This is the end of an Era. Truly. No other occasion would deserve the cliched phrase better! Bhimsen Joshi the colossus is no more. The body that sustained a professional career of six decades has finally given way to the laws of mortality; the music which was the food of life for Bhimsen shall live on in the minds of his countless fans; even his critics would be wondering whether such unparalleled achievement will ever be possible in the world of Hindustani Classical Music.
The greatest thing about Bhimsen was that he was a singer by choice; he made the choice at a very tender age and then cut off all options. Born into a lower middle class family at Gadag he understood his parents’ inability to support him and went his own way in search of music and a Guru. He stayed not to buy the railway tickets nor did he stop to seek patronage. Like Shakespeare, he had these lost years when none but he knew that a great musician was in the making. Praised be the coincidence when he met Pt Vinayakrao Patwardhan, a musical missionary groomed by the great Vishnu Digambar Paluskar in what is now Pakistan! It was Vinayakrao who told Bhimsen that he did not have to look for a Guru so far from home—Rambhau Kundgolkar, the great Savai Gandharva whom Bhimsen later immortalized by
the Savai Gandharva Music Festival in Pune was right next door at Kundgol in Dharwad district. Bhimsen wasted no time and came to Kundgol; he had found his mentor.
The greatest thing about Bhimsen was that he was a singer by choice; he made the choice at a very tender age and then cut off all options. Born into a lower middle class family at Gadag he understood his parents’ inability to support him and went his own way in search of music and a Guru. He stayed not to buy the railway tickets nor did he stop to seek patronage. Like Shakespeare, he had these lost years when none but he knew that a great musician was in the making. Praised be the coincidence when he met Pt Vinayakrao Patwardhan, a musical missionary groomed by the great Vishnu Digambar Paluskar in what is now Pakistan! It was Vinayakrao who told Bhimsen that he did not have to look for a Guru so far from home—Rambhau Kundgolkar, the great Savai Gandharva whom Bhimsen later immortalized by
the Savai Gandharva Music Festival in Pune was right next door at Kundgol in Dharwad district. Bhimsen wasted no time and came to Kundgol; he had found his mentor.
Guru-Shishya Parampara is a fine coinage but the Guru’s of Bhimsen’s youth were not Professors of Music of our time; they tested the Shishya’s mettle first and then occasionally taught. Bhimsen stuck to two tasks—he did all the household work without being asked and also listened attentively when seniors like Gangubai Hangal came for their tuitions. In her he found a loving elder sister and a musical confidante. Eventually Savai Gandharva began to teach him—but as all his disciples would testify later, Savai Gandharva rarely ‘taught’! He gave his students the basics of music-swara, taal , laya, the raga and the bandish- and then left them to do the battle on their own to make their own music through riyaz.
The riyaz done by Bhimsen is legendary stuff—both in the hours he slogged to modulate his voice and the attempts he made to find his version of what he had received. After years of riyaz he arrived on the concert circuit with all the gifts of a successful vocalist—a deep sonorous masculine voice that could traverse all the three saptaks effortlessly, adequate command of tala, a keen eye for laya , deep insights into the popularly sung ragas and a collection of traditional and recent compositions which were to become his trade marks in the years to come.
In a way, Lady Fortune had smiled on him! There was a big vacuum in the concert circuit—Kumar could not sing because of illness, D V Paluskar had passed away untimely, Vasantrao Deshpande had been condemned to Assam by the Military Accounts Dept where he served and the genius of Pt Mallikarjun Mansoor was way beyond the lay listeners. Bhimsen filled this vacuum with dignity and humility—he always had only love and respect for these contemporaries. The organizers were as trying as the Gurus; Bhimsen had to wait for long to receive a three figured bidagi. But he worked with zeal and gusto; always put the listeners first; never irritated the organizers with tantrums (on occasions he invited them to his post-concert revels!) and became the Musician of the Masses we have lost today.
Bhimsen was lucky in that he was trained in the Kirana Gharana—which itself is not as straight-jacketed as some other Gharanas. His initial wanderlust and his maverick approach to life and music alike were not taboos in the Kirana tradition. He had seen a lot, heard a lot, understood the accomplishments of the greats of all Ghranas. As he went on, he assimilated the best of all in his presentation; perhaps that is why though his concert repertoire was limited, one got the feeling that his music was complete!
Bhimsen was strength and energy all his life except the last few years! Strong body-he could do 55 concerts in under two months, drive at break-neck speed to his concert and drive to the next overnight, hold limitless quantity of drink (during the middle years), make crisp speeches when the occasion called for. Strong mind and sharp intellect—he silenced nosy critics and busybodies of the media with truth and at times with even half truths, organize the grand Savai Gandharva Festival year after year almost single handed and take the ups and downs of life with diligence. Needless to say, these abilities were not only of the Man but of the Musician too !
When we lost Vasantrao Deshpande, Kumar had said, “We don’t lose the dead—they come to live within us and become a part of us.” Then we lost Kumar and now Bhimsen and the list can go on. But can we ever lose them? Bhimsen is dead; long live Bhimsen, the king of music!
In a way, Lady Fortune had smiled on him! There was a big vacuum in the concert circuit—Kumar could not sing because of illness, D V Paluskar had passed away untimely, Vasantrao Deshpande had been condemned to Assam by the Military Accounts Dept where he served and the genius of Pt Mallikarjun Mansoor was way beyond the lay listeners. Bhimsen filled this vacuum with dignity and humility—he always had only love and respect for these contemporaries. The organizers were as trying as the Gurus; Bhimsen had to wait for long to receive a three figured bidagi. But he worked with zeal and gusto; always put the listeners first; never irritated the organizers with tantrums (on occasions he invited them to his post-concert revels!) and became the Musician of the Masses we have lost today.
Bhimsen was lucky in that he was trained in the Kirana Gharana—which itself is not as straight-jacketed as some other Gharanas. His initial wanderlust and his maverick approach to life and music alike were not taboos in the Kirana tradition. He had seen a lot, heard a lot, understood the accomplishments of the greats of all Ghranas. As he went on, he assimilated the best of all in his presentation; perhaps that is why though his concert repertoire was limited, one got the feeling that his music was complete!
Bhimsen was strength and energy all his life except the last few years! Strong body-he could do 55 concerts in under two months, drive at break-neck speed to his concert and drive to the next overnight, hold limitless quantity of drink (during the middle years), make crisp speeches when the occasion called for. Strong mind and sharp intellect—he silenced nosy critics and busybodies of the media with truth and at times with even half truths, organize the grand Savai Gandharva Festival year after year almost single handed and take the ups and downs of life with diligence. Needless to say, these abilities were not only of the Man but of the Musician too !
When we lost Vasantrao Deshpande, Kumar had said, “We don’t lose the dead—they come to live within us and become a part of us.” Then we lost Kumar and now Bhimsen and the list can go on. But can we ever lose them? Bhimsen is dead; long live Bhimsen, the king of music!
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