As maestro Pandit Jasraj turns 89, a tribute in music and film

Padma Vibhushan Pandit Jasraj’s earliest musical memory goes back to when he was just four. He remembers sitting on his father’s tummy, singing. “When I made a mistake, my father would smile and laugh, and I would feel happy that he was enjoying it,” he says. “I am still trying to rectify the mistakes I have been making since then.”

Jasraj turned 89 in January is celebrating it with a concert — ‘Golden Years, Golden Voice’ — at the Shanmukhananda Hall in Sion on March 15.

The show features a five-section audiovisual presentation on the musician’s life, on his transition from tabla player to a classical singer, and on the guru-sishya relationship he shared with his eldest brother Maniram.

Interspersed will be performances by fellow artistes. “There is no interviewer and no script, just the experiences of a lifetime,” says Durga Jasraj, the maestro’s daughter, who made the video and will host the show. “We want to celebrate the music and the musician, the human and the star.”

The performances include a presentation of sargam by the students of the Pandit Jasraj School of Music, a tabla symphony conceived by Durga Jasraj and composed by Kedar Pandit, a performance of Begum Akhtar’s ghazals by Anup Jalota, and a presentation by violinist L Subramaniam.

Jasraj will give the final performance of the evening. “At this stage in life, I realise that I know nothing and I will never know anything,” he says.