Pt. Bhimsen Joshi

 Lot of things came into my mind, when I read the sad demise of Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, on 24-Jan. My first brush with Panditji's voice, was of course his rendition of Bhagyada Lakshmi Baaramma. This song, penned by, Purandaradaasa, had been a well know song, with only a few. Set to Madhyamaavati raga and in carnatic style, the women used to sing it every friday while lakshmi pooja and it used to be the last song in some carnatic music concerts. In comes Panditji with a very different tune, and set in what we might call the hindustani style and this song is now known even in the remotest part of Karnataka and I even dare say perhaps the one song which most people know in Karnataka, cutting across all sections of the society.

This one song is more than enough to get a hang of Panditji's voice, depth of voice and dedication. I was fortunate enough to listen this song live, in a concert in Bangalore and it was electrifying. I'm yet to witness the kind of histeria that this song created amongst a very knowledgeable crowd. There is something in this song and no one can escape without being cast in its spell.

I never realized that this would just be a beginning of my own journey towards exploring hindustani music. I had been brought up with a steady dose of top quality carnatic music. But Bhimsen Joshi changed my world of music. My next brush with his music was his series of abhangvaani albumns. Especially Maazhe Maadhera Pandhari - the energy with which Panditji has sung this song is simply awesome. This song and others like Teertha Vithala etc., made me a big fan of Panditji's music and I now started listening to his regular concerts and within no time I got sucked into the beauty of elaborate khayals, the intricate birkaas, the subtle taans and devotional bhajans. I now possess almost all of his albumns and mp3 of over 20 concerts.

I was also fortunate enough to attend a jugalbandhi concert of BalamuraliKrishna and Panditji - an out of the world experience. They sung Yaman-Kalyani and Malkauns-Hindola kritis and a few bhajans. Panditji's booming voice was a perfect complement to Balamurali's very subtle, smooth and silky voice. Panditji's energetic birkaas was matched with very intuitive and imaginative swara vistaaras of Balamurali. Crescendos were reached every now and then. There is no way words can describe this concert.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever. There'd be millions of rasikas like me who have been given a daily dosage of inspiration by Panditji. His voice is so soothing when you are tiered. He invokes bhakti when you listen to bhajans. We are lucky enough to have lived in an era where we got a chance to hear him live and more importantly we have access to his recordings. Several generations to come would be envy us for having lived when Panditji was around. May his soul rest in peace.

Thank you very much,

Reading list for Jan-2011

A Century of Innovation: The 3M Story
 There is no other company to study, than 3M, to understand innovation. This book is a compilation of memories, photos, facts, and events from the first 100 years of the 3M company. 3M is responsible in bringing out several products of day-to-day use including things like: waterproof sandpaper, Cellophane tape, reflective sheets used for highway markings, Scoth-brite cleaning pads, magnetic recording tape and videotapes and ofcourse the Post-It notes. It would be great fun to understand the history, values, work ethic and other host of things that keeps 3M's innovative engine chugging on, now for over 100 years.
This book was brought to my notice by my good friend Vinay Dabholkar, who runs his own consulting business doing some very interesting work in the area of Innovation and help companies in their quest towards the same.
 You can download the free PDF of this book, from the 3M's site here.




 Switch: How to change things when change is hard

I am a big fan of the Heath brothers' first book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. And when Vinay Dabholkar recommended this book, I immediately set out to buy one and am I glad I did. The authors use the analogy of an Elephant and the Rider:  the emotional side of our mind is like a headstrong Elephant, and the rational side of our mind is the guiding Rider. The Rider holds the reins and seems to be in control,  but an emotional Elephant often tends to overpower a rational Rider. The third element is the Path, that the Rider wishes to take the Elephant to take. The authors explore all these three elements in detail in the context of leading the change. There are examples of several individuals who with little power were instrumental in bringing in a major change. The examples appear to be simple, practical and inspiring.

The Shift: From Ambition to Meaning
Dr. Dyer has been one of my favourite author. In this book, he illustrates how and why to make the move from ambition to meaning. Lives of many of us is directed by ego and therefore characterized by ambition and struggle. Its also true that most of us strive to lead the life which is meaningful and purpose driven instead. The Shift doesn’t mean that we lose our drive and ambition; it signifies that we become ambitious about something new. We make a commitment to living a life based on experiencing meaning and feeling purposeful, rather than never-ending demands and false promises that are the trademark of the ego’s agenda.

Yet another begining

Interesting are the ways of life. Its been 11 months since my last post. 2010 has been a tough year for me. There were too many distractions, anxiety and a sense of helplessness. However small, any form of blogging is creative and you can't have any meaniful posts when the mind is elsewhere. Here is another beginning, as I pick-up pieces and get ready for the journey. Thanks for the support extended during my tough times. As they say, friends in need are friends indeed.

Thank you very much,


RamP!
ramp [dot] ramp [at] gmail [dot] com