KESARBAI KERKAR: Jat Kahan Ho Akele Gori Jane Na Paiyon…

Born in 1892 at Querim (Keri), a place 15 km from Fonda in Goa, Surshree Smt. Kesarbai Kerkar left this world on Ganesh Chaturthee of September 1977. Two months later recording of her Bhairvi Hori: ‘Jaat Kahan Ho’ inscribed in the grooves of the copper disc of the Voyager spacecraft was sent in space. It was sent for the search of extraterrestrial life and intelligence and it is still sending weak signals after 30 years. This would be the only Indian voice that aliens – if they exist - would listen to. She was born into a family that earned their living through music. Naturally, she was introduced to art at a very early age. She had initial training from Ustad Abdul Kareem Khan, Vazeboa and Barkatulla Khan Satariye. However, it was too short to learn any music. She had to wait till 1920. Due to the efforts and persuasion of Seth Vitthaldas and Gopaldas, Alladiya Khan agreed to teach her with very strange and strict conditions and very heavy fees of Rs. 200 per month. She accepted the challenge and learnt for ten years from 1921-30.
In 1938, she sang Raga Jaitashree in Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s Shanti Niketan, near Calcutta. He gave her a letter of appreciation and it was displayed proudly in the drawing-room of Kesarbai’s house. In 1948, ‘Sangeet Praveen, sangeetanuragi, Sajjan sanman samiti’ of Calcutta conferred ‘Surashree’ title on her. In 1953, she received Sangeet Natak Academy Award and in 1969 Govt. of 15 India honoured her with the ‘Padmabhushan’ title. This honour was for her music. Her voice was not sweet but had command over a uniform volume in all three octaves. She would modulate it keeping the same volume. Her ragas like Basanti-Kedar, Bihagada, Malkauns, Jaijiawanti and Tilak Kamod were very popular among her listeners.
Fortunately, she has recorded for the Gramophone Company during 1935-55 in three different phases. One can trace the evolution of her music and the style through these records. Private collectors have hours of recordings of Kesarbai and one can judge her changed style after the demise of Alladiya Khan in 1946. Truly one can describe her voice as ‘The Voice of the Century’.
Some links to her immortal songs. You can click this link and listen.
1.    • Kesarbai Kerkar  Thumri Bhairavi  
2.    • Voyager's Golden Record: Jaat Kahan Ho by ...  
3.    • Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar -Raga Kedar  
4.    • Smt. Kesarbai Kerkar: Raag-Malkauns  
5.    • Kesarbai Kerkar: Raga Maru Bihag  
6.    • Kesarbai Kerkar: Raga Nat Kamod  
7.    • Surashri Kesarbai Kerkar... Raag Durga.  

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