The story is very old. It is the story of a talented boy. The name of the kingdom is Anandnagarī. A small village in that kingdom. The village is located near the forest, just like a picture. The name of the village is Ujangaon. To the west of the village, there is a river. Its name is Ujani. In that village, there is a poor Kayastha family. The family's surname is Dutta. There are eight members in the family. Four brothers, two sisters, and parents. The youngest son of the family is Bidyadhar.
After him, there are two sisters. In the Dutta family, the household is supported by the father’s income. There is no land. The father has a small-paying job. There is scarcity in the household. Every day, there isn't enough food for everyone. The boys go to school. The two girls are not of school-going age yet. The father cannot pay the teacher’s salary. Still, the teacher teaches them. Bidyadhar’s elder brothers focus on their studies.
However, Bidyadhar cannot focus on his studies. He returns from school but cannot focus at home. He goes to the nearby jungle. There, he feels something mysterious. He wanders around aimlessly. He listens to the calls of birds. He enjoys the calls of cuckoos, bulbuls, and other birds. He loves listening to music. He stands by the road and listens to beggars singing. The melody of the Bauls' ektara (single-string instrument) greatly attracts him. He tries to make an ektara himself but cannot. He goes to his neighborhood friend Nabin and asks for his bamboo flute. He tries playing it. Nabin teaches him to play the flute. In a few days, he can play sweet melodies on the flute. Nabin is surprised. In his joy, Nabin gives him a flute to play. From then on, playing the flute becomes Bidyadhar's obsession.
He returns from school, flute in hand, and heads into the jungle. He sits behind the old banyan tree and plays the flute, lost in the melody. He is absorbed in the music. He forgets about hunger. His mother sends his elder brothers to find him. They forcefully take him home. His brothers collect water from the pond. They make the younger brother Bidyadhar bathe in that water. It is almost evening. The sunlight casts a golden hue. Bidyadhar sits down to eat. Even while eating, he can hear his mother's scolding. After finishing his meal, the sun sets. He quietly sits on the verandah with his feet dangling. Twilight passes and night falls. After a while, his mother goes to light the evening lamp under the Tulsi plant.
In this gap, Bidyadhar runs away. He reaches the temple courtyard of the neighboring village. There, in front of the temple, there is a roofed platform. Every day, there is a kirtan (devotional singing) session there. He sits a little further away and hums along with the singer’s song. No one knows about it. At that time, Bidyadhar is only eight years old. He is deeply drawn to music. He mimics the songs of others perfectly. His parents scold him. He attends the kirtan sessions during the day and goes to the neighboring temple in the evening. His mother scolds him. She keeps him locked in the house most days. Still, she cannot make him focus on his studies.
She tries to explain to him, “Son, you must learn to study. You are the son of a Kayastha family. You won’t be able to do farming. Besides, we have no land. No one will give you a job if you don't study. You see the scarcity in the house. All of you must earn a living one day. Otherwise, how will the family survive?”
In response, Bidyadhar says, “Mother, whatever the teacher teaches, I remember everything. I don’t need to study at home. I like music. I get happiness playing the flute. That’s why I play the flute. I go to the kirtan session too. I go to the jungle to listen to the birds sing. Why do you all get so angry? Has the teacher complained about me?”
“She hasn’t. Your father cannot tolerate your neglect of studies. Focus on your studies.”
“I can’t, Mother. I’ll go to the temple or the forest. I don’t skip my studies. The teacher hasn’t complained about me. Yet, you show anger at me. You lock me in the house. I don’t like all this.”
He does not listen to his parents’ prohibition against going to the music sessions. He cannot obey their prohibition. The magnetic pull of music and melody drives him mad. That evening, a new singer appears at the temple in the neighboring village. The singer has a beautiful voice. Bidyadhar is enchanted by the melody of his song. Time passes, and it is nearly 9 PM. Yet, he cannot return home. His two elder brothers arrive. They carry him off and take him home. They do not listen to his objections. When they return home, his mother scolds him, and his father reprimands him. He casually asks, “Why are you both so angry? Have I done anything wrong?”
Father Shouts,
"Spending your life listening to kirtan without studying, you good-for-nothing! You can’t just study in school. You also need to do your homework at home. Do you understand?"
Bidyadhar responds easily,
"Whatever the teacher teaches me in school, that’s enough for me to study. I don’t need to study anything at home."
This answer does not please his father. He becomes very angry. He picks up a stick nearby and starts hitting eight-year-old Bidyadhar with it. His mother grabs the stick away from him and takes her son into the house. His father’s shouting continues from outside. He says, "It's because of your indulgence that the younger boy is going to waste. Just wait and see. He won’t even find alms in his future."
His mother tries to comfort him, repeatedly telling him to study. Yet, Bidyadhar feels deep sorrow and resentment. He decides in his heart that he will no longer stay at home. He leaves early in the morning without a destination. He begins walking towards the east, away from the village. He reaches about eight miles away. The hunger pangs are unbearable. He doesn’t know where to find food. He has just a few coins in his cloth. He feels a relentless hunger and walks to the pond of an unknown village. He drinks water from his cupped hands. An elderly woman is at the pond at that time. The woman notices the boy is hungry. She asks, "Child, where is your home? Where are you going?"
"My home is far away. I’m searching for a teacher to learn music," he replies.
"Where is your music teacher’s house?" she asks.
"I don’t know. Can you tell me if there’s a music teacher in this village?"
"Forget about your music teacher. Tell me, you're such a little boy. Who will teach you music? And why are you drinking water at this hour? Are you thirsty?"
"No, I’m very hungry. I don’t have any food nearby, so I drank water."
"Listen, dear, come home with me. You can have something to eat first. After that, you can continue your search for your teacher."
"No, Auntie, I’ll buy something to eat somewhere."
"Foolish child! I’m telling you to eat here. But you won’t listen? Listen, dear, it’s just the two of us at home. Don’t worry, no one will say anything. Come with me."
Feeling a little embarrassed, he finally agrees and follows the woman to her home.
She feeds him with great care. Before he finishes eating, the woman's husband arrives. He asks, "Promila, is this boy a relative of yours?"
"No, he wants to learn music. You teach music at home, don’t you? You teach music around here. Can’t you teach this little boy as well?"
"Why can’t I? But who is he the son of? Where is his home? I need to know that before I can teach him."
"You know, I don’t even know his name and address yet. Why don’t you find out?"
Bidyadhar answers all of the questions from the woman’s husband, Mandar Sen. He doesn’t lie about anything. Mandar Sen says, "You left your home for music. You really have a passion for it. Stay with me and learn music. Tomorrow, bring your father to meet me. If I have his permission, I’ll teach you. Your voice is really suited for music. Go back home now."
"But my father doesn’t like music. What if he doesn’t want to come? Does that mean I won’t be able to learn music?"
"It’s my responsibility to explain things to your father. Bring him with you tomorrow. Now go home."
Meanwhile, Bidyadhar’s disappearance causes great worry at home. The family searches everywhere and asks all the relatives. There is no trace of him. Everyone is searching for Bidyadhar like mad. Their anxiety is finally put to rest when Bidyadhar returns home in the fading light of evening. That night, he explains everything to his parents. He will learn music, and nothing else interests him. He insists that his father must come with him. His father reluctantly agrees, although he doesn’t fully approve. At his mother’s request, the next morning, he sets out with Bidyadhar to meet Mandar Sen.
The conversation between Mandar Sen and Bidyadhar’s father continues for some time. After much debate, his father finally gives permission, but with conditions. He says, "Even if Bidyadhar learns music, he won’t be allowed to return home. He won’t be able to earn a living. I don’t want him back at home. How will he live by music?"
Mandar Sen assures him, "It’s alright, Bidyadhar will not return home. You can go back. I will take responsibility for him." Bidyadhar’s father returns home.
Bidyadhar’s music training continues under Mandar Sen. Mandar Sen gives him the name Sukanta. By the age of ten, Sukanta has become an accomplished musician. His musical fame reaches the ears of the King of Anandnagar. The king takes Sukanta as the music teacher for the princess. The news of Sukanta’s success reaches his father, and he wishes to meet his son. He is eager to see that his son is now a music teacher at the royal palace with a good salary, and he plans to ask him for some money to help with their needs.
After a long journey, he reaches the palace. He is eager to meet his son. He asks the guard for Sukanta Dutt, the musician. The guard informs him, "There is no musician by that name at the palace."
Bidyadhar’s father doesn’t leave. He waits in the palace garden. After a while, Sukanta starts teaching the princess music. The father recognizes his son’s voice and asks the guard, "Who is the one teaching music?"
"His name is Sukanta Sen."
"But that voice is exactly like my son’s."
"Even if the voice is the same, he is not Bidyadhar Dutt." The father doesn’t believe the guard and continues waiting in the garden, hoping to see his son.
The guard sees him again and begins to think that the man might have bad intentions. If the man somehow sneaks into the palace, it will be his own responsibility, and he will be blamed. So, the guard decides to send him away. He approaches and tells him, "You don’t have good intentions. If you don’t leave, I’ll have you sent to prison."
"Even if you send me to prison, I will go. I must meet my son. That singer is my son, Bidyadhar. I swear it."
"Then keep your swear to yourself. I’m sending you to prison." The guard calls another guard and has the father arrested and sent to prison.
The prison is almost dark. There is food, but no windows to see outside. He has no opportunity to meet his son. He hears his son’s voice and music, and spends the days crying. He asks the prison guard, "I’m a criminal, when will my trial take place?"
"I don’t know. Your trial will be when the King decides." The days pass as he waits for the trial. After three months, he is summoned for the trial.
The King asks, "Why did you come to the palace garden?"
"Your Majesty, my son is a music teacher at the palace."
"What is his name?"
"Bidyadhar Dutt."
"You’re speaking nonsense. There’s no one by that name at the palace. The teacher is Pandit Sukanta, Mandar Sen’s son. You’re lying."
"No, Your Majesty, I’m not lying. I hear his music every day. Please allow Pandit Sukanta to come to the trial. I want to see him with my own eyes."
"At your request, I will arrange for him to come. Guard, respectfully invite Pandit Sukanta to the trial and bring him here."
Sukanta Sen arrives. His father has a face full of beard and a frail body. Seeing him, Sukanta shudders. He wonders, “What crime has my father committed?”
As soon as he sees his son, the father shouts, "There is my son, Bidyadhar!"
The King asks, "Panditji, is he your father?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. He is my father. Pandit Mandar Sen is my teacher and guardian."
"Panditji, then your real name is Bidyadhar Dutt?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, my teacher called me Sukanta Sen. That’s the name everyone knows me by."
"Then your father is innocent, Panditji. Guard, release his bonds."
The father hugs Sukanta as soon as his hands are freed. Sukanta says to his father, "Please go home. Every month, someone from the palace will bring you money. I heard that the elders are now separate. Mother and you are in hardship. I will send money to you. Please convey my respects to Mother."
“However, no matter how many times you request, the Sukanta of today will never return home as Bidyadhar.”
“You did not respect my passion back then. That is why I will not return. Because music is my life. I am leaving now, Father. Go home without worry. If you wish, you can visit me from time to time.”
With these words, Sukanta returns to the royal palace.