Sangeet Ratna - Bhimsen Joshi

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. Ends / mandesa31@gmail.com

Deekshabhoomi

On a recent visit to Nagpur, I got an opportunity to visit Deekshabhoomi and pay my obeissence to Gautama Buddha, who showed the path of salvation to the mankind and Dr. B R Ambedkar, who is regarded as the father of the Indian Constitution. Deekshabhoomi is the place where Dr Ambedkar embraced Buddhism along with lakhs of his followers. Today, at this site in Ramdaspet, stands a towering monument modelled on the world famous Sanchi Stupa. Built in Granite, Marble and Dholpur sandstone, the Deekshabhoomi stupa contains the ashes of Dr. B R Ambedkar, placed in a silver casket. It is a site of pilgrimmage for lakhs of neo-Buddhist dalits, whose numbers swell to about two million on the day of Asoka Vijaya Dasami.

Although Dr. Ambedkar finally decided to embrace Buddhism in 1956, he had in fact made his famous announcement at the Yeola Conference held in 1935. “Unfortunately for me, I was born a Hindu Untouchable. It was beyond my power to prevent that, but I declare that it is within my power, to refuse to live under ignoble and humiliating conditions. I solemnly assure you that I will not die a Hindu." Soon after, Ambedkar was approached by various leaders of different faiths and denominations, persuading him to join their order.

After visiting Sri Lanka in 1950s and publishing a series of books and articles arguing that Buddhism was the only way for the Untouchables to gain equality, Dr.Ambedkar publicly converted to Buddhism on Vijay Dashami day, which fell on October 14, 1956. He took the three refuges and the five precepts of Buddhism from Bhadant U Chandramani, in the traditional manner and then in his turn administered them to the 380,000 of his followers that were present. More conversions followed and thus began the Dalit Buddhist Movement in India, which is still active. Ambedkar died just two months later on December 6, 1956, but by then he had completed his vow made at Yeola, some 21 years ago.

Visitors to Deekshabhoomi get an opportunity to glance through the photo exhibition of Dr. B R Ambedkar’s life and times. The Black & White photographs cover all major milestones of Dr. Ambedkar’s life as an intelligent barrister, visionary leader and the architect of the Indian Constitution. Expectedly, having born in a poor family of Mahar community as Bhimrao Sakpal, there are no photographs of Ambedkar’s childhood. The photo exhibition is a journey depicting the empowerment of a down trodden.

Also on display is the story of Siddhartha Gautama as Tathagath Buddha, carved beautifully on wood panels. The tale begins with Queen Mahamaya having a dream of a White Elephant, signifying birth of a celebrated, and goes on to cover Siddhartha Gautama’s childhood, his compassion for people and animals alike, Siddhartha’s encounters with the sick, old and dying people, great departure, meditation and enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. The next part comprise Buddha’s teachings and conversion of masses and Maharajas alike to the new order. The change of heart of Decoit Angulimala, by Buddha gets a special mention. Several wood carvings of famous Buddhist temples in India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and other South East Asian contries are also displayed. The description is in English, Hindi and Marathi. English text could be made more tight and grammatical error free.

I emerged out of Deekshabhoomi, saluting the spirit of Dr.Ambedkar and bowing to the teachings of Buddha. Buddham Sharanam Gachchami. Sangham Sharanam Gachchami. Ein a Dhammam Prabhateekam, Tvam Sharanam Gachchami.

Ikebana

SUPW – i.e. Socially Useful Productive Work, is an integral part of the school syllabi of South Mumbai’s premier girl’s school – The Walsingham House. The subject broadly resembles home science, as the students are taught cooking (the exotic variety) in the Eighth standard, flower arrangement in Ninth and the First Aid in the Tenth. Indeed, useful crafts to know.

Our daughter Milparinka showed little interest in the subject in Class eight, but we suddenly noticed a change of attitude this year, as she took some special liking for flowers. Her project partner Sheherezad, who tastefully chose most of the flowers, was a major influence in kindling Milparinka’s interest in the new art form.

The girls chose Ikebana – the Japanese art of flower arrangement for their class workshop. The tutor prescribed the use of gerbera flowers for the monsoon workshop. Gerberas are ubiquitously found with florists in Mumbai, where orange and yellow predominate. But Sheherezad and Milparinka team chose magenta colored flowers for their project. They attempted a minimalist slanting pattern and came out winners, securing an A + grade. That’s well done, girls.

About Ikebana
Ikebana is more than simply putting flowers in a container. It is a disciplined Japanese art form in which nature and humanity are brought together. The beauty of each arrangement is the result of its color combinations, natural shapes and graceful lines. The structure of the Japanese flower arrangement is based on the concept of a triangle, signifying heaven, earth and man or the sun, the moon and the earth.

The first classical styles of Ikebana started in the middle of the 15th century. However, the origin of Ikebana can be traced to the 6th century when Buddhism was introduced to Japan. The offering of flowers on the altar in honor of Buddha was part of the worship. This, the first students and teachers of Ikebana were Buddhist priests and members. As time passed, other schools emerged, styles changed, and Ikebana became a custom among the Japanese society.

The Japanese appreciate natural beauty to such an extent that it amounts almost to a religion. Even living in urban complexes and high towers of the city, the Japanese always have the strong desire to have a bit of nature near them. Ikebana is one such thing which helps in putting nature in the drawing room or the bed room.

Jaya Row on 'Guna Code'

I used to attend Vedanta Vision’s Jaya Row’s lectures on Bhagavad Geeta, when she held her sessions in New Delhi. Although, Vedanta Vision in headquartered in Mumbai, and Jaya Row, regularly speaks at the Prem Puri Ashram near Kemp’s Corner, I had not got an opportunity to hear her ever since I relocated to Mumbai last year. Maneesha too was very keen to listen to the new age Vedic Guru - Jaya Row, who quit a successful management career to spread the understanding of Vedanta.

When billboards appeared on the Walkeshwar Road, about Jaya Row’s Guru Purnima series lecture on the Guna Code at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Chowpatty, we decided not to miss it.

The solemn Saturday evening was indeed a spiritual bonanza.

Excerpts.
Bhagavad Geeta describes three finite dimensional human qualities : (1) Satvik - illumination, goodness, and non-binding, (2) Rajasik - passion, attachment and agitated mind, and (3) Tamasik - inaction, ignorance and illusions. These three Gunas are present in all human beings, though in different degrees. Satvik person is free, calm and selfless. Rajasik person wishes to be always active and cannot sit still and the activities are tainted by selfish desires. Tamasik person subjects his life to continuous submission to surrounding environment and they are confused and dull. The Geeta asserts that a predominance of one or a combination of one or more of these characteristics determines human behaviour.
In the 14th Chapter of the Geeta, Lord Krishna gives us a very detailed description and definition of the three Gunas. Sattva is pure, illuminating and free from sickness. It binds the soul through attachment with knowledge and happiness. Rajas is full of passion and is born out of intense desire for worldly things. It binds the soul through attachment with action and restlessness. Tamas is the darkness and crudeness in man. It binds the soul through attachment with recklessness, indolence and sleep.

The three Gunas compete among themselves for supremecy. When Sattva predominates the human being radiates the illumination of knowledge. When Rajas predominates, greed and the striving for selfish activities come to the fore. With the increase of Tamas come darkness, inactivity and ignorance.

By knowing the distinction among the three Gunas and by developing the quality of Sattva in abundance, one can purify ones mind and establish tranquility through right worship, study, knowledge, speech, devotion, faith, behaviour and sacrifice.

While Bagavad Geeta has given an objective definition of the Gunas found in human beings, these aspects are dramatized in Mahabharata, through various characteristics ranging from the Satvik Yudishthira to Tamasik Duryodhana. Characters in Mahabharata serve as role models to understand and follow the Dharma and Values conceptualized in Geeta.

Koyna Dam

Once we were through with the two day Regional Workshop on Bharat Nirman Public Information Campaign at Karad, we had some time in hand to have a glimpse of the nearby Koyna Dam before sunset. About 15 of us, set out from Karad in two vehicles.

The dam located at Koynanagar is about 65 kms from Karad. One can reach the site in about one and a half hour, driving on the excellently paved Karad – Chiplun State Highway, but we took a wrong turn at Dhebewadi, which meant, we had to drive 20 kms extra, on road meandering the beautiful stretches of Sahyadri mountains.

One of the temples of modern India of the Nehruvian era, Koyna Dam, situated in the Patan Taluka of Satara district, is among the largest dams in Maharashtra. Built in 1961, at the initiative of Yashwantrao Chavhan, it has a hydro-electric project, with a capacity of 1,920 MW. Built on a slow flowing, olive green coloured Koyna River, the Koyna project is actually composed of four dams, with the Koyna dam having the largest catchment area. It forms a huge lake – Shivajisagar, whose length is over 50 kms.

The dam site also has a well tended garden called – Nehru Udyan, from where one can have a panoramic view of the dam and a part of the lake. The garden is built on the theme of Panchsheel – sovereignity, non-agression, non-alignment, equality and peaceful co-existence. There is also a film show at a mini- auditorium, which tells the tourists about the Koyna Project and describes its benefits.

The observation post on the Kumbarli Hill, near the MTDC Lake Resort, provides the best view of the surrounding area below. Beyond, Kumbarli Hills, the descent begins to enter the coastal strip of Konkan. We all assembled for a group photo, taken by Ahmed Manzoor, in the absence of our ‘highly qualified’ photo officer Said Akhtar.

While the Koyna dam has helped boost electricity supply and provided water to nearby districts, the dam was also blamed for having triggered spate of seismic activity in the region. A powerful quake measuring 7.5 on the Ritcher Scale shook Koyna, on December 11, 1967, claiming over 125 lives and injuring more then 1,400. About 45 tremors were felt in Mumbai (then Bombay) and more than 100 in Pune. Though, the dam itself did not suffer any major damage – a salute to our civil engineers -the earthquake had a major economic impact in Mumbai. Power shortage meant switching off of street lights and wide spread black-outs. Most of the textile mills, then the backbone of Mumbai’s economy, declared staggered production to tide over the situation. The Koyna earthquake of 1967 remains etched in the collective memories of the people of Maharashtra.


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Mumbai - Pune Expressway

I had traveled up and down the Mumbai – Pune Expressway umpteen number of times, during my many visits to Dharwad and other places in Karnataka. But, they were all those Volvo bus journeys, always performed at breakneck speed at night. The Bharat Nirman Public Information Campaign’s Regional Workshop at Karad, on April 10 and 11, 2008, provided me a perfect opportunity to explore India’s show piece highway by the day, as I also had the responsibility of receiving my boss, Mr.Manoj Pandey, Additional DG of Western Region, PIB, who was arriving at Pune by Air India (the erstwhile Indian Airlines) IC 871.

Ijaz, our driver, a native of Darbhanga District of Bihar, reported on time at 9 a.m. I attended to some banking work and spent sometime in office, clearing important files, before setting out on my journey to Western Maharashtra.

We left Churchgate at 11 a.m. and it took us about an hour and a half to reach Panvel, as there was some traffic hold up on the Ambedkar Road near Lalbaug. No sooner than we ascended the Kalamboli flyover, our vehicle – a 2005 Innova, picked up speed, touching three digits on the speedometer. The 3 x 3 concrete highway, has reduced travel time to Pune by well over one and half hours, and for most practical purposes, it has replaced the older Mumbai-Pune National Highway (NH4), which had become extremely congested and accident-prone over time. In less than half an hour, we had passed the toll plaza at Khalapur and were negotiating the Khandala Ghat with ease, as the earlier hair-pin bends have all disappeared.

Suddenly the sky became overcast and weather became pleasant, at the same time reminding us that climate of Deccan plateu is much different from that of the coastal strips. Around 1.30 p.m., we halted for lunch at Bhagat Tarachand’s food plaza near Talegaon Dhabade, where we had simple vegetarian thali meals. Bhagat Tarachand is more than a century old, famed eatary in the bylanes of Zaveri Bazaar in Mumbai. But, this Expressway side spanking eatery, opened just about eight months ago, still has a long way to catch up on taste. The Food Plaza also has Café Coffee Day and SubWay cold cuts outlets, besides a Baskins & Robbins Ice Cream parlour.

After half an hour lunch break, we moved on towards Pune. Large size hoardings, 90 per cent of them of various realtors, reminded us that Pune, once a pensioner’s paradize of Maharashtra, has become one of the fastest growing cities in the world. It is witnessing a construction boom, and real-estate prices are just behind, Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai. The Expressway ended at Dehu Road, and the not so wide Pune Municipal Roads began.

The Mumbai Pune Expressway is not merely a transport infrastructure. It has introduced for India new paradigms of speed and safety in automobile transportation. Several new stretches of Expressways have been built in different parts of the country. My driver said, Ahmedabad – Baroda highway is equally good and another world standard highway is being built between Bangalore and Mysore amidst physical obstacles and political controversies. But being the first, the Mumbai – Pune Express Highway, has its own place.

It all began in 1990, when Government of Maharashtra, realizing a need to build a new road connecting Mumbai, the commercial capital, with Pune, the cultural capital, fast transforming itself into an important industrial and educational centre, appointed RITES and Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick of UK to carry out feasibility studies for the new expressway to be operated on toll basis. RITES submitted their report in 1994 with the estimated cost of project at Rs. 1,146 crores. The Government of Maharashtra entrusted the work of the construction of the Mumbai - Pune Expressway to Maharasthra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) in March 1997 on Build - Operate & Transfer (BOT) basis with permission to collect toll for 30 years.

MSRDC in turn, floated tenders and awarded work on different sections to different contractors like Larsen & Toubro, V M Jog, Shapoorjee Pallonjee, Hindustan Construction, IJM/ SCL, PBA etc. The tunnel construction work was entrusted to Konkan Railway Corporation, which had proved its mettle in building the tough Konkan Railway line, connecting Mumbai and Mangalore.
The Expressway was opened to traffic and made fully operational from April 2002. The final cost was Rs 1630 crores. Toll is collected at Khalapur (for the Mumbai-Pune direction) and at Talegaon (for the Pune-Mumbai direction). The toll ranges from Rs.118 for private cars, to Rs.680 for multi-axle trailer trucks.

The Expressway, passing through the scenic, Sahyadri ranges is a visual treat. The beauty quadraples during monsoons, as the mountains turn lush green, with water falls everywhere. Come monsoon, I am determined to go again on a day journey on this road once again. That time, I would like to be at the wheel.

Mihika's 9th Birthday

Mihika woke up with a new enthusiasm to celebrate her 9th birthday on March 29. At 7.30 a.m. Mihika and I drove down to visit Daddy and Amma at Goregaon. It was a pleasant morning drive. Amma prepared shira for Mihika and also gave her mango shake to drink. We returned home by 11.30 a.m. By that time, Maneesha, who had taken a CL, had begun her preparations for the evening party.

At 12.30 I took Mihika to the Metro Cycles Shop near Opera House and bought her an Avon Focus kid’s bicycle, as her 9th birthday gift. Mihika was overwhelmed and happy. We all settled down for a simple lunch and soon went into the sleep mode.

Appa, Mummy, Manju, Jiten and Manasvi arrived at around 6.30 p.m. Around 7 p.m. Milpa and I, went to the Nana Chowk to fetch the birthday cake and other party consumables from Warden Bakery. Raja Kaka & family and Arvind Kaka & family had arrived by the time we reached home. Soon Sandeep & family also arrived and the mood was set for the birthday party. Mihika’s eyes brightened up once her friend Anandita, Gowri’s daughter also arrived. There were 30 people in all.

Even as a round of tea was being offered for the elders, I rolled out the first game of animal race. Anandita, the Cheetah, Manasvi , the Chimpanzee, Milpa, the Tiger, Advika, the Polar Bear, Siddhant, please don’t laugh, the Hippopotamus and Mihika, the Lion were ready on their mark, as the dice began to roll. Even as the swifter animals lagged behind, the Hippo began its march and by the middle of the game, had taken a decisive lead over others. Manasvi’s Chimpanzee began late, but made rapid recoveries to finish second. Advika’s Polar Bear finished third.

8.30 p.m. It was time to cut the birthday cake and wish the birthday girl with memorable presents. Jiten took swift snap of the Black Forest cake, before ‘aakraman’ was declared on it. The next game was the ‘neighbourhood housie’. All the participants were asked to fill up 10 names of persons present in a grid of 15. Chits were already made containing names of all those present. As we called out the names from the chits, participants were to cut the names called out. Mummy (Jayashree Sattur) won the Jaldi Five, while the ‘couples’ was won by Appa (Srinivas Sattur), Anand Kaka and Rama Kaku. Ajay won the Full House honours.

The table was set and the dinner was announced around 9.30 p.m. The menu was – theplas, aloo- matar ki sabzi, kesar pulav, chutney’s and raita, Mexican salad, dhoklas, baby idlis and jalebis. We ran out of aloo matar ki sabzi towards the end – either because it was too tasty, or we simply failed to measure the requirements properly. Post dinner, we held the prize distribution ceremony and Mihika gave away return gifts to all the children, including Nikhil, whom we refused to recognize as a big boy, until he got married. The party ended at 11.30 p.m. as Mihika went to bed with all the fond memories.

(A +)

Ponting 2610
Hussey 2551
Sangakkara 2537
Kallis 2533