one of the greatest musicians that ever lived.
Next to his beautifully carved stone tomb stands a little tamarind tree.
the world.
Even today, many famous musicians follow the style of music created by Tansen, known as
the Gwalior Gharana. About 400 years ago, in a village near Gwalior,
lived a wealthy poet, Mukund Mishra, and his wife. They longed to have children of their
own. On the suggestion of a friend, Mishra went to Gwalior to seek the blessings of the
famous saint and musician, Mohammed Ghous. Almost like magic, soon after receiving the
blessings, a child was born. He was named Tansen. As Tansen grew up, his father engaged
teachers to teach him to read and write. Tansen, however, was more interested in going to the
nearby forest with his friends, where he would imitate bird and animal sounds. Once a group
of singers were passing through the forest. Tansen hid himself in some bushes and roared
like a tiger. So lifelike was the sound that the singers became frightened. When the boy
When he showed himself, the leader of the group praised his tiger-like roar.
Encouraged, Tansen made more animal and bird sounds.
The leader was greatly impressed by Tansen's performance.
He was none other than the famous music teacher, Haridas.
Haridas offered to take Tansen as his disciple.
He has great musical talent, said Haridas to Tansen's father.
Most reluctantly, Tansen's mother agreed to let her only child go away to Brindavan to
study under Haridas. For almost ten years, Tansen studied music from Haridas. Starting
with the basic musical notes, Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni, Sa, he learnt the basics of
singing and playing tanpura. He learnt about the different rags of Indian music and how
each rag creates a different mood. A rag can make you so happy that you might want to dance,
or it can make you so sad that it might bring tears to your eyes. Then one day, there was
a message from home that his father was very ill.
I am happy that you've become a musician. Go and see Mohammed Ghosh."
were his father's last words to him.
Though very sad, Tansen decided to keep his promise to his father,
to go to Mohammed Ghosh and be trained by him.
But, in keeping with Indian tradition,
he went to seek permission to learn under a new guru from his first guru.
Haridas, you must obey your father's wishes, but you will always be welcome here.
You are like a son to me, said Haridas, blessing his favorite disciple.
Tansen studied under Mohammed Ghaus for three years, developing his musical talent.
During that time, Mohammed Ghaus introduced Tansen to the ruler of Gwalior.
They became good friends and Tansen would often visit the ruler's palace, where he would listen to other musicians.
One day, a messenger arrived from the court of Rewa, near Gwalior.
The messenger opened the scroll and read,
King Ramachandra of Rewa would like you to be a musician at his court.
This was a great honor and the first step in Tansen's rise to fame.
him. King Ramachandra admired Tansen's singing. The emperor, Akbar, once went on a visit to
Rewa. King Ramachandra arranged for Tansen to entertain his royal guest. The emperor
was greatly impressed by Tansen's music and, soon after his return, sent a message to Ramachandra,
requesting him to send Tansen to his court. King Ramachandra did not want to part with
Tansen, but he could not fool Akbar. After all, Akbar was the emperor of India, and Ramchandra
was only the king of a small state in Akbar's empire. So, reluctantly, King Ramchandra sent
Tansen as a royal gift. Akbar was so impressed by Tansen's music that he bestowed on him
