Dear friends, Namaskar. It has truly been a pleasure interacting with all of you through this blog and getting your feedback. You may have noticed that in the past week, in the print media, there has been big news about Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, his assets, and the ensuing family feud. A few reactions on the internet have been even scarier, to the extent that some have put a picture of Panditji and around it they mention his financial assets, the house and flats that he owned and also his Bharat Ratna with a lot of sarcasm.
Right from the days of the Mahabharata, the Kauravas and Pandavas fought for the empire, despite being brothers. So it is but natural that these kinds of family quarrels, such fights for petty things, do continue no matter which age you are living in. This is no reflection on the artistic ability and contribution of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. We all should remember that he has been conferred the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award, for his excellence and contribution in the field of classical music, not for the assets he has acquired or the family dispute that comes out of that. In my humble opinion, the only thing that media or society should worry about is whether we have been able to carry forward the musical legacy that he left behind.
It’s unfortunate that the media is always waiting to sensationalize news about a celebrity and keep churning it for some time. Whereas media’s main responsibility is to report not to give opinion. In my experience as a musician, for the last forty years, I have never seen a panel discussion about a great rendition of Raag Deshkar by Mallikarjun Mansur, Raag Hamir by Pandit Kumar Gandharva, Raag Adhana by Pandit Jasraj, Raag Kedar by Gangubai Hangal, Raag Mayamalavagaula by Shemmangudi Srinivas Iyer, Kalyani of Madhurai Mani Iyer, or Raag Kirvani by M.S. Subbalakshmi, who is also coincidentally a Bharat Ratna awardee. I can also very humbly add here that as many as five musicians have been conferred the Bharat Ratna, which is probably the most for a single discipline over a period of time except some political personalities for obvious reasons. Let us also submit that society as a whole and the musicians’ fraternity in particular does respect and recognize the contributions and excellence of people from other walks of life.
We have seen a panel discussion about how Panditji’s children were fighting for his mundane assets. In turn, Panditji’s true asset was and remains his innovations like Raag Kalashree (his house name is also Kalashree) and Raag Lalit Bhatihar. These two are immortal renditions which you can listen to any number of times and every time you listen, it gives you a different meaning and transports you to a different world altogether. If we were truly worried about Panditji’s legacy, we should have had a panel discussion about the untimely demise of his most favorite and well trained disciple, Pandit Madhav Gudi, who learnt for 26 years, had imbibed all of the nuances of his gayaki, but passed away in April 2011, whereas Bhimsenji passed away in January 2011. Madhav Gudi would have been a true successor to his musical legacy and assets if he had lived on. But, he was happy imparting his knowledge to some worthy students, through which Bhimsenji’s legacy lives on.
As a student of history and music, I strongly feel that if we are looking at Pandit Bhimsen Joshi’s lifetime achievements, assets, and legacy, it should be as follows:
1. Panditji popularizing classical music in the nooks and corners of the country and abroad and inspiring youngsters to pursue music as their life’s ambition.
2. His innovative concept/concerts of Santavani, the devotional lyric of Marathi saints.
3. His innovative concept of full length concerts of Daasavani, the compositions of the Haridaasas of Karnataka who spread the message of righteousness and spirituality in the common man’s language. But for Panditji’s emotive singing, these lyrics would have remained in the books.
4. Pandit Bhimsenji started the Sawai Gandharva Music Festival in Pune 54 years ago which became a huge platform for the propagation of classical music. Even today, every senior and great musician and upcoming artists would love to perform there to gain a sense of gratification and pride. It’s not very easy to hold a festival of that magnitude, where 15-20 thousand people would sit and listen for almost a week over a period of 54 years.
And the list goes on
Has the media been able to highlight these things about Panditji’s life? Are his critics worried about somebody or anybody carrying forward these traditions for the future with the same amount of authority and dedication? Recently, I wrote a book on Pandit Bhimsen Joshi which has been well appreciated by some sections of readers. While the newspapers have ample space to highlight the ongoing family litigation, they can spare only a passing reference to this biography.
Right from the days of the Mahabharata, the Kauravas and Pandavas fought for the empire, despite being brothers. So it is but natural that these kinds of family quarrels, such fights for petty things, do continue no matter which age you are living in. This is no reflection on the artistic ability and contribution of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. We all should remember that he has been conferred the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award, for his excellence and contribution in the field of classical music, not for the assets he has acquired or the family dispute that comes out of that. In my humble opinion, the only thing that media or society should worry about is whether we have been able to carry forward the musical legacy that he left behind.
It’s unfortunate that the media is always waiting to sensationalize news about a celebrity and keep churning it for some time. Whereas media’s main responsibility is to report not to give opinion. In my experience as a musician, for the last forty years, I have never seen a panel discussion about a great rendition of Raag Deshkar by Mallikarjun Mansur, Raag Hamir by Pandit Kumar Gandharva, Raag Adhana by Pandit Jasraj, Raag Kedar by Gangubai Hangal, Raag Mayamalavagaula by Shemmangudi Srinivas Iyer, Kalyani of Madhurai Mani Iyer, or Raag Kirvani by M.S. Subbalakshmi, who is also coincidentally a Bharat Ratna awardee. I can also very humbly add here that as many as five musicians have been conferred the Bharat Ratna, which is probably the most for a single discipline over a period of time except some political personalities for obvious reasons. Let us also submit that society as a whole and the musicians’ fraternity in particular does respect and recognize the contributions and excellence of people from other walks of life.
As a student of history and music, I strongly feel that if we are looking at Pandit Bhimsen Joshi’s lifetime achievements, assets, and legacy, it should be as follows:
1. Panditji popularizing classical music in the nooks and corners of the country and abroad and inspiring youngsters to pursue music as their life’s ambition.
2. His innovative concept/concerts of Santavani, the devotional lyric of Marathi saints.
3. His innovative concept of full length concerts of Daasavani, the compositions of the Haridaasas of Karnataka who spread the message of righteousness and spirituality in the common man’s language. But for Panditji’s emotive singing, these lyrics would have remained in the books.
4. Pandit Bhimsenji started the Sawai Gandharva Music Festival in Pune 54 years ago which became a huge platform for the propagation of classical music. Even today, every senior and great musician and upcoming artists would love to perform there to gain a sense of gratification and pride. It’s not very easy to hold a festival of that magnitude, where 15-20 thousand people would sit and listen for almost a week over a period of 54 years.
And the list goes on
Has the media been able to highlight these things about Panditji’s life? Are his critics worried about somebody or anybody carrying forward these traditions for the future with the same amount of authority and dedication? Recently, I wrote a book on Pandit Bhimsen Joshi which has been well appreciated by some sections of readers. While the newspapers have ample space to highlight the ongoing family litigation, they can spare only a passing reference to this biography.
Sir,
ReplyDeleteDiscussing seriously about music is a very hard thing to do, given the intellectual nature of the subject. However, the media and its ever so supportive general public need to satiate their voyeuristic urges. Lo presto, we now discuss material assets, marital life, vices and virtues of great people and bring them down to a level suitable to the public's digestive capacity .
Your suggestions are indeed noble and the need of the hour, but how do we wean the public off the late night Big Boss? Reading the comments posted on the internet 'news' papers, the task only looks uphill.
Regards,
Sir,
ReplyDeleteI deeply touched after reading your write up, and I fully support your view, infect, this has reminded me a story, which I am sharing below,
One day our Respected A P J A Kalamji was on a official tour to Israel, the day he visited there was a huge blast, and some persons were injured & some had died too. Next day morning while going through local News Paper, he was sure that front page will be full of that news of the blast, but he was astonished to see that 1st page was having a news about a person doing drip irrigation and getting good result. next time while he met media person over their, he asked about this, then the person replied "Sir, what has happened it cant be undone, and we are deeply mourned about the incidence, but life has to go on, we had to food our children, thus if any of our countryman feel motivated regarding Cultivation using rain water, will be helpful to grow more"
I don't, really don't know, when our media will stop providing Only -ve news.
Anyway Sir,
looking forward to read more articles in coming days.
Thanks & Regards
Prosenjit RC
Sir
ReplyDeleteMedia will continue to look for news that makes sensation and wont spare anyone. Very rarely, we see a meaningful panel discussion. Media will move to next item that they think will create interest in viewers. I suppose this is reality. Master's contribution is not limited by time and space. In my view, biggest asset left behind, by these personalities you have mentioned is, they made even folks like me to listen to music. That is priceless.
I completely agree with your Sir, Pt.Havaldarji. Pandit Bhimsen Joshi is remembered by us for his excellence in music. He received recognition and awards for his music and the contribution made in the art form. Today if Kirana Gharana is on the pivotal position in the county, lots of credit should go to Panditji. We therefore have to comment on his music rather than any other matters of his life. We, I think, should not be concerned with it. Well, as stated by Shivaprasad Kuskur, media looks for news which makes sensation- that is life. We cannot change them. But definitely we could show our disapproval for such reporting.
ReplyDeletesir,
ReplyDeleteit is indeed a sad commentary as to how predatory our media has become in its quest for trp's.How such reporting affects the near and dear ones of the subject seems of no concern.