Late Pt Prabhakar Khardenavis The real innovation of musical wisdom
| Date :24-Nov-2019 |
By Rajendra Diwe :
It is said, “Most music has at least three main elements melody, rhythm and harmony. Because of its contemplative, spiritual nature, Indian classical music is a solitary pursuit that focuses mainly on melodic development.” Padma Shri Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar a famous Indian vocalist who is known as ‘A musician’s musician, connoisseur’s delight’ believes in the above words. The master of three Gharanas Jaipur, Gwalior and Delhi still remembers his musical ‘Guru’ Late Pandit Prabhakarrao Khardenavis. Late Pandit Prabhakarrao Khardenavis can be termed as the wonderful expression of classical music in Vidarbha. Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar has been one of the number of gems produced by Pandit Khardenavis. The family members, friends of Pandit Khardenavis are celebrating the birth centenary year of this great sage of Indian Classical Music.
His children including two sons and two daughters are following the musical legacy of Pandit Prabhakar by maintaining melody, rhythm and harmony of their lives. Suresh Khardenavis recalled his childhood as, “My father late Pandit Prabhakar Khardenavis was the true devotee of Goddess Saraswati. Music has been flowing through our blood from generation to generation. My grand father Nilkanth Khardenavis was the lover of Indian classical music. My father Prabhakarrao was born on May 30, 1920. In 1928, late Pandit Shankarrao Pravartak had established Abhinav Sangeet Vidyalaya in Nagpur. When my father Prabhakarrao was just eight, my grand father admitted him to Abhinav Sangeet Vidyalaya.” “Prabhakarrao Khardenavis had presented a bandish from Puriya Raaga in front of Sangeet Maharshi Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande in Mumbai in 1932 when he was just 12.
The raag was very difficult but he presented the same in such a way that Pandit Bhatkhande was overwhelmed and he wrote a certificate to little Prabhakar. Pandit Bhatkhande termed him as ‘Master Prabhakar’ and that had become a turning point in musical journey of my father,” he added. Pandit Prabhaklarrao’s elder son Dattatreya is maintaining Bhatkhande Sangeet Vidyalaya in Dhantoli. Suresh Khardenavis is a wellknown tabla player, artist of All India Radio and working as a lecturer in LAD college. The elder daughter of late Khardenavis, Rashmi Deshpande has completed master of arts in classical music and she is also a performing artist.
His younger daughter Smita Joshi is a director of Avishkar Arts Institution. She is also a performing artist and exponent of light classical music. Smita Joshi stated, ‘My father used to travel with his Guru Pravartak at number of places across the country. His confidence was built by the inspiration and encouragement he got from his Guru. When my father was just 16, he had a chance to perform in front of eminent singers and instrumentalists in those days at Akhil Bharatiya Sangeet Sammelan held in Lucknow. This mega conference was held on December 29, 1936 and my father sung in two sessions. Impressed by his performance, the Maiman Singh State offered him to work as a ‘Darbari Gayak’ in the kingdom. But being an elder son, my father humbly refused this proposal.’ Prabhakarrao Khardenavis started performing on Akashwani from 1945. But he was not getting sufficient income, thus, he joined Sitabai College of Arts in Akola as a musical teacher.
The musical institute of his Guru Pravartak was also facing lot of financial crisis, therefore, Pravartak wrote his a letter and called him from Akola to Nagpur. When he reached to Nagpur, Pravartak Guruji handed over the keys of Bhatkhande Sangeet Vidyalaya to Prabhakarrao Khardenavis. Late Khardenavis fulfilled his role as a musical teacher and took Bhatkhande Sangeet Vidyalaya to new heights. He was honoured with a title ‘Sangeet Shekhar’ by Hindustani Shikshan Prasarak Mandal on October 24 1948. Late Prabhakarrao Khardenavis was appointed as a lecturer in Music on October 20, 1954 in Morris College. The then Vice Chancellor, Dr V B Kolte gave him a permission to start Post Graduate Department of Music in Morris College.
Late Khardenavis visited to number of cities in India, attended several conferences and musical festivals. Many eminent artists Salamat Ali, Nazakat Ali, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Bismillah Khan, Mogubai Kurdikar, Suresh Haldankar, noted dancer Damaanti Joshi, Ustad Daud and other eminent musicians from city used to visit his house regularly. 1962 to 1985 was the golden period of his musical journey but he always remained away from any publicity. Pandit Khardenavis passed away due to old age on August 2008 at the age 88. He lived music, he breathed music and he left behind a strong lineage of disciples who are following his path.