PUNE: His senior-most disciple, Upendra Bhat feels a deep connect with Panditji — his music starts and ends with his Guruji as he calls the Kirana gharana doyen.
Bhat (71) who was born in 1950 at Mangalore, said songs sung by Bhimsenji used to be played at the Vitthal temple there every morning. “I loved his voice. I was so under his spell that I decided to learn classical music and enrolled myself in the music school run by vocalist Nayaran Pai,” said Bhat.
Little did Bhat know that his Guruji had a special connection with Mangalore till music aficionado Ramanna Pai recounted how Bhimsenji then in his 20s had his first concert at the Pai residence in 1944-45.
“Guruji told Pai that he wanted to perform there so Pai invited a dozen or so music lovers. He sang raga Shuddha Kalyan for one and half hours and the people were in thrall. Since then, Guruji used to perform at Mangalore every year. His Kannad songs especially those penned by Purandardas became very popular”, Bhat said.
Bhat was just 17 years old when he got the opportunity to accompany his idol on taanpura during a concert in 1967. “It felt like I was sitting next to the real Bhim, such was his height and build. He was like a king. Since then he used to tell me to accompany him on taanpura every time he came to Mangalore. When he got the Padma Shri in 1971, we organized a felicitation and I told him that I wanted to learn music from him,” Bhat said.
He had a job in an insurance company then and Bhimsenji told him not to give it up for music. “He told me to pursue music while doing my job. Guruji told me not depend only on music to earn a livelihood,” Bhat said, adding that Bhimsenji told him first to learn the basics from his disciple Madhav Gudi.
Bhat moved base to Pune in 1980 and became a disciple of the Kirana gharana maestro. He was his constant companion and accompanied him wherever he went for concerts.
“Guruji had tremendous stamina. During those days his concerts used to last for five-six hours with a short interval after three hours. I have not seen another vocalist who can match that strength and stamina,” he said.
Man Behind The Wheel
“Driving was his passion and Guruji drove to every concert. Even long hours of driving did not tire him. Once we left Pune at 2pm and reached Belagavi at 6pm for a concert. Guruji sang till 11pm. The next day we left for Udupi at 5am and reached there at 3pm. We were put up at the home of then finance minister T A Pai who was hosting an early morning concert. The concert ended at noon,” Bhat recalled, adding that Guruji was not finished yet.
“After lunch, we left for Mangalore where Guruji had a concert at 6pm. It was a packed auditorium and the audience could not have enough of Guruji’s raga Multani. We left for Pune the next morning at 9am and reached Pune at 11pm but Guruji never complained. Singing and driving are two different things, he would say,” Bhat said.
