Pt. Venkatesh Godkhindi passes away

Remembering musicians of the recent past
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varsha
Posts: 1978
Joined: 24 Aug 2011, 15:06

Pt. Venkatesh Godkhindi passes away

Post by varsha »

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/ban ... 103256.ece

I had heard him as a little boy in my home town . The local manager of the 30 no beedi franchise ( a mangalorean ) would host late night concerts at his residence . Unassuming till the end , he did not get the recognition he deserved.
I can upload his music here if there is interest( including the acclaimed one of shudh kalyan in vocal which Rajaguru had praised .
Veteran Bansuri vidwan, Pt. Venkatesh Godkhindi, 75, died at his residence in Bangalore today (April 14) according to his family sources. He was suffering from a kidney ailment for the last four years and the end came at 5 am, confirmed his son, flautist Pravin Godkhindi, on phone. “My father was an ‘Ekalavya’ of sorts, he was a self-taught musician with a rare distinction of being A-graded artist in both vocal and flute in Akashavani,” he said.

Pt. Venkatesh Godkhindi was born in 1940 in Dharwad. He was working for Akashavani-Dharwad from 1970 and worked there until he retired in 2001. He had trained nearly 200 students across the globe and was a recipient of several awards. He is survived by his two sons, flautist Pravin Godkhindi and Kiran Godkhindi, tabla player.

“His music was divine”

“You are the only musician who can sing on the flute, your Shudh Kalyan was heavenly, only you can do this effortlessly on the bamboo reed…,” were some of the words described by Pt. Basavaraj Rajguru in his letter to Venkatesh Godkhindi in 1983, after listening to his concert on the radio.

Godkhindi learnt vocal, harmonium and the flute on his own. “Trial and error were part of his learning methodology, and the self-taught was one artiste, says Pravin, who was very close to Bhimsen Joshi.

Senior Godkhindi was a Harmonium player too and had accompanied most of stalwarts as Jitendra Abhisheki, Kishori Amonkar, Pt. Jasraj, Bhimsen Joshi, Basavaraj Rajguru amongst others. “He was an ardent follower of ‘Kirana Gharana’ and one could see this as he by nature followed the Gaayaki style where the vocalised format is meticulously traced,” explains Pravin. “To have the clarity of the Gaayaki style, he brought in the extra thumb-hole in his flute that made him ‘sing in absolute lucidity’, an inclusion that gained admiration from none other then Pt. Bhimsen Joshi too,” he adds.

Pt. Pannalal Ghosh also used an eight-holed Bansuri to bring in a marked shrill and boom with the two extra ones compared to the normal 6-holed flute, but Godkhindi brought in the invisible thumb-hole for showcasing a distinct identity of his style.

With concerts, awards and students all over to his credit, Pt. Godkhindi wasn’t happy when it came to the recognition of Karnataka artistes by the North Indian music world. “After the frontline artistes as Gangubai, Bhimsen Joshi, Mallikarjun Mansur, Basavaraj Rajguru and Kumar Gandharv, the next generation is still waiting for attention,” he always said. “”My father had accompanied all of them on the Harmonium,” says Pravin.

Apart from training hundreds of students and his own son Pravin on the flute, Mr. Godkhindi trained his young grandson Shadaj and the three have performed together for creating ‘three-generations-on-stage history.’

Sreeni Rajarao
Posts: 1283
Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 08:19

Re: Pt. Venkatesh Godkhindi passes away

Post by Sreeni Rajarao »

Sorry to hear about this.

Varsha avare,
Yes, please share the recording.

rshankar
Posts: 13754
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: Pt. Venkatesh Godkhindi passes away

Post by rshankar »

Condolences to his family, disciples, and rasikas. May his soul rest in peace!

mahavishnu
Posts: 3341
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 21:56

Re: Pt. Venkatesh Godkhindi passes away

Post by mahavishnu »

Sincere condolences.

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Pt. Venkatesh Godkhindi passes away

Post by arasi »

Varsha,
Those formative years in our lives with their musical memories are something we cherish all our lives. You were fortunate in growing up in a musical environment where your father was your guide. No wonder, you are rich with the memory of those unforgettable moments.

Condolences to the Godkhindi family, students (son, grandson). His art is in good hands...

varsha
Posts: 1978
Joined: 24 Aug 2011, 15:06

Re: Pt. Venkatesh Godkhindi passes away

Post by varsha »

where your father was your guide
Not here though . he would be deep asleep when I learnt these ropes :)
The Hindustani segment of initiation took place in a somewhat different way .Our small town went to bed by nine pm and little stirred in our home .

But a different drama would have been set on course in the afternoon itself .My uncle ( elder to me by little ) would announce at lunch thus :Some Master from north karnataka will be performing tonight
All my efforts to tag along with him would be spurned. It had to be his night out .Nights, best left unsullied, by a nephew at the heel .

That other half of our town had a habit of retiring at one am.Thousands of bicycles rode home after second shift,and stopped at idli shops that would have sprung up.Merchants and their families sat on their front porch,chatting late into the night

This uncle was a stubborn one and would yield only to grandma's admonitions .He would get his revenge after the concert by staying out a bit later into the night.I would be too sleepy to follow him .
Leaving me to walk home through dark roads infested with goblins, ghosts at every intersection.I had learnt to mutter Ram Ram based on my GrandMa's advice to scare them away .The last 100 metres to home , though , would be a real dash , the intensity of which was matched only by the loudness of the knock on the door.
Once secure inside the warm sheets ,the music played itself again.

Such was my introduction to HM.
These days I walk the same road again after a long distance bus deposits me around midnight.
As I trudge I think of all the players in that drama who are not around
The goblins in my mind now , are more real.
The music .. more ethereal :)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/y8ntm217v67zh ... r.mp3?dl=0
vocals
https://www.dropbox.com/s/q1aaqhjvy9igl ... n.mp3?dl=0

rshankar
Posts: 13754
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: Pt. Venkatesh Godkhindi passes away

Post by rshankar »

varsha wrote:The goblins in my mind now , are more real.
The music .. more ethereal :)
And your writing, lyrical!

Sreeni Rajarao
Posts: 1283
Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 08:19

Re: Pt. Venkatesh Godkhindi passes away

Post by Sreeni Rajarao »

Varsha avare,

Thank you for the recordings!

Sorry I have to ask this - the vocal recording - whose music is it? It is beautiful!

varsha
Posts: 1978
Joined: 24 Aug 2011, 15:06

Re: Pt. Venkatesh Godkhindi passes away

Post by varsha »

godhkindi himself :)

Sreeni Rajarao
Posts: 1283
Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 08:19

Re: Pt. Venkatesh Godkhindi passes away

Post by Sreeni Rajarao »

Wow! Thank You!

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