West Bengal artists mourn Bhimsen Joshi’s death
By IANSMonday, January 24, 2011
KOLKATA - The death of eminent Hindustani classical vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Monday was mourned by classical singers of West Bengal who described it as an irreparable loss for music lovers.
Bhimsen Joshi, a Bharat Ratna recepient, died Monday morning at Pune’s Sahyadri Hospital at age 88.
“He has taken classical music and songs to such heights. His loss can never be repaired,” said renowned classical singer Ajoy Chakroborty.
“Pandit Bhimsen Joshi himself was an institution. His death is an irreparable loss. I was a great fan of his. He was a legend of classical music,” said Dwijen Mukhopadhyay, a renowned classical singer.
“I feel like I have lost my father once again. I had a personal relation with him and he was very affectionate towards me. He was not only a great classical vocalist but also a great human being,” said Haimanti Shukla, a classical singer.
“He was one of the legends who took Indian classical music to the world arena. It’s an irreparable loss not only to Indian music but also to world music. There will be none like Bhimsen Joshi again. But he has left behind his legacy, we can learn a lot from it,” said Bikram Ghosh, a percussionist.
A practitioner of the Kirana gharana, Joshi was known for his mellifluous ‘khayals’ as well as for his popular renditions of devotional ‘abhangs’ and ‘bhajans’.
Joshi also lent his unforgettable voice to Bollywood. He sang for several Hindi movies like “Basant Bahar” (1956) with Manna Dey, “Birbal My Brother” (1973) and “Ankahee” (1985).
