The golden voice that redefined the meaning of Hindustani Classical music, has captivated the hearts and minds of millions of Indian music aficionados all over the world. The doyen of Hindustani Classical music Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, a sheer musical genius passed away on Monday morning at Sahyadri hospital in Pune after prolonged illness.
It is perhaps impossible to summarise his achievements and the extensive body of work he is known for in few hundred words. The veteran vocalist and Bharat Ratna Pandit Joshi was born into a Madhva Brahmin Kannada family in Dharwad on February 4, 1922. Coming from a family which wasn’t much into music, Pandit Joshi showed inclination towards music at an early age and a recording of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan made him want to take up music. Pandit Joshi was the eldest among 16 siblings. He came from the Kirana Gharana of Hindustani Classical music and took musical training under the tutelage of his guru Sawai Gandharva.
His passion for music transcended boundaries and borders in the truest sense. Under Gandharva’s tutelage, Pandit Joshi’s riyaz (practice) session would last as long as 10-12 hours.
Pandit Jasraj, who has sung with Pandit Joshi for the film Birbal My Brother recalls meeting him first in 1942. “And then, when I heard him again in 1958 singing raag Todi, it was established that no one could perfectly sing as he could. No Hindustani Classical music concert was complete without him. In Hindustani, we have different gharanas. I come from Mewati gharana while Pandit Joshi came from Kirana Gharana. But he did not belong to one particular gharana, as his music cut across all the gharanas and enthralled millions of listeners,” says Pandit Jasraj.
Pandit Joshi, apart from being a musical legend, was also a very warm person by nature. Known to be extremely loving, he had a down-to-earth approach with everyone he met. He was never known to have any airs or ego and treated everyone with equal love and respect. Sangeet Martand Ustad Dilshad Khan and Begum Parveen Sultana, who too are from Kirana Gharana share their relationship with Pandit Joshi. “We have lost a legend today. As there is one moon, one sun and one earth, similarly we just had one Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. He is someone who taught the audience how to listen to Hindustani Classical music, which changed the perspective of classical music. Perhaps he is the only vocalist to have the maximum number of concerts to his credit which is known to be more than 11,000 concerts. No vocalist can ever take his place. Having said that, his music will stay forever and will remain entrenched in our minds,” says Ustad Khan. Begum Parveen Sultana remembers him as a person who spread cheer in the music fraternity. “He would love listening to all the musicians and would enthusiastically attend their concerts. I met him first in 1964 and I remember his compliments and the warmth with which he said them,” reminiscences Begum Sultana.
Santoor exponent Pandit Satish Vyas whose father late Padma Bhushan Pandit C.R. Vyas, was Pandit Joshi’s contemporary, says, “He was the one whose music drew even the common man on the street to listen to classical music, which was generally restricted to a niche crowd. Not many have that power and charisma of pulling people towards their music and appealing to them in the most traditional sense,” says Pandit Vyas who has travelled extensively with Pandit Joshi. He remembers that Pandit Joshi had told him once to look beyond gharanas. “‘You need to be a good chor’ said Pandit Joshi and I was quite baffled. What he meant was that a good musician can become better if he imbibes the best of other musicians. He loved listening to everyone and would also tell me that to become a good musician you need the right guru, relentless struggle and hardwork along with fate,” says Pandit Vyas.
Pandit Joshi was known to sing raags Todi, Lalit, Bhimpalas, Multani, Poorya Dhanashri, Yaman, Shudh Kalyan, Malkauns and Darbari with utmost perfection. His rendition of Shudh Kalyan in five different ways enchants any listener to another world.
Pandit Sanjeev Abhyankar, whose talent was recognised by Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, says, “When he saw me singing at the age of 11, he told my parents that I had the potential to become a vocalist. It was upon his saying that my parents took the life altering decision of allowing me to pursue music professionally. He is a great source of inspiration and there are so many different things one learns by just observing him. I remember him telling me about the concept of Ashtavadhanam — the eight-fold concentration, which is extremely difficult and he was one of the few individuals to have mastered it. What I remember him the most for is his approach to the audience. He went beyond himself and made sure that the audience too felt the same happiness as he did through his music,” says Pandit Abhyankar.
For 81-year-old Carnatic vocalist M. Balamuralikrishna, the loss has been personal, and not just professional. Pandit Joshi had sung several jugalbandis with Balamuralikrishna, who is considered a legend himself, weaving and melding their music.
“Absolutely irreparable loss...He was a person who sang Indian music, not just Hindustani music,” Balamuralikrishna told a news channel. Reminiscing about their jugalbandis, the Carnatic music maestro said it started off on the request of a governor of Maharashtra about 12 years ago. “My experience when I was singing jugalbandi was unforgettable. We created Indian music. When he started singing in Hindi, then I sang in a south Indian language. Then after some time, he forgot his words and sang my words,” he recalled.
With a lump in his throat, Balamuralikrishna said: “His music and his contribution and his love for me, will be always be alive. I cannot talk more.... He is already there, singing to the gods”.
One of his disciples, Basant Garud, called him the biggest figure in Indian music after Tansen, the legendary musician in Mughal Emperor Akbar’s court in the 16th century. “He was the Tansen in Indian music. After Tansen, if there was any Sangeet Samrat, he was there. He was thought as god. If we had a glimpse of him, then it seemed that we are blessed,” Garud said.
Shubha Mudgal, who is classically trained but dabbles in popular pop music too, expressed disbelief at Panditji’s demise. “He had a strange ability to rejuvenate himself. Even after a long illness, he would come back strong...even during his current illness, I really believed that he would be able to pull it off. I have no words to express the loss,” she said.

With inputs from IANS