It was a sunday morning on 9th december 2007. In a matter of minutes, a day before on saturday, I had decided that come what may, I will visit the Sawai Gandharva Music festival at Pune. The festival, had begun on Thursday, the 6th of december, and had already become a topic of conversation among music lovers. Online discussions were on a roll, newspaper articles were on a full swing describing the performances of the artists over the days. "Shivkumar Sharma played one of the finest Durga on the planet" was one such comment. Some said, " Ajoy ji's performance was a class apart". Some were keen to bask in the hang-over of the great Pandit Jasraj's performance.
I had one plain reason of missing out these events....I was in my final year of graduation. But there was one reason why I was keen to be a part on the last day of the festival. There was a rumor in Pune. Plainly looked into, there can be no surprise, as talking is a basic necessity of Punekars....and if the talking is about somebody....there can be no stopping! This rumor was coming to me, thanks to the frequent visit of Pune-relatives to my house. And the rumor was too exciting to be ignored. It was about....Pt. Bhimsen Joshi....a man, I had started to idolize from the past many years....a man, who had influenced my life to the extent of a strong motivation to strive for your target....who had given me, and gives me.....a joy par excellence.....who has a plethora of emotions in his vocals....who has made me cry, laugh, sing, dance...and made me give every sort of human reaction possible to the purest form of joy! The rumour was that, panditji, then 86 years old(?), was looking forward to sing, in that year's music festival. Panditji is a class apart, which is evident from the fact that his 'looking forward to' is taken seriously, to the extent of generating a rumor!
I was one of those excited people, and made a quick decision of traveling to Pune, by catching the earliest bus from panvel. Likewise, I woke up at 4.00, and started at 5.00 in the morning. Yeah, it was one of the early-morning wake-ups, which you never regret! With a hurried walk from Deccan to raman baug, I reached the venue by 8.45, with only one thought in mind....'Will it happen'? No wonder, I skipped his concerts over the past 4 years, for whatever reasons...reasons which appeared crap, ranged from 10th std exams, 12th std exams, CET Exams and what not. In India, a student is born, armored with exams...which protects it from the so-called spoiling interests like music. At the venue, I was greeted by the performance Of Shrikant Deshpande, a disciple of the maestro himself, and who, like all his disciples try nothing but to emulate him. So, I made merry by eating a breakfast of vadas, samosas, pohe and a glass of hot 'typical sawai' coffee...! Next in line was Ustaad Shujaat Khan, whose performance, I remember even now! He is the son of the greatest Ustad Vilayat Khan, and like him, has a tact of literally making his instrument sitar, sing!!! He played a rare raag 'Rahiya Bilawal' and followed by a Pahadi. Mukesh jadhav, an established tabla maestro from Pune, accompanied him. It was indeed, one of those many awesome concerts that I have ever witnessed. After the performance, I managed to get his autograph, and when I was returning back to my seat...I heard an announcement. And this made the 6,000- odd crowd, like me....literally jump with joy!!! We never believed what we heard and were busy verifying what we heard for the next few seconds. The man at the podium, Mr. Anand Deshmukh, had made an announcement that Bhimsenji......Anna, as people fondly call him, was given a permission by the doctors to sing for about 30 minutes. How I wished, I could bribe every doctor at Pune, to extend the limit to 2 hours. Phone calls began...." Arey kuthe asshil, kasa asshil....lavkar Sawai la ye....Anna gaanar ahet"...( Wherever are you, in what condition are you, please come here....Anna is going to sing!).....calls of these nature were familiar for the next half an hour. Every moment in that half an hour, was a glimpse, of how this man had influenced millions!
A news of this sort and about a man of this sort, is sure to divert the minds of a large section of people. And the same happened - the artist scheduled to perform before Bhimsenji, had to bear the brunt of it! In this case, the artist was Pt. Ajay Pohankar. He started with raag charukeshi, and followed that with a beautiful thumri...but all this....was listened half-heartedly by the audience. They were more keen looking at the back-gate of the ground! When will Anna's car come??? When will we listen to his 'pahila shaddja'( first note in a musical rendetion, called 'sa' in short)? By the end of Ajay ji's performance, I also shifted to the back gate! And finally, we could see that car coming.
Suddenly, there was a rush towards the car. Joyous people started to surround the car, and even policemen were called for. The scene was reminiscent to that of people crowding around a film star's car, or a politician's car.....albeit the difference being the person in the car was a more deserving personality! For many minutes, the window of the car was not opened and a cup of coffee was ordered for the maestro! After many minutes of patience, the door finally opened, and we could see HIM! There he was...calm and quiet...unperturbed by the people around....introspective as always before giving a concert! The people started a huge round of applause....all this, while Ajay ji was performing on stage! A wheelchair was brought....yeah, after all those expectations and joy,we tend to forget his age.He was 86 years old then! But, as most of the vocalists of his era sang for the audiences' happiness,he had no complaints against the people. However, many people could not control their emotions then, as the emperor of Indian Classical Music - a person who had ruled the musical stage for the last five decades and had ruled the hearts of classes and masses of music alike, was carried on the wheelchair towards the stage!
Finally the emperor was escorted to the stage. Needless to say, he was given a standing ovation by the crowd! He is one of the few things Punekars love to love! Bhimsenji is a humble, down-to-earth person,a quality which was evident at this concert too. A concert which began with a very short speech. He said " Magchya varshi, me shabd dilya pramane....thodi sangeetachi sewa karu icchito....tar kiti jamel kay te mala atta sangta yet nahi...apan tharvave"( As per the promise I made last year, I intend to offer my services to this music. How successful I would be, I can't say....better you all decide)....I felt like pleading....'Panditji...who are we to decide about your singing...please don't embarrass us anymore?????'
And the same old story began...the same thing that happens in every concert! A very prominent start-note, a slight but impressive alaap, and 'waah' and 'kya baat hain' from the audience....the raag was Multani. We all had crowded near the stage for him. Nobody could stop us - all with their recording devices turned on,cameras turned on - all for that 86-year old man, who even at this age of his, had the capacity to revolve people around him! Nobody from the crowd knew each other but we all were smiling at each other, at every musical note coming from the master! All of us were very happy - our master, our emperor, our favorite singer....was singing!!! This is what you call sweetly dictating terms to the audience!!! Very few artists possess this. Then came the taans,his ultimate specialty,and the audience literally went mad. Some people already started to feel their eyes getting moist. Panditji sang his trademark 'Gokul gaanv ka chhora' in the vilambit and 'Kangan mundaniyan mori' in the drut.
Then came the moment which literally made the audience cry. He started with the abhang 'awghachi sansar'. How soul stirring was that performance!!! Panditji, over the decades is known in almost every maharashtrian house, due to his rendering of these abhangas. The peak of the moment came when he sang the word 'Vitthala' meaning mention of the name of the lord. One side of me went down memory lane - how I first listened to this man's recording,what was my reaction then and how that recording began lingering in my mind for the next whole day...and this feeling normalized only after listening to it may be 50 times! How I started to get a feel of his recordings....then how I could not control myself from singing in public...and then regretting big time - 'If only I can sing!' Lost in these deep thoughts, I could never realize when tears started to roll from my eyes. And when I realized this, I also saw many people in the audience weeping with joy, with awe, with respect to the irreplaceable master of Indian Classical Music! It really takes too much to reach this stage....a man who ran away from his home at the age of 15 in search of music, his guru....and then when he finds a guru, the guru makes him to toil hard under any circumstance for atleast two years...and then he finally teaches him...and then after a rigorous training, a maestro is created!!! The maestro is such that he lasts at the top consistently for almost six decades!!! Lost in deep thoughts, and in awe of him, I listened the entire rendering, which ended with a bhairavi...his ever-famous 'ras ke bhare tore naina'.
The most touching sight came when at the end of the concert when Panditji, himself could not control his tears, maybe due to the immense love shown to him by the audience. I could never stop thinking that is our generation capable of generating such maestros? Meastros, who along with success always strive to have more, and still are down-to-earth at the same time!
Such was this memory that whenever i hear those recordings....I am transported to a new world entirely! It provides me an inspiration, a zeal, a passion to achieve your goal and yet to be grounded as well! Yeah, thanks to some angels who recorded that concert, I was able to download that stuff the very next day, when I reached home...:D
I had one plain reason of missing out these events....I was in my final year of graduation. But there was one reason why I was keen to be a part on the last day of the festival. There was a rumor in Pune. Plainly looked into, there can be no surprise, as talking is a basic necessity of Punekars....and if the talking is about somebody....there can be no stopping! This rumor was coming to me, thanks to the frequent visit of Pune-relatives to my house. And the rumor was too exciting to be ignored. It was about....Pt. Bhimsen Joshi....a man, I had started to idolize from the past many years....a man, who had influenced my life to the extent of a strong motivation to strive for your target....who had given me, and gives me.....a joy par excellence.....who has a plethora of emotions in his vocals....who has made me cry, laugh, sing, dance...and made me give every sort of human reaction possible to the purest form of joy! The rumour was that, panditji, then 86 years old(?), was looking forward to sing, in that year's music festival. Panditji is a class apart, which is evident from the fact that his 'looking forward to' is taken seriously, to the extent of generating a rumor!
I was one of those excited people, and made a quick decision of traveling to Pune, by catching the earliest bus from panvel. Likewise, I woke up at 4.00, and started at 5.00 in the morning. Yeah, it was one of the early-morning wake-ups, which you never regret! With a hurried walk from Deccan to raman baug, I reached the venue by 8.45, with only one thought in mind....'Will it happen'? No wonder, I skipped his concerts over the past 4 years, for whatever reasons...reasons which appeared crap, ranged from 10th std exams, 12th std exams, CET Exams and what not. In India, a student is born, armored with exams...which protects it from the so-called spoiling interests like music. At the venue, I was greeted by the performance Of Shrikant Deshpande, a disciple of the maestro himself, and who, like all his disciples try nothing but to emulate him. So, I made merry by eating a breakfast of vadas, samosas, pohe and a glass of hot 'typical sawai' coffee...! Next in line was Ustaad Shujaat Khan, whose performance, I remember even now! He is the son of the greatest Ustad Vilayat Khan, and like him, has a tact of literally making his instrument sitar, sing!!! He played a rare raag 'Rahiya Bilawal' and followed by a Pahadi. Mukesh jadhav, an established tabla maestro from Pune, accompanied him. It was indeed, one of those many awesome concerts that I have ever witnessed. After the performance, I managed to get his autograph, and when I was returning back to my seat...I heard an announcement. And this made the 6,000- odd crowd, like me....literally jump with joy!!! We never believed what we heard and were busy verifying what we heard for the next few seconds. The man at the podium, Mr. Anand Deshmukh, had made an announcement that Bhimsenji......Anna, as people fondly call him, was given a permission by the doctors to sing for about 30 minutes. How I wished, I could bribe every doctor at Pune, to extend the limit to 2 hours. Phone calls began...." Arey kuthe asshil, kasa asshil....lavkar Sawai la ye....Anna gaanar ahet"...( Wherever are you, in what condition are you, please come here....Anna is going to sing!).....calls of these nature were familiar for the next half an hour. Every moment in that half an hour, was a glimpse, of how this man had influenced millions!
A news of this sort and about a man of this sort, is sure to divert the minds of a large section of people. And the same happened - the artist scheduled to perform before Bhimsenji, had to bear the brunt of it! In this case, the artist was Pt. Ajay Pohankar. He started with raag charukeshi, and followed that with a beautiful thumri...but all this....was listened half-heartedly by the audience. They were more keen looking at the back-gate of the ground! When will Anna's car come??? When will we listen to his 'pahila shaddja'( first note in a musical rendetion, called 'sa' in short)? By the end of Ajay ji's performance, I also shifted to the back gate! And finally, we could see that car coming.
Suddenly, there was a rush towards the car. Joyous people started to surround the car, and even policemen were called for. The scene was reminiscent to that of people crowding around a film star's car, or a politician's car.....albeit the difference being the person in the car was a more deserving personality! For many minutes, the window of the car was not opened and a cup of coffee was ordered for the maestro! After many minutes of patience, the door finally opened, and we could see HIM! There he was...calm and quiet...unperturbed by the people around....introspective as always before giving a concert! The people started a huge round of applause....all this, while Ajay ji was performing on stage! A wheelchair was brought....yeah, after all those expectations and joy,we tend to forget his age.He was 86 years old then! But, as most of the vocalists of his era sang for the audiences' happiness,he had no complaints against the people. However, many people could not control their emotions then, as the emperor of Indian Classical Music - a person who had ruled the musical stage for the last five decades and had ruled the hearts of classes and masses of music alike, was carried on the wheelchair towards the stage!
Finally the emperor was escorted to the stage. Needless to say, he was given a standing ovation by the crowd! He is one of the few things Punekars love to love! Bhimsenji is a humble, down-to-earth person,a quality which was evident at this concert too. A concert which began with a very short speech. He said " Magchya varshi, me shabd dilya pramane....thodi sangeetachi sewa karu icchito....tar kiti jamel kay te mala atta sangta yet nahi...apan tharvave"( As per the promise I made last year, I intend to offer my services to this music. How successful I would be, I can't say....better you all decide)....I felt like pleading....'Panditji...who are we to decide about your singing...please don't embarrass us anymore?????'
And the same old story began...the same thing that happens in every concert! A very prominent start-note, a slight but impressive alaap, and 'waah' and 'kya baat hain' from the audience....the raag was Multani. We all had crowded near the stage for him. Nobody could stop us - all with their recording devices turned on,cameras turned on - all for that 86-year old man, who even at this age of his, had the capacity to revolve people around him! Nobody from the crowd knew each other but we all were smiling at each other, at every musical note coming from the master! All of us were very happy - our master, our emperor, our favorite singer....was singing!!! This is what you call sweetly dictating terms to the audience!!! Very few artists possess this. Then came the taans,his ultimate specialty,and the audience literally went mad. Some people already started to feel their eyes getting moist. Panditji sang his trademark 'Gokul gaanv ka chhora' in the vilambit and 'Kangan mundaniyan mori' in the drut.
Then came the moment which literally made the audience cry. He started with the abhang 'awghachi sansar'. How soul stirring was that performance!!! Panditji, over the decades is known in almost every maharashtrian house, due to his rendering of these abhangas. The peak of the moment came when he sang the word 'Vitthala' meaning mention of the name of the lord. One side of me went down memory lane - how I first listened to this man's recording,what was my reaction then and how that recording began lingering in my mind for the next whole day...and this feeling normalized only after listening to it may be 50 times! How I started to get a feel of his recordings....then how I could not control myself from singing in public...and then regretting big time - 'If only I can sing!' Lost in these deep thoughts, I could never realize when tears started to roll from my eyes. And when I realized this, I also saw many people in the audience weeping with joy, with awe, with respect to the irreplaceable master of Indian Classical Music! It really takes too much to reach this stage....a man who ran away from his home at the age of 15 in search of music, his guru....and then when he finds a guru, the guru makes him to toil hard under any circumstance for atleast two years...and then he finally teaches him...and then after a rigorous training, a maestro is created!!! The maestro is such that he lasts at the top consistently for almost six decades!!! Lost in deep thoughts, and in awe of him, I listened the entire rendering, which ended with a bhairavi...his ever-famous 'ras ke bhare tore naina'.
The most touching sight came when at the end of the concert when Panditji, himself could not control his tears, maybe due to the immense love shown to him by the audience. I could never stop thinking that is our generation capable of generating such maestros? Meastros, who along with success always strive to have more, and still are down-to-earth at the same time!
Such was this memory that whenever i hear those recordings....I am transported to a new world entirely! It provides me an inspiration, a zeal, a passion to achieve your goal and yet to be grounded as well! Yeah, thanks to some angels who recorded that concert, I was able to download that stuff the very next day, when I reached home...:D
Good write up 'Andy'.. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot...!!! :)
ReplyDeleteI literally cried after going through this article.You possess a fantastic narration style.Keep writing. Thank you so much.
ReplyDeleteVikas, that is all due to Panditji...imagine, what would have happened to me, while actually listening to HIM that day! :)
ReplyDeleteI felt as if i have seen him while reading.This article was an experience to me. I can imagine what must have happened to you.You are very fortunate...
ReplyDeleteNice Article Aashay......I thought I am actually seeing the event in front of my eyes.....Good Writing Skills...Keep it up....
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot! :) I would also request you to read the marathi blog on the same topic. You can find that in my latest release. Thanks for the encouragement! :)
DeleteThanks, Aashay, for leaving a comment on my blog and leading me to this wonderful writeup. I could feel the thrill you experienced. You are fortunate to have heard Panditji's last concert.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot ma'am! :)
DeleteYou are one of the luckiest person who have heard India's undoubtedly greatest classical singer live. I wish I too had a great occasion like this in my life.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much friend! :) I still recollect those precious moments...moments which have made me rich! :)
Delete