The Panditji I knew: Notes from his Goan disciple

The Panditji I knew: Notes from his Goan disciple
SHWETA KAMAT
PANJIM, JAN 24
An ardent car lover and a person who had the impeccable quality to remember names and numbers for lifetime, Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi had several facets to his life besides being India’s  greatest classical singer.
Dinkar Panshikar, who spent decades listening to vocals of Pt Joshi and even accompanying him on ‘tanpura’ for his concerts, was not shocked when he heard the news of the demise.
“I was already in the shock as I lost my brother Prabhakar Panshikar (actor who shot to fame for his drama To Mi Navhech)…,” Panshikar told Herald sitting at his Goa residence.
However, he says, “Panditji was a legendary Hindustani vocalist on this earth today.  It will be very difficult to find a person of his capability…there is no one who can feel this gap”.
Sitting on a carpet, soft-spoken Panshikar narrated anecdotes after anecdotes on Pandit Joshi. Panshikar’s first encounter with Pandit Joshi was in Mumbai, way back in 1955 when he visited his concert. “I heard him once and it became a weekly habit for me to go for his concerts in Mumbai”, he says.
The artist, who is now associated with Kala Academy, feels that he was lucky because “I heard Bhimsen Joshi, when he was in the full bloom”.
From the role of an audience, Panshikar got to rub shoulders with Panditji in 1978 to 1982. “During this period, I accompanied him on ‘Tanpura’ when he visited Calcutta for his concerts”, he recalls.
Panshikar and Panditji have a string of emotions that bind together.
Panshikar’s guru was disciple of Savai Gandharv. Also Panditji himself was disciple of Savai Gandharv.
In 1955, Panditji started Savai Gandharv Music festival in Pune. Panshikar remembers how the small time event turned into a full length music festival due to efforts of Panditji.
There is another side of Pandit Joshi, which very few people, close to him know.
“He was a car lover and owned a big car which he used to drive himself making the driver sit next to him”, Panshikar said.
The person with melodious voice was also a wonderful mechanic and driver.
In one of the quality that sums up Panditji as a human being, Panshikar says that Panditji being a good singer, never used to criticize other vocalists or artists.
He said the death of Panditji was an unfathomable loss. “We should have a concert in Panditji’s name as a tribute to this great soul”, Pandit Panshikar said.
That is one concert no one in Goa would like to miss.