Melody Incarnate

 Remember that intense request that captured Seeta's determination to accompany Rama in to the forest? Yes, I am referring to the soulful "nirop kasla maza gheta?/Jethe Raghaw, tethe Seeta." Sure, the touching simplicity nestled in the poet's, GaDiMa's, words. The melody, however, was not only Sudhir Phadke's, because the sweet, gentle voice that enlivened his notes and GaDiMa's words was Manik Varma's! 

All of us who have some training, quite basic for sure, in singing, have let loose our vocal chords on her "amrutachi godi tuzya" and "amruta huni god nam tuze", even otherwise the staples of Pune Akashwani, where you could hear these simple sweet lovelies at least twice a day, right? Remember "ektari gate geet" or "Kabirache winto shele"?

Yes, the sweet simplicity of Manik Varma's gentle bhaktigeet, bhava geet, natyageet appears effortless. Actually, hers was a hugely trained voice. She was Hirabai Barodekar's disciple. In a way, it is as good as saying that she was a direct descendant of the Kirana Gharana. No wonder, she was melody incarnate. From the Agra Gharana inputs, her "thumri" attained an additional poignancy, right?

Given her stalwart contribution, it is such a surprise that her centenary on May 16 went almost unnoticed. May be, her daughters and disciples like Asha Khadilkar might be planning a worthy tribute.

Basically, however, this precisely is the plight of the genuine these days. In the AI-infested wor(l)ds today, indeed it is difficult to decipher the truth from the trash, the real from the false, the genuine from the faked! You have to be very good at advertising your non-existent talent from the roof top, and you can rule every t.v. show on each channel, while the insta/FB are yours to conquer!

Does it matter though? The loyal listener hardly cares for the showmanship, just as she never did. Her melodious notes have enriched and will continue to enthral us!

Pratima @ Much worse is the  literary wor(l)d. With rampant publishing possibilities, given the internet, every pen pusher, key presser considers himself/herself the greatest gift to mankind! 

Yet those in the know do not care for a Gautami Patil, for instance. They would rather listen to Chavan