bhimsen joshi-sur merges with the ‘sur-infinite’

8/7/2019 Bhimsen Joshi-Sur Merges with the Sur-Infinite

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Bhimsen Joshi:

SurMerges with the

Sur-Infinite

GRK Murty


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Bhimsen Joshi, a divine miracle, was born in Karnataka on February 4,

1922. His obsession for music made him leave home in search of a

proper Guru in places such as Rampur, Delhi and Calcutta. Finally in his

travails, he was directed by Vinayakrao Patwardhan to go to Sawai

Gandharva. It was under his tutelage that this prodigy acquired his

mastery of music.

He was blessed with an extremely sweet, flexible voice. With grueling

riyaz, he trained his voice in such a way that at one moment flowing

smoothly like a tranquil stream, it could suddenly take a mighty leap of

two or more octaves in the next avartana and then, with a gradually

diminishing vigor, revert gently back to sam. His recitals were replete

with such beautiful moments.

He had a tremendous control over his voice: he could make his full-

throated voice take on a soft velvety texture, could lift it from one

octave to another, from there to the next, back again to the second and

again to the third, rising high and gliding gracefully back to the point of

sam, in one breath. It was under the influence of this impressive feat of

physical endurance and breath control that his listeners, perceiving it as

a divine miracle, swayed in delight.


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He had supreme confidence in his own abilities.

His performance/rendering of ragas with

uncanny and astounding imaginative skill and

rare artistry made him the darling of the

connoisseur as well as the layman. Stepping on

to the stage for concert, Bhimsen Joshi was

known to automatically slip into his element, becoming oblivious of

everything except presenting a precision-driven tuneful bandish,

gracefully enriching it with a disciplined, systematic and methodical

raga, punctuated with an elegantly elaborate alap, decorated by the

choicest forms of embellishmentstaans. No wonder he made such a

terrific impact on his audience right from the start of the concert that

listeners simply remained glued to their seats till the last notes of his

Bhairavi. His splendid performance, a delectable treat for the audience,

carried them to celestial heights.

Bhimsen Joshi had transported as much respect for the poetic

content of the lyric as he had for the notes of the raga in all his recitals.

This made it easy for him to get fully absorbed in the sentiments of the

bandish. Obviously, it is this emotional engagement that made his

classical singing acquire mass appeal.


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Bhimsen Joshi was a versatile singer. Besides being an expert khayal

singer, he was adept at the presentation of thumrislilting Jadu

bhareli, Piya ke milan ki aas or Babul morasongs from Marathi plays,

and devotional compositions. What a delight it was to listen to his

devotional Marathi items, like Indrayani kathi, at dawn that too flowingfrom a local radio station with its usual highs and lows while one is

engaged in ones morning chores. Be it his rendition of bhajans, or

abhangsTheertha Vittalaall swayed his listeners in immense joy.


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of the artists and the audience alike. He did this untiringly for three

successive nights. Such was his love and reverence for his guru.

During the last five decades, his sacred voice reaching the four corners

of the nation, has put Indians on a path towards supreme surrender.

That wonderful voice which delighted the listeners for all these

decades, has finally joined the Supreme-Voice on January 24, 2011.

And the sad part is that there are not many voices from the new

generation who can fill this vacuum.

*****

bhimsen joshi-sur merges with the ‘sur-infinite’

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