PUNE: Senior Sarodiya Biswajit Roy Chowdhury recalls the evening when he took classical vocalist Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur to watch a play. "He lived music but that day, he told me, he wanted to do something else. So, I took him to a Punjabi Gypsy play. Much to my shock, as soon as the play started Mansurji started singing Piya Banjara startling the audience. The play had to be stopped midway and when the organizers realized that it was Mansurji, they invited him on the stage and felicitated him.Such was his association with music," said Chowdhury, who has been his disciple for almost 15 years. The 11th edition of Arpan, a musical tribute to the late vocalist, who belonged to the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana, will be held on September 16 and 17 by city-based New Age Foundation that works towards promoting classical music. The concert will also feature classical vocalists Priyadarshini Kulkarni , Kalpna Zokarkar and Hemant Pendse and will be held at Shakuntala Shetty Auditorium in Ganeshnagar.Recalling Mansur on his 25th death anniversary, Chowdhury said that the classical singer's love for music was exactly like a child's love for his toys. "My wife once failed to attend Mansur's concert. He came home and started singing for her right after performing for hours at the concert. He was a man who looked for excuses to sing. In all the years that I knew him, not a day passed when he sang less than 50 compositions," Chowdhury added.Kulkarni, a vocalist who also belongs to the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana and is a trustee of the foundation said, " Although I did not have the privilege to learn from Pandiji, I was fortunate to be his son Rajashekhar Mansur's disciple. I have attended several concerts of Panditji and they have taught me lessons that I will carry along for the rest of my life. The New Age Foundation is a means through which we want to keep his memories alive."

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