Twenty-one years ago…It’s a long time since losing someone. Long enough to bring in some wrinkles on what was a younger, fresher face. Long enough to mellow easy flashes of tempers of the youth. Long enough to lose some more dear people. Long enough to make some new good friends for life. And yet, not long enough to really forget his unbounded love; not long enough to forget the softness of his cheek when I kissed it; not long enough to forget the thousand of songs I heard his mellifluous voice sing. They say, it’s good to count life’s blessings. Having a father like Gopal Kaushik was undoubtedly one of the best. Today, as some of his near and dear ones celebrate him at Nagpur with a special two-day musical tribute, I look forward to reliving and remembering him with so many of you. I must begin with music, because that was what defined him and his soul. It was neither his profession nor his passion ….it was much beyond. Music was him. It was also probably in his genes. His maternal uncle would play the harmonium and his own father the violin.

 

The family which lived in ‘Chhoti Dhantoli’ was used to his uncle coming to their house, pulling out the harmonium which used to be in the drawing room and start playing it … it was the way he announced his arrival. Once, my father’s mother was happily surprised to hear similar sounds of the harmonium and she rushed out to meet her brother. But it was my father … then barely four years old, who was completely engaged in playing the perfect notes, albeit, using his left hand! And then, the music never stopped. Before he was twenty, he had made a mark for himself acting, singing and directing music. The legendary dramatist Purushottam Darwhekar, who was called ‘master’ lived just next door and he provided the necessary platform to young Gopal through his Ranjan Kala Mandir. Apart from singing, acting in plays and then scoring their music, winning all the top awards for it as they became extremely popular became part of his life.

 

He used to be invited not just across Maharashtra but also in the Marathi speaking cities of the neighbouring states and it was common to hear people hum along as their mornings opened to his voice singing a number as they tuned in to an Akashvani station. Probably, as far as he was personally concerned, he reached his musical ‘high’ when Lata Mangeshkar sang ‘Chandra nabhicha dhalala’, to music scored by him when he was just 18 years old. In one of her milestone birthday articles, the legendary Lata Mangeshkar named him as some of the most “gifted” music directors she has worked with. When it came to Lata Mangeshkar, he was a virtual devotee and it is not surprising that while he hoarded little in his life, it was this article, that he treasured for decades. Just like we have so many reality music shows on television today, there was a highly popular contest by the name of Metro Murphy in those days. Musicians across India would participate and the audience voting come from the ones present in a packed auditorium. The final contestants came through several rounds across India. The winner would get a five-film contract. The young Gopal made it to the last two – won the audience votes but lost out to the judges, who voted for Mahendra Kapoor. One of the judges then was the legendary Mohammad Rafi. I must say our home was different from most others. Since I can remember, it was filled with students who wanted to learn music, practices going on for some or the other concert, tunes being set for some musical drama or then, just the family singing together. My father was the youngest, the only brother to four sisters. And three out of the four were themselves musically blessed. Families bond in different ways, and ours bonded over music.

 

As families keep shrinking, it is difficult for men and women to think beyond their spouse and children. But in my father’ case, what completed him was one the love he carried in his heart for all his sisters, his nephews and a niece. Feeling – was important for my father. He asked all who were to sing his tunes and all who learnt music with him, to feel the emotion of the song and only then sing it. That is what probably lent the master’s edge to his repertoire. Just as feeling was important to him, so was education. I remember a hundred times when I have heard him advice young singers to first learn at least the basics of classical music even if they intended to sing just light. A lot of people were misled by his vast musical curriculum to assume that he either did music professionally or that he worked with the Nagpur Akashwani. He did neither. He had done his Masters in Library Science and that was his profession. Books were thus an important part of our growing up as he and my mother, both voracious readers, had access to all that made for good reading in the languages of our choice.

 

He was the pure romantic who could appreciate a Pride and Prejudice, enjoy the simplicity of the times of Emma, get immersed in The Bourne Identity, empathise with Rebecca and recommend the spirituality of ‘Saad Deti Himshikhare’. It could be his sense of humour or his ability to take a joke on himself or his high emotional quotient or his ability to stand in someone else’s shoes that saw him make friends across all ages. He was my friend too. What is it that I miss most about him … then, it is the easy friendship as we took long walks, where, while he never missed playing the father with his gentle advice, he also never ceased to be the friend who had the confidence to set me free. As I thank all the dear people at Nagpur for organizing ‘Swar Gopal’, I take this opportunity to invite all to attend the two-day musical festivities between 6 pm and 8 pm today and tomorrow at Chitnavis Centre. (The author is Deputy Executive Editor, ABP Majha.)