A musical era ends with Kishori Amonkar

“I feel a complete loss of words at her passing away,” sighed Mewati maestro Pt Jasraj who lamented, “Who'll I fight with now?” He was referring to the child-like arguments on music that he looked forward to having with renowned Hindustani classical vocalist Kishori Amonkar, a singer he had known since 1944. The Padma Vibhushan music legend passed away at her Mumbai residence on Monday night.

“We met at her granddaughter's wedding and a felicitation organised in her honour three months ago and she'd complained to the audience laughingly about how I fight with her all the time,” he reminisced. “In reply I'd asked who else is there to fight?”

The Gaan-Saraswati (a title conferred by the Shankaracharya of the Sringeri peeth) had just had soup and told her resident attendant help of many years, Meena, not to disturb her as she wanted to lie down. “It was around only 9 pm. I let her rest but after about 45 minutes I felt concerned she hadn't eaten and went to wake her up, only to find her unresponsive and cold,” Meena told DNA and added, “I immediately came out and alerted Nandini Bedekar (her student) and Bibhas (Amonkar's elder son). A doctor was called but he announced she had already breathed her last.”

The first floor residence of the legend's central Mumbai Prabhadevi home saw stalwarts walk in through the night to pay their respects to 'Kishori Tai' as she was fondly referred to by most. DNA saw classical vocalist Dr Ashwini Bhide Deshpande, Shahsi Vyas of the Pancham Nishad (son of late vocalist Pt CR Vyas who enjoyed a familial rapport with Amonkar), percussionist Taufique Qureishi, Pt Jasraj's daughter Durga and nephew Ratan Mohan Sharma at the residence which saw a sizable media posse present outside into the early hours. None of the shocked artistes seemed in any mood to talk. Dr Ashwini Bhide Deshpande whose singing has several resonances of Kishori Amonkar's musicality has in the past emphatically underlined how she never studied directly with Amonkar. “I've always been my mother Manik Bhide’s disciple. Since she trained under Kishori Tai for several years I acquired that training through her,” she had said and added, “My insight into the systematic unfolding of the raga, of exploring every single strand in the warp and weft of its fabric is a Kirshori Tai contribution come to me as a legacy.”

The legend's mortal remains were shifted in a casket to the Ravindra Natya Mandir auditorium not far from her residence early morning and kept for final darshan from 11 am. The who's who of the music and film industry came to offer their respects. Actress Neena Kulkarni broke down while speaking to DNA. “This is the music I was raised on. I can't begin to fathom that she has left us for good.” The last rites were performed in the evening at the Shivaji Park crematorium.

Though she trained under Kishori Tai only briefly, a distraught classical vocalist Aarti Ankalikar was having trouble battling emotions when she spoke. “While training with her, she taught me how one needs to become the raga that one is singing. I will never forget the heavenly Yaman that I learnt from her. We can't imagine the sadhana and thought gone into creating a legend like her.”

Speaking about her tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain said, “Her music will live long after her because she treated every day like another raga. Instead of simply presenting what she had learnt, she took it beyond and made it her own.”

Others like flute maestro, Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia expressed sadness about how some criticised her temperament. “She was exactly like my guru Annapoorna Devi ji, like a coconut, hard from outside but really sweet within. There is so much she had to offer as a musician, teacher and also a human being. Truly in her going an era has come to an end.”

Calling her an extraordinary singer Bharat Ratna songstress Lata Mangeshkar too condoled Amonkar's passing away. “This is an irreparable loss to the world of music. I'm deeply saddened by her passing away. There will never be another artiste of her callibre,” she told DNA.

PM Narendra Modi too expressed his grief took on social media. “Demise of Kishori Amonkar is an irreparable loss to Indian classical music. Deeply pained by her demise. May her soul rest in peace," he tweeted.

Readers may recall her defiance of her mother and guru Moghubai Kurdikar to sing for V Shantaram's Geet Gaya Pathharon Ne (GGPN) but that was not her first outing as a playback singer, recalls cultural historian Mukul Joshi. “She had sung two songs for Siksiyan, a solo 'Tum Bhi Wahi Ho' and a duet with KS Ragi. Roshan Ara Begum who had sung another duet and solo for the same film couldn't stop talking about this singing sensation who was then barely 20.”

Her mother had frowned on this effort too but ignored it as a one-off. Later when she sang for GGPN her mother was furious. “She told me if I wanted to sing for films I shouldn’t ever touch her two tanpuras. I still remember how her words struck me,” she had said in an interview to this writer.

Reminiscing that recording the late filmmaking legend V Shantaram's son and ex-sheriff of Mumbai Kiran Shantaram told DNA of the special arrangements made in the recording studio for Amonkar. "Unlike other playback artistes she was used to singing sitting down. So a special Bharatiya baithak seating was arranged for her." 

The only time she returned to films later was for Govind Nihalani's Drishti 16 years later where she both composed and sang. “That happened because the subject convinced me. Film music has now become only rhythmic noise. Amongst recent songs, I’ve only liked the qawwali 'Khwaja Mere Khwaja' (Jodhaa Akbar) for the way it is composed and the Punjabi song 'Main tenu samjhawan ki'.” 

While she didn't know the male singer Arijit Singh's name she was all praise for the way he sang. “Both the ‘Ga re sa’ and ‘dha pa ma’ are the most difficult notes of the song, but he not only gets them right but sounds so effortless.”

And it was not like she had admirers in world of Hindustani classical alone. Many like Carnatic vocalist Bombay Jayashri call themselves devotees of Amonkar's music. “I have always looked up to her like the Goddess Saraswati of music. Legends like her have spent so much time in sadhana that they don't perform, music flows out of them.” Reminiscing the several Kishori Amonkar concerts she has attended in small venues like Chembur's Bal Vikas Hall, she mentioned her favourite ragas rendered by the late legend. “Who can ever forget her Bhoop or her Bageshri. I can listen to 'Ghat Ghat Mein Panchi Bolta' on a loop several times, and find new layers and nuances in the same rendition every single time.”

Speaking of her classical vocalist mother and guru Moghubai Kurdikar Amonkar had told this writer: “Mai used to say do something good for others before you die.” Gaan-Saraswati has left behind quite a rich legacy. Her disciple Raghunandan Panshikar who trained with her for over two decades said several generations may fall short of absorbing it all. “When she presented Kaushiki Kanada at the Delhi concert on March 26th we could not keep up with her.”