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my astonishment, she liked it so much, that withstand all adversities with courage.
she came towards me and said, “I heard my
own singing from your voice today.” This
was the biggest honour and blessing I have
ever received from anyone to this date. I have
cherished fond memories of this event.
Exemplary fortitude
Maai had an exceptionally high threshold
for physical as well as emotional pain.
Her entire life is a story of adversities and
painful events through which she brought
up her three children. She was mother and
father to all of them, and also Guru to Sm.
Kishoritai. It is not appropriate to write
about the family events in her life that often
were excruciatingly painful to her, but she
bore them all with exemplary fortitude and
courage, not letting up even a tiny bit on her
duties to her children and disciples, as well
as concert and recording commitments. Her
ascetic, highly devotional, and disciplined
character gave her saintly strength to
Mogubai had kindness and love for people from all walks
of life
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #10 | APRIL 2020
In Maai’s later days, she stayed for some
years at her younger daughter Smt Lalita
Kurdikar’s home at Worli. Since Maai had
affection for me almost like her son, I used to
visit her once a week on my way home from
office. She was often depressed due to one
reason or another, and I used to try to cheer
her up, taking her mind to her own learning
days from her Gurus, or talking about
subtleties of Ragas or bandishes of Jaipur
gharana, or just asking questions that had
often intrigued me about some anomalies in
our music. These were topics always dear
to her heart. This way, she was distracted
from her depressing thoughts. She was most
happy reminiscing about the early days of
her career, and her Riyaaz under her Gurus.
I remember her kindness in being ever ready
to teach something, if I asked. My first Guru
Ustaad Majid Khan Saheb had taught me
the astai of Raag Nat-Kamod (Nevar Bajo
Re), but not the antara. I asked Maai if she
knew it, although to my knowledge she had
rarely sung it. She asked me to come another
time and promised to look it up from her
notebook. Amazingly, she kept her promise,
and at my next visit she dictated and taught
me the words and tune of the antara. This
just reflects her kindness and love for
people of all walks of life. I wasn’t ever
going to be a performing star artist in my
life, because I was in an engineering career.
Yet, she took this trouble for me. She has, on
numerous occasions, said to me “Je shiklas
te kadhi visru nakos, vadhvat raha. Aplya
gharanyache gane gaat raha. Dev tuze bare
karo….”
Sheer providence
One other incident that has vividly stayed
in my memory was during one such weekly
visit to see Maai at Worli. My father was
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