One of the most celebrated singers of modern Indian music, Krishna Chandra Dey, passed away on this day.
Dey lost his eyesight at the age of 14, but with what many of those who knew him called his “inner vision”, he threw himself into music. He first learnt classical music from Shashibhushan Dey. Later he was tutored by many other leading classical artistes, including Keramatullah Khan. Dey learnt kirtan, for which he would become famous, from Radharaman Das.
From an early age, he was patronised by the elite Calcutta families and sang for the stage. From the 30s he began to sing for films. He was associated with New Theatres in Calcutta for some time, after which he moved to Bombay, but eventually came back to Calcutta.
He was loved for his powerful, melodious voice. He sang numerous songs, including in Bengali and Hindi, and many of these remain immensely popular, such as Andhakarer antarete asrubadal jhore, Oi mahasindhur opar theke or Swapan jodi modhur emon. But perhaps he is best remembered for the kirtans that he sang. This genre was also the closest to his heart. He was known as a most good-humoured, generous and forgiving person, who had great sympathy for and an instinctive understanding of other people.
The famous singer Manna Dey was his nephew.