When he turned 14, Maharaj ji had two of his most memorable performances. The first was at the All Bengal Music Conference (Kolkata) where he performed a historic solo at Mahajati Sadan with Nanku Maharaj (Bengal Tiger) on the tabla, another senior tabla artist and a pakhawaj player. Music lovers who could not enter the auditorium sat on the floor outside just to hear the rhythmic sound and enjoy the excitement. Word of this event spread fast and soon Maharaj ji made another major mark at the Sur Singar Sansad, held at Mumbai in 1955, at the invitation of Brij Narain ji. Both these programmes were pivots of success in his career and people talked about them for months.
During this time Maharaj ji also performed in Allahabad, Kanpur, Nagpur, Bihar and the surrounding areas. He remembers an incident when he went to Motihari for a performance. The organisers had probably never seen a good Kathak artist earlier and had, therefore, assigned a small slot for him. But Maharaj ji’s performance made such a stunning impact that he was requested to perform again the next day. However, he was scheduled for another performance in Kanpur. The next morning, as he was preparing to leave the hotel, he saw two or three pehalwans (strong men) with big moustaches who warned him of the consequences if he left. Finally, Maharaj ji stayed back and performed another time, much to the delight of the audience.
When he was about 18-year-old, Chacha ji and Amma ji called Maharaj ji to lucknow on the pretext of holding his janeu (sacred thread) ceremony but they had actually arranged his marriage to Annapoorna Devi, the eldest daughter of Shrichandji, a senior vocalist from Varanasi. Though it came as a complete surprise, Maharaj ji obeyed his elders and tied the nuptial knot. He blushes as he remembers that he performed at his own wedding at the request of guests and friends.
Around the early 60s, Pandit Birju Maharaj, as he came to be known, received invitations to dance from several places in India including the South. He took his first flight to Chennai from Kolkata via Nagpur. It was a small aircraft and Maharaj ji was extremely nervous. He was throwing up and felt very uncomfortable all through the flight. At Nagpur he met Pandit Ravi Shankar ji and was overjoyed to see someone he knew, hoping that the two would be in the same flight right up to Chennai. However, the latter was proceeding to Kolkata. The second leg of the journey was even worse, as it was a night flight and they were carrying onions in the aircraft, which emitted a terrible odour. By the time Maharaj ji landed in Chennai he was exhausted and sick; his ears were completely blocked. He was to perform within a few hours but he could not hear anything. For nearly half-an-hour he danced only by seeing Pandit Kishan Maharaj ji’s finger movements on the tabla.
It was around this time that Maharaj ji stayed at the house of the legendary dancer Shrimati Balasaraswati in Chennai for nearly 25 days. Bala Amma, as she was known, had a deep affection and admiration for him. He had a few dance performances during that period and each time he returned home she would receive him at the doorstep with aarti (ritual of worship). Maharaj ji also learnt a tillana (rhythmic musical piece in Carnatic music) from Bala Amma and sang for one of her concerts. Many a time they had informal sessions of music in her house at night when they shared each other’s art and creativity with mutual admiration.
Maharaj ji also conducted some lecture-demonstrations in Chennai along with Pandit Kishan Maharaj, Viswa and Ranga. He toured Bengaluru, Mysore, Davangere and many other places with Maya Rao and Chitraji. Once Pandit Samta Prasadji was to play with him in Chennai for a concert but could not make it; the Sangeet Natak Akademi decided to send Mauji Ramji instead. Maharaj ji started trying out some pieces with him but found it very difficult and, in desperation, decided to quickly record his own tabla beats so that he would be able to perform with joy. The whole afternoon was spent in doing so. In the evening, when he started performing with the tape, he realised that he had not noted the compositions and had played extempore. Also, the avartans (rhythmic cycles) left in between were asymmetric. Thus it was a real challenge to match the dance with pre-recorded music. Maharaj ji admits humbly that it was like learning one lesson after another and part of gathering great experiences in life. It was around this time that Maharaj ji also spent a lot of time in Kolkata and enriched his knowledge of music by listening to great master musicians.
(courtesy Birju Maharaj: The Master through My Eyes by Niyogi Books)