Page 23 - seniors today August issue

which actually was a specialty of Mai. Tai was issues that used to cause her undue stress much
so open-minded with me, that she had given
me standing instructions to note any occasions
on which she made any grammatical error
during a performance, and then discuss it with
her later at home. I vividly remember such
interactions with respect to Raagas like Yaman,
Bahaduri Todi, Bageshri, Basant Kedar, Shree,
etc. It is interesting to note that during my active
decades of training, Kishoritai did not sing
much devotional music, but rather sang semi-
classical varieties like Thumris and Dadras. I
therefore learnt some Thumris from her, but
not any Bhajans and Abhangs which she began
singing more regularly from the mid-eighties
and nineties.
After my initial two decades, I began to find
less time to devote to active learning because of
my employment. However, as luck would have
it, my office was located within a few yards of
her house, and I was a frequent visitor to her
home after my office. There were many other
students by this time, and my active learning
had slowed down. Regardless, I found myself
more and more in the role of a friend and
adviser to her to guide her and solve many
ticklish family issues, health issues, and social
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of the time. By the nineties, Mai began to show
signs of old age, and much of Tai’s attention and
energy began to be consumed with Mai’s health
issues. I shared these challenges much of the
time with Tai, and gave her much needed relief
and solace.
Lasting tribute
Since Kishoritai did not accept any fees for the
wealth of music she gave me for four decades,
I always had an uneasy feeling about how I
could repay my debt to her. Years passed by,
and on April 3, 2017, she suddenly departed
for her heavenly abode, leaving countless
disciples, family members and music-lovers
orphans. After much thought I finally decided
to create an award in her memory, called “Gaan-
Saraswati Puraskar” as a humble tribute to her.
I donated a corpus to Dadar Matunga Cultural
Centre in Mumbai to fund Rs. 1 lakh in annual
award money plus expenses for administering
the award. The award will be given annually to
an accomplished Hindustani Classical Vocalist
under the age of 50. The process of selection of
the awardee and the procedure for applying for
it are described at www.gspuraskar.in.
Kishori Amonkar was a perfectionist,
both when performing and teaching.
Photo: Fotocorp
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