August 22, 2019
Nature and Quality of his Voice
Although it was not a naturally gifted mellifluous voice, ‘golden voice’ as they say, my father had, through sheer Riyaz, honed it to such perfection that it would reproduce / listen faithfully to what his maind / imagination dictated. It was an extremely well-rehearsed voice ranging from the Gandhar of lower octave (mandra saptak) to Pancham of tar saptak (higher octave) with the same volume of breath force. What is important here is that he did not have to unnaturally constrict his voice as he reached Gandhar-Pancham in the......
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August 22, 2019
Taans
My father would launch himself into taans in such a manner that they would evolve naturally from the aalap. And the taans too like aalap would follow the structure of the bandish. Depending on the...
August 22, 2019
Shadja
No swara, for my father, exists by itself, not even the shadja. The shadja of a raga exists in relation to other swaras of the raga, especially to its nearest swaras, either in ascent or...
August 22, 2019
Religiosity
Most people, even those close to him, knew my father to have been a staunch Veerashaiva, flaunting his faith by wearing the three bhasma stripes chaste of this faith on his forehead and spending long...
August 22, 2019
Awards and Honours
Most artists indulge in artistic creativity generally to display their works in order to achieve fame and / or money. But great artists do so in order to please themselves by their self-expression. For these...
August 22, 2019
Concert Management
My father never took any concert casually. A concert for him was as serious a task as his pooja. One hour before the commencement of the concert, he would be ready and impatiently waiting for...
August 22, 2019
My Father and My Mother
We learned from our mother that in his twenties and thirties, my father was somewhat a hot tempered young man. Musically, these were the years when he was on the boil, imbibing the stern discipline...