Golden voice fades away....

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MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 11: The passing of veteran classical vocalist Moghubai Kurdikar is a body blow to Hindustani classical music. The 96-year-old Jaipore gharana doyenne breathed her last at the Hinduja hospital yesterday where she had been admitted following a difficulty in breathing. Kurdikar was born on July 15, 1904 in the sleepy green village of Kurdi off Goa.

Affectionately called Moga (Kokani for `the cute one') as a child, the nickname was transformed to Moghubai as her life turned a study in rare ambition, sincerity and gurubhakti.

By the time she was six-years-old, her mother Jayshreebai had recognised a talent and walked 5 miles to reach a master of classical music who was visiting a neighbouring Jamabavali village. For the next four months, little Moga learnt the basics from him. Inherently talented and in desperate need of money, she started performing with her mother from the age of seven.

A few years later, her mother died and the Chandreshwar theatre company, where she lived and worked, also closed down. Moga was taken to the home of her uncle Balkrishna and continued singing at the Satarkar Stri Sangit Mandal She went to Sangli with the hope of training under Ustad Inayat Khan but destiny had other plans in store.

While she tuned the tanpura and sung Madivari chal ga gade to herself one day, Ustad Alladiyan Khansaheb, walking on the street below her home, was mesmerised by her golden voice. He immediately took her under his tutelage.

She married Madhavdas Bhatia in 1923, but she continued practicing khayal gayaki - her forte. She has been the recipient of many awards including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1968), the Padmabhushan ( 1974) and the Madhya Pradesh government's Tansen award (1989), conferred upon her by CM Sunderlal Patwa.

A staunch purist, Kurdikar was strongly against not only Western music but film-music too. When her daughter, Kishori, lent her voice for Geet Gaya Patharon Ne, Kuridikar went off food till her daughter returned to the classical genre.

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