Remembering Pt Madhav Gudi

With a musical tribute to Late Pandit Madhav Gudi, Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal will bring back the subtle musical precision of the maestro

The Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal is paying a musical homage to the renowned Hindustani classical singer, Late Pandit Madhav Gudi, a senior disciple of Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi on July 30 and 31.

Pandit Madhav Gudi was known as 'Pandit Bhimsen Joshi of Karnataka' and stayed with Pandit Bhimsen Joshi following the 'guru shishya parampara'. The musical homage which is going to take place at the Sawai Gandharva Smarak is the “remembrance of a great musician by musical performances” says Pandit Upendra Bhat, one of the performers of the day from Karnataka. “Gudi who was a very innocent person was very close to guruji,” recalls Bhat.

Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal organises the famous Sawai Gandharva Music festival which is one of the greatest festivals of classical music in India. It started as a small scale affair after the demise of the musical stalwart 59 years back. Bhat will be accompanied by Prasanna Gudi, son of Pandit Madhav Gudi, Arti Ankalikar and Pandit Ullas Bapat on the santoor. The second day will have performances by Shreenivas Joshi, son of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and disciple of Gudi, Arshad Ali, Kaushiki Chakravarty and Purbayan Chatterjee on the sitar.


The incessant trend of reality shows on every television channel have left the classical musical maestros like Bhat and Joshi with no 'awe'. “Classical music will always be classical music. Reality shows give you temporary fame but dedicated musicians do not crave for fame. Without the blessings of guru nothing happens.” says Bhat who blames the parents for misguiding 'children to turning to mahagayaks in a minute's time'. He feels that youngsters are immensely interested in classical Hindustani music and they fill the first few rows on every such occasion.


Kaushiki Chakraborty, who is coming to Pune for the second time is all praises for Pune as being one of the best hubs for classical music with the quality of listeners and the growing number of young audiences. “I have never met Pandit Madhav Gudi but feel blessed to be able to perform and be a part of this homage,” adds Chakraborty.

(The event will be held at Sawai Gandharva Smarak on July 30 and July 31, from 5 pm to 10 pm)