Bharat Ratna Pundit Bhimsen Joshi

Well known Hindustani  vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, who enthralled generations of connoisseurs with his  marvelous renditions of  classical music, passed away Sahyadri hospital, Mumbai  on Monday, 24 January   after a prolonged illness. He was 88.

Born to Pundit Guracharya Joshi, a noted Sanskrit scholar on Feb 4, 1922, at Gadag, Bhimsen was a child prodigy.  He fell in love with Music at a tender age of 9. He ran away from Dharwad to join Kirana Gharana at Gwalior, under the maestro of those times,  Ustad Abdul Karim Khan.Mr. Joshi got a boost to his career during a concert in Pune in January 1946, at the age of 24,  on the occasion of the 60th birthday of his guru Sawai Gandharva. 

Pandit Bhimsen never compromised with his quality of singing. He had renderd a song in Kannada movie Sandhyaraga, of Anakru, a celebrated Kannada novelist. Nambide ninna...  which was a hit song of 1970s. His association with another Music maestro Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, some times ended up in a quarrel, GV Iyer, the Director pacified the two elephants !!  

What distinguished him from the ordinary Vocalists  was his powerful voice, amazing breath control, fine musical sensibility and unwavering grasp of the fundamentals that made him the Maestro of  Hindustani Music, representing a subtle fusion of intelligence and passion that imparted life and excitement to his music.

 Apart from his classical singing he lent his voice to Hindi movie Baant Bahar, and Bhairavi.  Mr. Joshi sang  as a dhrupad singer for a Bengali film based on the life of Tansen and later sang as a playback singer for Marathi film Gulacha Ganapati, produced and directed by celebrated Marathi humorist Pu La Deshpande.  

But it was his Sant Vani recitals, which bore the flair of Marathi Bhakti Sangeet   and compositions of Haridasasof Karnataka that added immensely to his popularity in both Maharashtra and Karnataka which have had a long succession of saint-poets.

He was honoured with the Padma Shri (1972), Sangeet Natak Akademi award for Hindustani vocal music (1975), Padma Bhushan (1985) and Madhya Pradesh government’s “Tansen Samman” in 1992.  The nation’s highest Civilian Award Bharat Ratna was bestowed on him in 2008.

Mr. Joshi had undergone a surgery for removal of a brain tumor in 1999 followed by a cervical spine operation in 2005.

The maestro’s last surprise public performance that enthralled the audience was during 2007  Sawai Gandharva annual music festival which he himself had started to commemorate the memory of his guru.

People of Karnataka remember him always for his rendition of  Dasavani. His Kangalidyaatako kaveri Ragana nodadaa.. of  Sri Sripadarajaru,  ‘Kailasavasa Gureesha Eeshaa… of Vijaya Dasaru, Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma… of Purandara Dasaru, several compositions on Sri Raghavendra Swamiji of Mantralyam,composed by Abhinava Janardana dasaru  are very popular in Kannada. 

 The Government of Karnataka honoured him. 

( Courtesy  Minister Mr Suresh Kumar's collection) 

He was a great devotee of Sri Raghavendra Swamiji of Mantralayam. In fact he ran away from home at 11 years of age to Mantralayam. After receiving Sri Raghavendra’s blessings, he travelled to distant  Gwalior with the unsurpassed urge for Music.

Let his Soul rest in Peace. Karnataka missed him. Maharashtra gained him.

Scholarship VS Humility

   It was way back in 1990. I wanted to take an Interview with a renowned Jnanapeeth Award winner. He bluntly said: I have nothing to speak to you personally. Whatever you have heard of me & known from my Books, you can write, sans controversial statements et al., He was a celebrity who has reached certain heights. I can understand Egotism, he might have, but should not be. I have spoken to many Scholars in the West. They are down to earth people with no airs over them. No auras attached to them. But when I speak to some scholars here, they either say, Sorry I dont have time.. or move away from there. That is what Bhavabhuti says: Jeernamange Subhashitam - Whatever  he wanted to convey got  aborted when he spoke to scholars, common people didn't understand him. What else he could do? Many of our Questions sincere or otherwise remained unanswered by this Attitude of Scholars. 

Today I had a similar experience again. .I was chatting with a Student, (not of mine) on my Face Book. He is a student  of  a Vidyapeetha, a place where scholars are made. He asked me: Do you know me? When I said i am his FB friend, he again asked me who I am after much info given by me. I was perplexed. I said, you are still a student, dont be so rude. He said sorry and so on... It is humility or normal behaviour  which is needed for all at all ages. It fetches people to you. That is what I believe. But why only Language Scholars or some one  in the offing should be so rude I hardly understand. Most of Sanskrit Scholars are very rude & puffed up. Some are very humble, yet they are uncared for. That's the irony of the scholarly circle. 

When you ask them a genuine Question, they say: Do you know Panini's Asthadhyayee or Tarkasamgraha or Siddhanta Koumudee? Then I can speak to you, else no way.

I remember my father's words. All Scholars are not enlightened. They are masters of letters. They cannot deliver anything good to the Society. 

When Saibaba of Shirdi  was asked by a devotee to explain the meaning of Ishavasya Upanishad, he told him, go and watch what  the servant maid of Kaka Deekshit was doing. He was annoyed as Scholar as he had nothing to learn from  a Servant. However, he went there. She was washing clothes. She was offered a new Saree by Deekshit's wife.  She expressed her happiness. Next day, she was happily singing a song with same old clothes and was as happy as she was the previous day !! Tena tyaktena bhunjeethaa: maa krudha: kasyachiddhanam  -  Be happy with whatever God has given you. Do not covet what others have. An illiterate person was practicing the message of a great Upanishad, without her knowledge.

 Literacy, Scholarship & Life are all unconnected things. Only Humility can connect them better.