भारत रत्न पंडित भीमसेन जोशी जी को मनीष देसाई के श्रद्धा सुमन

SANGEET RATNA – BHIMSEN JOSHI

- Manish Desai

It was Diwali once again at Pune’s ‘Kalashree’ in Navipeth with ‘rangolis’ and floral decorations adorning the road leading to the house. The rangolis were drawn early in the morning by a civil society organization Vidhayak and had inscriptions ‘mile sur hamara tumhara’. This was the way the music lovers of Pune greeted living legend, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, when an announcement was made by the Rashtrapati Bhavan, about him being conferred the ‘Bharat Ratna’ - the country’s highest civilian honour. Noted philosopher J Krishnamurthy had once said ‘love is like a river’. The music of Bhimsen Joshi is also like a river – ever flowing with beautiful bends. His music is also like a rain – robust during downpour and enchanting like rain drops. The legendary exponent of the Kirana Gharana is known for his mellifluous voice, dazzling 'taans' and an incredible breath-control. The doyen, through his amazing absorption of the soul of various gayaki styles has created a unique blend, adding his own introspective aesthetic sense. At 86, his body is not giving company to his voice. Unable to climb or walk, Bhimsen Joshi can still mesmerize audience with his vocal renditions.
Born in a conservative school master’s family in Gadag town of erstwhile Dharwad district in Karnataka on February 4, 1922, Bhimsen Joshi, showed inclination towards music, early in his childhood. The washerman of the house was in a way his first music guru. According to the family folklore, Bhimsen Joshi would often be seen standing in front of a music shop in the main street of Gadag, listening to ‘Fagwa Brij Dekhan Ko’ a Raag Basant composition rendered by Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, the founder father of the Kirana Gharana.
Dharwad was then part of the Bombay state and prevalent form of music was Hindustani. Bhimsen Joshi was fascinated by the khayal form of singing. In those days, khayal was principally taught in the Guru-Shishya parampara or the master – disciple tradition. In 1933, the eleven year old Bhimsen left home on his own in search of a guru. He spent three years in Gwalior, Lucknow and Rampur, all renowned centres of Hindustani music, searching for an ideal teacher. For a brief period, Bhimsen Joshi was the disciple of Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan, the most prized musician of Gwalior and father of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, who taught him the rudiments of Raag Puriya and Raag Maarwa. Ultimately, his father Gururajacharya Joshi succeeded in tracking him down and brought young Bhimsen back home.
In 1936, Rambhau Kundgolkar, better known as Sawai Gandharva, agreed to take Bhimsen Joshi as his shishya and imparted rigorous music training for four years. The teacher taught him the nuances of khayal gayaki and Bhimsen Joshi perfected the patterns of Raag Multani and Raag Todi while performing the errands in the Guru’s house. After four years, he left his Guru and set out on his own.
At the age of 20, Bhimsen Joshi released his first album which was a collection of devotional songs in Hindi and Kannada. His first live performance was held in Pune in 1946 to mark the shashtabdipoorti (60 years) of his guru Sawai Gandharva. He has never looked back since then.
Kannada audience got the taste of Joshi’s talent, when he rendered D R Bendre’s poem, ‘Uttara Dhuva Dim.. Dakhana Dhruva Ku” for HMV. His rendition of Purandara Dasa’s “Bhagyada Lakshmi Baaramma” is still among the most favourite devotional songs in Kannada as are his Marathi abhangs in Maharashtra. The great success of these recordings made Bhimsen Joshi a popular singer. Soon, he began to get invitations to perform at various cities and towns of present day Karnataka and Maharashtra.
He bought a huge car to travel around. Bombay to Belgaum to Sholapur to Bangalore to Hyderabad to Nagpur to Raipur… the journeys continued unending and he became an expert driver. The spread of his fame and popularity beyond the boundaries of Karnataka and Maharashtra brought him invitations from far off places like Jalandhar, Jammu, Srinagar, Delhi, Calcutta and Gawahati. He soon realized the car had its limitations – it moved in a vilambit taal. Panditji switched to air travel – thus giving an opportunity for his friends to remark “the disciple of Sawai Gandharva has become a ‘Hawai’ Gandharva.”
In 1970, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi rendered Sant Vani – a synthesis of works of Kabir Das and Purandara Dasa, which brought laurels and critical acclaim. He also rendered ever green numbers “Piya to manata nahee,” a thumri, “ Jo bhaje Hari ko sada,” a bhajan, and the most enchanting thumri – “Piya ke milan ki aas.”

Bhimsen Joshi's rendition of 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara' along with other doyens of music--Balamurali Krishna and Lata Mangeshkar virtually became an unofficial national anthem in in the late 80s, capturing hearts of millions of Indians even as the song was beamed on Doordarshan to countless homes. For over four decades Pandit Bhimsen Joshi has led the renaissance of Indian classical music with the passion and power of a one man chorus.His seemingly effortless performances hide hours of relentless riyaz. He has added his own distinctive style, adapting characteristics from other gharanas to create a unique vocal idiom.
Pandit ji had once remarked “an unsympathetic teacher and rigorous riyaz with a bit of luck thrown in makes a good singer.’ Fortunately or unfortunately, Bhimsen Joshi had all three of them. But his gratitude for his gurus remains rock solid. He has started an annual classical musical festival called Sawai Gandharva Music Festival in the memory of his guru. This festival is held in Pune every December.
Bharat Ratna has made Pandit ji happy and expectedly he has dedicated it as a tribute to the Kirana Gharana. He, however, said that the one person he remembered most when he received the news of Bharat Ratna was his disciple and wife Vatsala. “She played an important role in all my activities, including the Sawai Gandharva Music Festival. She loved music and took a lot of efforts to ensure that the festival reached the stature that it enjoys today.”Speaking about the future of classical music Bhimsen Joshi said "young people have lots of technique, little emotion. They learn khayal in the morning, ghazal in the afternoon, natyasangeet in the evening, want to perform at night," Pandit Joshi had observed. The statement reflects the lifetime experience of a dedicated and sincere artiste. It also explains why Panditji has survived others in life and in music, and weathered criticism and nightmares, to remain one of India's most admired artistes.

manishdesai.pib@gmail.com