Double duty

Dr Mahesh Joshi lives two lives. During the day, he is the CEO of Apollo Home Health Care, tending to patients and looking into the administration work. But most nights, he leaves the doctor behind and transforms into the singer and musician — Maha Josh.

Ask the attendees at the music performance, Sagas of Raagas, on Saturday and they’ll tell you how Maha Josh mesmerised them with his singing prowess. “I have given close to 400 performances till date,” he says.

And he takes you completely by surprise when he adds, “I haven’t had any formal training. Whether it is for singing or even playing instruments. Joshi, plays many keyboard instruments like the piano and the harmonium.

“While growing up, I was always interested in music. I loved to sing, but I come from an orthodox Marwadi family and back then singing was not really appreciated. Since I was very good at academics and I wanted to become a doctor, I studied medicine and it was here that I got a chance to actually sing,” he explains.

At his college, Joshi would sing mainly to stay away from getting ragged. “It started like that and soon I was singing in my band Maha Josh. That name was because my friends thought I brought a lot of energy on stage,” he says.

After a while, medicine took over his life and he got busy with the hospital. “There was a time where music took a backseat, but I got back to it. On any given day, I work for nine to 10 hours and when I get back home, I  listen to music for an hour or play a few of the instruments,” he says.

Even though the doctor and the musician have different jobs, there have been times where the two professions met.

“I used to head the emergency department at Apollo earlier. Once a patient, who was in the ICU, requested me to sing a song for her, so after taking permission, I sang for her, Kishore Kumar’s song, Choti Si Yeh Duniya Pehechane Raastey. The moment I held her hand and sang was completely different. I can’t explain that,” he says.

For someone who hasn’t got any formal training, Mahesh plays exceptionally well. Currently, he is trying to learn to play the saxophone and he says, “I learn from videos on YouTube, that helps, but I’m also looking out for tutors who can help me.”

So how does he manage to find time for the two things that he loves?
He says, “When you have the passion to do something, you automatically find the time!”