As I was immersed in reading "The Music Room", the legendary singer of the Kirana gharana, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, lay in the ICU in a hospital in Pune, battling for life. News of the death of this Bharat Ratna, appeared in the newspapers yesterday, along with praise for his musical genius. Obituaries spoke good things about all he had accomplished in the 88 years, almost all of them devoted to his passion for music, a passion that was discerned at an early age.
The young Bhimsen ran away from home to find his guru, Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, the maestro of the Kirana gharana. He studied in the strict confines of the guru-shishya tradition but always strived to enrich the tradition by bringing in innovation and the best of other repertoires. One article quoted Bhimsen Joshi's remark "What one learns from one's guru has to be supplemented by individual genius or else one will not have anything worthwhile to say. In fact, a good disciple should not be a second rate imitator but a first rate improvement of his teacher."
When I watch some of the talent shows on TV, the whole charade seems meaningless, as each aspiring singer tries to imitate the style and sensibility of a recorded and played innumerable times until the original flavor has become a package that can be swallowed. Imitation is the best for form of not just flattery but is also the ticket to fame and its rewards.
It is difficult to imagine the context of a lifetime of complete education from a guru in these times where quick recipes for instant success is what sells. Whether it is talented youngsters with ambitious parents or audiences with short attention span, neither the student or teacher has what it takes to either seek or be guided towards developing individual from a holistic perspective. Talent may be God-given, but what the person does with this gift is surely molded by those who come into his life to bring balance and guide him towards wisdom.
Let us take a moment to reflect on the passing on of a great musician and hope for seeing such greatness in every generation.
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