End of note'worthy musical sojourn

Mumbai: Renowned Hindustani classical vocalist Kishori Amonkar, who passed away on Monday night, was cremated here with full state honours on Tuesday. Paying his tributes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the demise of Amonkar (84) is an irreparable loss to the Indian classical music.

Born on April 10, 1932 in Mumbai, Amonkar was recognised as one of the foremost singers in the Hindustani tradition and as an innovative exponent of the Jaipur gharana. Amonkar’s mother was well-known vocalist Mogubai Kurdikar, who trained under Alladiya Khan Saheb, the doyen of the Jaipur gharana.

She was known primarily for her skillful singing of classical khayal songs set in the traditional ragas of Hindustani music, but also performed the lighter classical thumri repertoire, bhajan, devotional songs and film music. “If one looks at her 74-year-long career, the first thing that comes to the mind of the musical genius is that she was a very self-disciplined ‘thoughtful’ singer,” says Raghunandan Panshikar, a student and associate of Kishoritai from from 1979-99.

“Kishoritai blended and innovated ragas and surs with ease and had complete command over instruments. Her divine illustrations came from the rich thought process that she developed over the decades,” he said.

“She would always tell us that we should spare minimum five minutes everyday from riyaz to think about the innovations that we could bring to the world of classical singing. This teaching and thought enriched her singing and simultaneously the life of her listeners.”

“She learned from her mother Mogubai in her initial days. As we know Mogubai was a doyen of Jaipur Gharana. But Kishoritai’s repertoire was that she crossed the defined frame of Jaipur Gharana. She was experimental to the core and brought various specialities of different gharanas to her music . This made her unique,” he explained.

“Her belief that music has the capacity to make our spiritual journey more beautiful was astonishing. In last few years she never had to search for raga, but rather it used to come at her. She was a living example of Advait Tatva in Indian philosophy. Now, she might have left us, but that immortal advait of her sur will remain with the music forever,” he concluded.