लेकिन इंदौर वे गाना गाने नहीं मालवा की समीशीतोष्ण जलवायु में स्वास्थ लाभ करने आए थे । उन्हें टी .बी थी जिसका उन दिनों कोई पक्का इलाज़ नहीं था । देवास में रह कर उन्हें स्वस्थ होना था ।
लेकिन जिस दिन वे इंदौर उतरे वह हाल ही आज़ाद हुए भारत का सबसे काला दिन था ।
30 जनवरी 1948 में ,दिल्ली में नाथुराम गो़डसे ने महात्मा गाँधी की हत्या कर दी थी । मालवा में स्वास्थ्य लाभ के जीवन की शुरुआत शुभ मुहुर्त में नहीं हुई थी ।
कुमार जी की पत्नी भानुमती ख़ुद एक गायिका थीं । लेकिन देवास में स्कूल में पढ़ा कर गायक पति का इलाज और घर चलाती थीं ।
जितनी सुन्दर थीं उतनी ही कुशल गृहणी नर्स थीं । कुमार जी स्वस्थ होकर फिर से वह नई तरह का गायन कर सके इसका श्रेय भानुताई को ही दिया जाना चाहिए ।
जिस घर में कुमार जी स्वास्थ लाभ कर रहे थे ,तब वेह देवास के लगभग बाहर था, और वहां हाट लगा करता था ।
कुमार जी ने वहीं बिस्तर पर पड़े पड़े मालवी के खांटी स्वर महिलाओं से सुने । वहीं पग- पग पर गीतों से चलने वाले मालवी लोक जीवन से उनका साक्षातकार हुआ ।
संगीत वे सीखे हुए थे और शास्त्रीय गायक में उनका नाम भी था ।लेकिन स्वस्थ होते हुए और नया जीवन पाते हुए उनमें एक गायक का भी जन्म हुआ ।
सन 1952 के बाद जब वे चंगे होकर गाने लगे तो पुराने कुमार गन्धर्व नहीं रह गये थे ।
एक दिन मामा मजूमदार के घर छोटी सी महफ़िल में गाते हुए उन्होंने अचानक कहा " अब मुझे गाना आ गया"।
वह हमारे मालवा के अन्यतम गायक कुमार गंधर्व का जन्म था । उन्हें बचपन से सुनने वाले वामन हरी देशपांडे ने उन दिनों के बारे में लिखा है .
"न जाने देवास की ज़मीन में कैसा जादू है। मुझे वहां की मिटटी में संगीत की सुगंध प्रतीत हुई ।"
मालवा के लोक जीवन से कुमार जी के साक्षात्कार पर देशपांडे ने लिखा ,
"बिस्तर पर पड़े-पड़े वे ध्यान से आसपास से उठने वाले ग्रामवासियों के लोकगीतों के स्वरों को सुना करते थे ।
वे उन लोकगीतों और लोक धुनों की और आकर्षित होते चले गये ।
इसे में से एक नये विश्व का दर्शन उन्हें प्राप्त हुआ ।"
मालवा के देवास में फिर जन्मे कुमार गंधर्व को सारी दुनिया जानती है । उनका गायन अपने ढंग का अनूठा है ।
सन 1961 में दुसरे पुत्र को जन्म देते हुए भानुताई का निधन हो गया ।
कुमार जी ने अपने नये घर का नाम भानुकुल रखा । फिरवशुंधरा ताईसे विवाह किया ।
अड़सठ बरस की उम्र में 12 जनवरी 1992 में देवास में उनका निधन हो गया । लोक संगीत को शास्त्रीय से भी ऊपर ले जाने वाले कुमार जी ने कबीर को जैसा गया वैसा कोई नहीं गा सकेगा ।
कालिदास के बाद कुमार गन्धर्व मालवा के सबसे दिव्य सांस्कृतिक विभूति हैं
निर्भय निर्गुण गुण रे गाऊंगा
मूल-कमल दृढ़-आसन बांधूं जी
उल्टी पवन चढ़ाऊंगा ।।
निर्भय निर्गुण ।।
मन-ममता को थिर कर लाऊं जी
पांचों तट मिलाऊंगा जी
निर्भय निर्गुण ।।
इंगला-पिंगला-सुखमन नाड़ी
त्रिवेणी पे हां नहाऊंगा
निर्भय-निर्गुण ।। पांच-पचीसों पकड़ मंगाऊं-जी
एक ही डोर लगाऊंगा
निर्भय निर्गुण ।।
शून्य-शिखर पर अनहद बाजे जी
राग छत्तीस सुनाऊंगा
निर्भय निर्गुण ।।
कहत कबीरा सुनो भई साधो जी
जीत निशान घुराऊंगा ।
निर्भय-निर्गुण ।।
कुछ तस्वीरें
Dewas and Pt. Kumar Gandharva are inseparable. The thought of one, brings the other automatically to one’s mind. There is hardly anyone who has not passed by ‘Bhanukul’ ( Kumarji’s residence ) on the way to Mataji’s Tekri. I have had the good fortune to visit Bhanukul on a couple of occasions marking Kumarji’s ‘punya-tithi’ ( death anniversary). ‘Bhanukul’ retains the old –age charm of spacious houses which used to be surrounded by trees, plants and flowers.
Its interior has Kumarji’s signature in each and every room- the ‘Padma Bhushan’ and ‘Padma Vibhushan’ awards occupying a place of pride in the main hall, a black and white photograph of Kumarji as a young boy, decked up in royal medals and badges and several other photographs which send us down memory lane. All these are a fitting tribute to one of India’s finest Hindustani Classical singers, Shivputra Sidhharamyya Komkali, popularly known as Pt.Kumar Gandharva.
I first heard Kumarji’s amous Kabir-bhajan ‘Ud Jayega Hans Akela’ while listening to one of his CDs. Being a student of Hindustani Classical music, it took me no time to realize that he and only he, would soon become my favorite singer. Today, after three to four years of my training in Hindustani Classical music, I am confident that there’s no one else like Kumarji.
Pt. Kumar Gandharva was born on 8th April,1924 in Sulebhavi near Belgaum ( Karnataka) to a Kannadiga family. He studied music under Prof B R Deodhar and Ms. Anjanibai Mhalpekar, two eminent musicians of his time.
He married Bhanumati Kans in April 1947 and moved to Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. Soon after moving there, he was stricken with lung cancer. He was forced into having a surgery to remove the cancerous lung or face eventual death by the disease. Kumarji opted for the surgery after much persuasion by his family and despite warnings that he might not be able to sing anymore. Recovering from the trauma of a surgery in Khanapur near Belgaum in Karnataka,
Kumar Gandharva was visited by a fan who was also a physician. The doctor noted his surgical wounds had healed and asked Pt.Kumar Gandharva to attempt singing once again. Gradually, helped by this doctor, medicines of those yesteryears and care from Bhanumati Kans,
Kumar Gandharva recovered and began singing again. However, his wonderful voice and singing style would always bear the scars of his surgery, which are evident to any person who listens to his songs such as 'Runanubandhachya" from the drama "Dev Dina Ghari Dhavla". Ironically, it ('Runanubandhachya") is one of his finest renditions. He was known to say that during his convalescence after the illness, he had been inspired by a sparrow which visited his room and which, despite its diminutive size, could produce an impressive volume of music.
His first ‘mehfil’(public peroformance) after recovery from illness was in 1953. The illness greatly affected Kumarji's singing in later years – he was to be known for powerful short phrases and his very high pitched voice. He may not have reached the same heights of popularity as contemporaries like Bhimsen Joshi, but he always enjoyed the love and support of a select band of people who were devoted to his unorthodox yet unique style of singing.
Kumarji also experimented with other forms of singing such as Nirguni bhajans (Devotional songs), folk songs, and with both ragas and presentation, often going from fast to slow compositions in the same raga, something rarely done by any other North Indian musician. He is remembered for his great legacy of innovation, questioning tradition without rejecting it wholesale, resulting in music in touch with the roots of Indian culture, especially the folk music of Madhya Pradesh.
The fascination with words and meanings, and personal experience, was undoubtedly related to Kumarji's strong beliefs about folk music. He believed (and who can dispute it?) that all "classical" music is an outgrowth of folk music, where the most basic elements of life and nature are expressed in musical form. In his view, classical raagas are nothing but the distillation of musical essence from a class of folk songs, and this led him to an enterprise to discover "new" raagas by simply listening carefully to more and more folk songs.
He called these "Dhun Ugam Raagas", and many of his discoveries -- Madhsurja, Ahimohini, Saheli Todi, Beehad Bairav, Lagan Gandhar, Sanjaari, Maalvati -- are now accepted as raagas and find mention in various modern texts such as "Raga Nidhi".
For a long spell, Kumar Gandharva's activities as a musician were managed by his friend and tabla accompanist Vasant Acharekar. Acharekar was Vasant Desai's assistant in the 1950s but later devoted himself fully to his role as an accompanist to classical singing. His son Suresh Acharekar is also a tabla player, and has accompanied Kumar Gandharva and other artists.
Pt. Kumar Gandharva's first son, Mukul Shivaputra, was born around 1955. After Bhanumati's death in 1961 during childbirth, Kumarji married Vasundhara Shrikhande, another of his fellow-students at Deodhar School. Vasundhara Komkali formed a memorable duo with him in bhajan singing. She also provided vocal support to his classical renditions quite often. Recently, she has received the prestigious Padmashree Award for her contribution to vocal classical music.Their daughter Kalapini Komkali and Kumarji’s grandson Bhuavanesh Komkali, are well known names in the field of Hindustani Classical Music.
Kumar Gandharva was awarded the Padma Vibhushan award in 1990. He also received the prestigious Sangeet Natak Academy award and the Shikhar Samman and Kalidas Samman conferred by the M.P. government.
‘Gandharva’ literally means celestial singers who sing to entertain the Gods. And true to form, Kumarji was a celestial singer deputed by the heavens to complete a short stint on earth. It is only appropriate that the Indian government gives out the Kumar Gandharva Samman every year to an outstanding and upcoming artiste at a function held at the Malhar Smriti Mandir, Dewas. The likes of Pt. Mukul Shivputra, Pt. Rajan Sajan Mishra, Gundecha Brothers and Ustad Rashid Khan ( to name just a few ) have been the recipients of this coveted award.
Words cannot sum up the greatness of this great artiste. Pt. Kumar Gandharva will be remembered as perhaps the only artiste who followed rules, played with them, broke them and modified them only to enhance the status of Indian Classical music. We shall remain indebted to this great singer forever.
गणतंत्र के दिवस के इस अवसर पर अपने शहीद सैनिकों को श्रदांजलि
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