Pt Vijay Kichlu cremated; musicians call him guiding force for generations of artists

The mortal remains of eminent classical singer Pandit Vijay Kumar Kichlu was cremated on Saturday at Keoratala crematorium in south Kolkata.

Kichlu, a Padma Shri awardee and recipient of the Sangit Natak Akademi award, passed away at a Kolkata hospital on Friday evening at the age of 93.

The body of the noted vocalist was consigned to flames amid the presence of his flowers.

Earlier, his body was taken to the premises of Rabindra Sadan, a state government-owned auditorium, where people got a chance to pay their tributes to him.

Condoling the death of Kichlu, eminent classical musicians of West Bengal described him as the guiding force for generations of artists for five decades.

Eminent sarod artist Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar said Kichlu was instrumental in introducing vocalists such as Pt Ajoy Chakrabarty, his daughter Pt Kaushiki Chakrabarty, Ustad Rashid Khan among others through the Sangeet Research Academy (SRA) which he had steered for several years.

''He had been a key force in reaching out to talented classical singers across the globe through SRA. He had organised classical concerts in every nook and corner of the country during his tenure,'' Majumdar told PTI.

Majumdar also showed light on the other aspects of the vocalist's life, saying he was a badminton player.

''He was popular in the corporate world and had a wonderful sense of humour,'' the sarod artist said.

Noted percussionist Pandit Bickram Ghosh said Kichlu was responsible for the ''resurgence of classical music in the country'' when he was helming SRA and undoubtedly he was the best head the Academy had.

He was behind organising all talented classical musicians, Ghosh said.

''Whenever there was a crisis, we would know Panditji is around and he was remarkably agile even at such an age. Though he died at the age of 93, still we feel his death has left us without any guardian,'' the percussionist said.

Vocalist Ustad Rashid Khan, a recipient of Padma Bhushan, said, ''What I have become today, I owe a lot to Panditji. He was like a banyan tree for us.'' Born in 1930, Kichlu studied Dhrupad with the Dagar Brothers and Khayal with Latafat Hussain Khan. Along with his brother Ravi Kichlu, he had formed a popular classical vocalist pair.

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