Pt. Pannalal Ghosh had a life that can be likened to a novel. Born to humble parents in East Bengal, he started to learn both music and art of self-defense simultaneously. But, lest the vivacious and vigorous physical art form would divert him from his ultimate passion - music, he started to meditate to become self-disciplined. Transferring to Calcutta in quite a young age in search of job, Pannalal was influenced to join the freedom movement for some time. However, through a series of incidents he was back to where he belonged - into the arena of music. He had attracted attention of the tinsel town music directors through his rendition of the wind instrument, and had become an inherent part of several path-breaking musical productions. But, he was extremely unhappy with the way flute was constructed. He went on an invention spree, and this extended period was spent by Pannalal in discovering new ways to improvise the flute. He made such detailed alterations that were unknown and unseen in the classical music world since. Still, everyone bowed down to his brilliant genius. However, he still awaited his inner call, because he felt that films were not his platform to flourish. He left it, to improvise on his own. And this was the time when he relentlessly tutored under Baba Allauddin Khan. And his succeeding recitals were instilled with such freshness, gravity, poetry and smooth flow, that everyone sat enraptured through the entire recital.

The entire credit for making the flute a full-fledged concert instrument in the 20th century goes to Pt. Pannalal Ghosh. His role in reviving, modifying and popularising the flute is that of a pioneer.

Pannalal Ghosh was born in 1911 into a family with serious musical inclinations in the Barisal area of what was once East Bengal. His father was a sitarist and his brother Nikhil Ghosh later became a well-known tabla player. Many of his relatives pursued music seriously and thus his own inclinations moved along the path from an early age. He began to learn the sitar under his father and vocal music under his uncle. Alongside music, his father was also a votary of physical culture and encouraged Pannalal to take up a vigorous programme in physical fitness. Pannalal also took to boxing and oriental martial arts and even a won a state-level prize in wrestling during his youth. In order to discipline his mind to musical training, the strong-willed young man would sit in motionless padmasana position for some time every day, until he could do so for long stretches of time. His practice sessions soon began to bear fruit, following the achievement of physical and mental discipline.

Pannalal moved to Calcutta in search of job soon after he turned 16. In his teens, like most fervent young men of his time, Pannalal got involved in the freedom movement. Due to his agility in physical culture, wrestling and martial arts, he found employment in an athletic club in the city. Later, he found employment with a tube-well company. Soon he was posted in the Santhal tribal belt. The rugged and vigorous Santhals were very much taken in by the young man`s physical prowess and strength, as he was by the way they played their folk tunes on the flute. Soon he began to tutor each other - Pannalal picked up their folk tunes and he, in return, taught them physical exercises and martial arts. Here he sealed his bond with the instrument that was to become the overwhelming passion of his life.

His father`s unexpected demise when he just 18 compelled him to return to Calcutta and seek productive employment in the early 1930s. Those were the days of silent cinema, and instrumentalists were often hired to play music in cinema theatres. He trained in flute intensely during the years in Calcutta under a gifted harmonium player Khushi Mohammed, at first, and later under Girija Shankar Chakravarthy who further honed his skills. On one instance, he chanced to meet the reputed music director Anil Biswas, who hired him to be part of his musical productions. Later, Pannalal married Anil Biswas`s sister, Parul Biswas, who later made a name for herself as a playback singer during the `talkies` years. He also had chances to work for the productions of such reputed music directors like R.C. Boral and S.D. Burman during the late 1930s. His association woth such great directors not only improved his musical range, but also helped the music composer within him to evolve. These gifts he was to out to use during his years in Bombay when he was associated with the film industry.

During one such demanding production, when Anil Biswas was adapting one of the great Bengali poet Kazi Nazrul Islam`s works for stage, Pannalal suddenly realised the tonal limitations of the flute he possessed. He searched high and low through the city for the ideal flute that would give him the right pitch and sonority. He experimented with several of them from various stores, until Pannalal concluded that the bamboo flute was the ideal one. The only difference was that he managed to fabricate a flute that was nearly 32 inches long - a feat unheard of in the musical world. The musical world found it difficult to believe that such a long and sturdy reed could produce the delicate shades of classical music. But Pannalal proved beyond a shadow of doubt that the long reed could indeed take on both classical and light strains at the same time. Given that it required immense adroitness to manipulate the blowholes, it was relentless practice and experimentation that helped him evolve the ideal technique for handling the instrument. His immense physical agility and fitness helped in large measure to tackle this crude and formidable instrument. However, it took him quite a while to perfect the technique of playing this apparently rudimentary and ungainly instrument. The flute he used had six blow holes. He added one extra blow hole to help him take certain notes in the lower octave. Soon he started to use a flute that was two-and-a-half feet long, which had a pleasing bass sonority. But he realized that he needed a different kind of flute to perform the raaga in the lower octave. Soon he came up with a large bamboo flute with four holes, which was perfect for playing sections of the alaap as also the ati-vilambit laya.

Thus over a period of time, Pannalal was able to devise ways to overcome several of the flute`s limitations. Soon enough, he showed the world that the flute could indeed traverse the three octaves with ease. His genius soon came to the notice of music lovers in Calcutta who invited him to perform at musical conferences. Those who listened were amazed not only by Pannalal`s brilliant raag-daari, but also by the fact that the bamboo flute could take on the refinements of classical music effortlessly. He also met several great musicians and instrumentalists of his time like rudra-vainik Dabir Khan, sitar maestro Ustad Inayat Khan and Pt. Tarapada Chakravarthy. His technique and range improved considerably owing to these close interactions. In 1940, Pannalal moved to Bombay at the request of several music directors who were desirous of making his flute part of their orchestra. Since flautists, and that too one of his stature, were hard to come by in those times, Pannalal was in great demand. He became part of Bombay Talkies studio and composed the music for such successful films like Basant, Police, Sawaal and Aandolan.

Yet, in spite of the success he found in the tinsel world, he sensed a tormenting lack within himself. The glitter and pomp of the tinsel world soon began to tire him, for he knew that his art would either blur or, worse, deteriorate, in such an environment. He made up his mind to give up a brilliant career in music direction and devote himself wholly to the pursuit of aesthetic perfection. Though largely self-taught, Pannalal felt that his art required that hand of grace, which would elevate it to the heights of greatness. When Baba Allauddin Khan visited Bombay in 1947 along with Ravi Shankar, Pannalal expressed his desire to perfect his art under this great teacher. Baba, who had heard his music, told him that he required no further training; but the stubborn Pannalal persisted in his requests over a period of time until Baba, convinced of his sincerity, accepted him as his disciple. Pannalal soon moved to Delhi and took up a position in AIR in order to facilitate his travel to Maihar. Though he learnt under Baba for less than a year, the inner artistic transformation that took place in his art and approach was momentous. Under Baba`s rigorous tutelage Pannalal not only mastered the finer aspects of raaga and tala, but also acquired that rare aesthetic depth which only Baba could lend.

While at AIR Delhi, Pannalal have a number of public recitals, which helped him popularize the flute in North India. He carried three flutes of varying sizes during performances. Each of these flutes served s different purpose. The biggest of these was used to play the raaga in the lower octave; the medium sized one for the middle octave, and the smallest one for playing the highest octave. During recitals, he would switch from the lower to the middle octave flute, and sometimes back, effortlessly. Pannalal`s music obtained its flowing quality from the fact that he incorporated several aspects of dhrupad and khayal into his style. His training under the Baba also gave him a sound grasp over the Senia dhrupad and tantkari-ang.

Meditative repose, enigmatic depth and a transcendental expansiveness are the hallmarks of his music. Like many musicians who gave accent to spiritual element in music, Pannalal too was at his best in the vilambit section, where he unfolded major raagas, focusing entirely on their abstract contours and contents. The recordings available in the market offer many fine glimpses of Pannalal`s genius. His Yaman is unusual for its melodic sense. There is something about his creativity that finds itself at home in difflucut sandhi-prakash raagas like Shree and Marwa (the Sanskrit word Godhuli aptly signifies the brooding and solemn quality of early twilight). His Shree is a plunge into the profound and dusky depths of the creative consciousness. Likewise, his slow gat in Marwa is moody in the extreme, while the drut passage, with its fine patterning of melody and rhythm, demonstrates how deeply he was affected by Ustad Abdul Karim Khan`s tarana in the same raaga. Pannalal`s extensive and magnificent Darbari is unsurpassable for its subtle poetry, exploratory loftiness and introspective gravity. His short rendition of Bhoopal Todi unforgettably captures the devout serenity and prayerful attitude of this early morning raaga. His folk rendition of kajris and bhatyali dhuns exuded the humid warmth of the region and the soil they sprang from.

Pannalal Ghosh`s untimely demise in 1960, at the age of 49, came as a huge shock to everybody in the world of music. He was truly inimitable. His disciple and son-in-law Devendra Murudeshwar continued his legacy with great devotion. His gifted disciples, Pt. Vijay Raghav Rao and G.S. Sachdeva, are fine and mature artists who have made a significant impact on national and international musical forums.