Pandit Bhimsen Joshi to get Bharat Ratna

NEW DELHI: Celebrated Hindustani classical vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, who was awarded the Bharat Ratna on Tuesday, led the renaissance of Indian classical music with the passion and power of a one-man chorus in an epic saga of struggle and single pointed thirst for music.

Acknowledged as the leading light of the Kirana gharana, Bhimsen Joshi (86) through his amazing absorption of the soul of various gayaki styles has created a unique blend adding his own introspective aesthetic sense.

A recipient of several awards isncluding the Padma Vibhushan, the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shree, Joshi has added his own distinctive style excelling in gamakar, meend and tanakriya and adapting characterstics from other gharanas to create a unique vocal idiom.

Joshi's rendition of 'Mile Sur Tumhara' along with other doyens of music, Balmurli Krishna and Lata Mangheskhar, that virtually became an unofficial national anthem in a humble way in 1988 captured the hearts of millions of Indians.

Louis Banks and the late P Vaidyanathan, a classically trained musician, got the right fusion of music for the song that was beamed on Doordarshan to countless homes.