In three days from now (December 13), devout musicians — noted composers, upcoming vocalists and instrumentalists — will congregate at what is called the ‘Pandharpur of Music’ or the Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav.
As compared to other music festivals held across the country, it is certainly not the oldest, but when it comes to reputation, Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav’s standing is impeccable. The credit, undoubtedly goes to the late Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, who in the early years of the festival, was known to have swept the venue with a broom and also laid out satranjis or carpets for the Puneri rasiks to sit on.
Even after the festival saw a huge turnout in a short span, Bhimsenji was not complacent about resting on its laurels. He would be on his toes for all three days of the festival, catching sleep for an hour or two, ensuring that the mandap workers were served tea and food on time, sending his senior-most disciples to receive artists at the railway station and personally tuning the instruments of upcoming performers. The stories associated with the maestro are many, his humility and simplicity are legendary, and those who have seen him up close consider meeting him as ‘their tryst with divinity’.
We catch up with a few known names to know more about Bhimsenji and their performances in his presence at Sawai.
Pune’s own festival
Once when we were chatting, guruji told me, ‘I want people of Pune to be able to listen to the biggest names in the music world at a nominal fee. The Puneri audience is very discerning. And, once a singer gets ‘Wah wah’ (praise or applause) here, he is not afraid to sing anywhere else.’ This is how Sawai Gandharva Mahotsav started,” says Pt Upendra Bhat, vocalist and senior disciple of Pt Bhimsen Joshi.
In the first two or three years, the festival became a name to be reckoned with. It was all because venerated artists like Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Pt Ravi Shankar, respected Bhimsenji and others performed. Another reason for its phenomenal growth was that Bhimsenji never requested an artist to perform unless he was convinced of his/ her merit. Recommendations never found a favour with him.
Pt Bhat recalls, “I came to learn from guruji in 1979. When the festival would start, I would be busy for all three days, receiving guests at the railway station, serving them tea at Panditji’s house, and be with guruji as he went over the list of performers. Usually, the artists who were supposed to perform at the festival would come to meet guruji. Once Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his two sons, who had just started learning how to play the sarod, came visiting. In those days, when guests would call on guruji and if we, his disciples happened to be there, we would never sit in their presence. That day too, I was standing, when guruji asked me to serve them tea. After they finished, I took away the cups, when the younger son, piped up and called me, ‘Oye! Idhar aaiye’. That moment, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan intervened and said, ‘Beta, yeh kaun hai pata hai? Yeh inke shagird hai. Dekho, shagird kaisa hota hai... Yeh tumhe sikhna hai.’ The boy then apologised and touched my feet.”
Pt Bhat narrated another incident involving the sarod maestro. “During the festival, it sometimes happened, that the audience would hoot, if the singer didn’t perform well. On those occasions, guruji would stand firmly by the artist rebuking the audience. Once it so happened that Jagdish Prasad was singing and an announcement was made that Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Ustad Zakir Hussain were to follow him. But it was learnt that Khansaheb’s sarod was left behind in Mumbai and arrangements were being made to fly it down to Pune. So Jagdish Prasad was asked to continue. Meanwhile, the audience got impatient and started hooting. So guruji went on the stage and stood before the mike. He spoke, ‘Now, clap and boo at me. Who are you doing this for? For this artist? Do you know his stature? This doesn’t suit you, Puneri rasik. This is not Jagdish Prasadji’s insult. You have insulted me and Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal. This is your festival and you are doing yourself a disfavour. Ustad Amjad Ali Khan’s sarod has been held in transit and it will take an hour or more to reach here. Till then, you can decide what you want to do’. Having said that, he asked Jagdish Prasadji to step down from the dais. The stage was empty for the next one hour,” he explained.
Pt Bhat, who frequently travelled with Bhimsenji, was often instructed by the maestro in the ways of the world. “Guruji would tell me, ‘You should sing to be happy. Don’t sing for money or for publicity. If you are paid Rs 10 for your concert, give it your 100 per cent. And, if you are earning Rs 100, then also put in your 100 per cent’,” he remembers.
'Sawai could make or break your career’
Child prodigy vocalist Sanjeev Abhyankar remembers Bhimsenji coming to watch him at one of his programmes. So, when the opportunity came to accompany his guru, Pt Jasraj, as his vocal support in 1983 Sawai Festival, the 14-year-old boy remained unruffled.
“At that time, I was unaware of the aura around Bhimsenji. So I felt no pressure accompanying Pt Jasrajji. But when I was 20 years old and had to make my solo debut at Sawai in 1989, I experienced mixed emotions. I wanted to do my best, but was nervous. My mother had made me aware that Sawai could make or break your musical career. Also, at that time, my voice had matured (broken) and I wasn’t sure if I could sing at high pitch which I could do in rehearsals, but I was worried, ‘what if it cracked at Sawai?’ Nevertheless I prepared Raag Bageshree, Jog and Basant. But the shehnai recital, before my mehfil, played a raag closer to Bageshree. So I had to sing Jog. I took a risk by singing murchana in Jog and sang a different bandish for Todi. The risk paid off. I had put in my aggressive best on my solo debut. I had to do well in music because I had given up my studies,” explains Abhyankar.
The vocalist also explains that being a vocal support or swar-saath was limiting for an artist. A swar-saath means that you have to complement the main singer. Abhyankar accompanied Pt Jasrajji as a vocal support from 1983-2002. “Many a time, I felt like showcasing my repertory before the audience. But I refrained from it. Pt Jasrajji would often stop to tell the audience, ‘Yeh chahe to aage badhkar gaa sakta tha. Par nahi gaaya.’ At the 50th Sawai Gandharva Mahotsav, Pt Jasrajji complimented me by saying, ‘Agar chela guru se sawai nikle, toh kehte hain swarg mein jagah mil jaati hai. Par mere liye Sanjeev ne jagah nahi, bangla kharid ke rakha hai,” he concludes.
No scope for mediocrity
Vocalist Shounak Abhisheki performed with his father, Pt Jitendra Abhisheki, for the first time on the Sawai stage in 1988. Prior to his first appearance, Shounak remembers cycling to the venue with his friends and fellow-disciples of Pt Abhisheki, standing and watching the artists perform.
“It used to be fun, standing/ sitting all night, watching the performers in awe. I have heard Kumar Gandharva, Pt Firoz Dastur, Pt Jasraj and Parveen Sultanaji sing. I also imbibed a lot observing the artists off-stage. My friends and I were curious to understand the working of their mind — how could they produce such amazing, wonderful compositions? So we observed them keenly — how they interacted, talked, walked. After all, your music stems from you, as a person,” explains Shounak.
His first solo performance was in 1992, and that too came with the blessings of Bhimsenji. “In 1991, I was accompanying Baba and I was applauded at one or two places, while following his recital. When we were descending from the stage, Bhimsenji came up to me and said, ‘Pudchyavarshi tula basayche ahe han’ (Next year, it’s your turn to go solo). I consider that as his blessing. Since then I have had about seven or eight solo performances at Sawai. Each performance was mesmerising,” he adds.
Having accompanied Abhishekiji, as a vocal support, for 10 years, he remembers that his father never ever repeated a single raag at his mehfil there. “Many people would come to hear Baba sing because they knew that he would offer them something new each time. That’s what Sawai does to you — you pour your life’s music into your mehfil. You cannot afford to be mediocre,” Shounak concludes.
'It was a magical night’
When harmonium player Sudhir Nayak shifted to Pune from Mumbai, he would attend Sawai Gandharva Mahotsav frequently. His instruction in music and harmonium playing hadn’t started then, yet the calling was distinct. Says Nayak, “I used to sit very close to the stage to listen to the maestros. I used to attend music festivals in Mumbai, but none of them could match the stature of Sawai — in terms of crowds and the performing musicians.”
Nayak, who studied under Pt Tulsidas Borkar, first accompanied Pt Jitendra Abhisheki and his son, Shounak, on the Sawai stage in 1992. “Shounak sang on the first day and Pt Abhisheki sang on the third day. Performing with Shounak felt easy, because we studied together, but I was tensed while performing with Pt Abhisheki. It so happened that the first key I pressed got stuck. I had panicked but Bhimsenji’s trusted friend, Shrikant Deshpande, came to my rescue. That was an important lesson for me — to tune the instrument before any big concert,” Nayak recalls.
He also mentions that the entire music industry would turn up at Sawai — from noted musicians, organisers, instrument makers — and impromptu meetings would be held on the sidelines. “We were the warkaris congregating at Pandharpur, once a year,” he adds.
Nayak enjoyed being in the green room, in the vicinity of maestros, listening to their anecdotes. “It would be enriching to hear the discussions between Bhimsenji and Kumar Gandharvaji. Other artists like Chandrakant Kamat, Baburao Sonavane, Shriram Shahapurkar, Sadashivrao Yadav and Daji Karandikar were raconteurs, and used to narrate a lot of stories,” says Nayak.
Currently based in Mumbai, Nayak remembers the 2007 concert, when he was asked to accompany Bhimsenji on the harmonium. “Bhimsenji was going to perform after a gap of three years. And that too because he had promised his rasiks that he would sing. I was to play that evening with Pt Ajay Pohankar. I was about to go on stage, when Shrikant Deshpande informed, ‘Be ready to play with Bhimsenji next.’ I replied, ‘I haven’t got the harmonium that I usually use to play with Bhimsenji.’ He said, ‘Doesn’t matter. Just go and perform.’ So I went and played with Pohankarji and then came the announcement that Bhimsenji was going to perform. The news spread like wildfire, and more and more people filled up the grounds. The moment he arrived on stage, all mobile phones went up to capture his image. That was a magical night,” he remembers.
