Shri Narasimha Joshi

Domain: Hindustani Classical Music | Vocalist | Educator | Mentor | LIVE Concert Performer | Community Builder | Writer | Speaker

Genre: #IndianClassical #Bhajans #Carnatic #Shlokas

Location: Bengaluru, India

Journey

TALENTED CHILD BORN INTO A FAMILY OF TRADITIONAL ARTISTS

Born to musical parents, Shri Narasimha Joshi had a passion for singing from early childhood, as he naturally listened to music while his mother sang Bhajans, and his father was artist at Yakshagana, a traditional folk dance popular in the coastal districts of Karnataka; it is a distinctive performing arts form representing mythological and historical stories of India, with dance, music, and acting on stage – in conversations with artists in the play. Also, young Narasimha would sing every day, in the temples, along with his cousins.

He would silently yearn to receive more serious taalim in Indian classical music. Absence of a music teacher did bother him for a long time, while he listened to classical music on the radio, both in the morning and in the evening, as a ritual. He did listen to recitals of legends available as tape recorders, with his uncles. By the time he was 15 or 16 years old, with references from one of his relatives, Shri Narasimha Joshi finally met with his Guru Pandit Shripad Hegde of Dharwad, Karnataka.

TRANSFORMATION INTO A MUSICIAN

During his early childhood, when he was 11 or 12 years old, young Narasimha had listened to recitals in many raags such as Malkauns, Todi, Hemant and others, but when he listened to raag Madhuwanti, it touched his soul differently, moved him from within, and pushed him towards getting to know the music, more deeply. He would wish upon his life to learn atleast 1 raag, in this lifetime. He expressed about this deeply felt wish to learn raag Madhuwanti, to his Guru.

Pandit Shripad Hegde had come for a concert in Bangalore, which young Narasimha came to know about, and with help from his relatives, he got to meet with him. Pandit Shripad Hegde asked him to sing and young Narasimha sang a bhajan, and got an approval of taalim from Pandit Shripad Hegde. Pandit Ji left for his hometown after the concert and there was no contact with young Narasimha for eight months and there was no chance to meet, until Pandit Ji started classes in Bangalore. Narasimha was very driven to learn, and so he went to the location of the class,  where Pandit Ji recognized him instantly. Pandit Ji started his taalim, started with introduction to swaras, learning  alankaars, and after one and a half years of rigorous training, Narasimha got his first taalim in raag Madhuwanti.

EARLY LIFE, FORMATIVE YEARS & MUSICAL CAREER

In his growing up years, young Narasimha had no instrument to practice the music with; buying a Tanpura would mean a big investment at the time, so it was a challenge to do the riyaz. Therefore, he would go to friend’s place to practise or listen to cassettes to get the correct shruti to practice. But, he hesitated to share this information with his Guru, who’d teach him at no fees at all, considering his talent, dedication and complete surrender to the Guru.

After 5 years of learning music, his sister Sandhya gifted him Tanpura and Tabla, to motivate him in his pursuit. While he grew up learning the rich music, he registered for engineering studies, and for 7-8 years, he remained deeply engrossed in music education while he worked at small jobs to pay his bills, and dedicated every available time on weekends, to learn and accompany his Guru on his concert.

During his early 20s, within only 2-3 years of taalim from his Guru, Shri Narasimha Joshi got the opportunity to accompany his Guru on stage, and the Guru-shishya parampara flourished on LIVE concerts at prestigious platforms – in Dharwad, Bangalore, in several other parts of south India.

Also, after 5 years of learning music, he presented his first solo performance that happened in front of his Guru at a house concert in Dharwad.

PROFESSIONAL ENDEAVOURS AND FURTHER GROWTH AS A PERFORMING ARTIST

Shri Narasimha Joshi is a graded artist with All India Radio (AIR) and done M.A. in Music, from Karnataka University. He was inspired by his Guru, to start teaching, to enrich his learning, evolve as a better musician as well as take the music to sincere students as much as possible.

His idea about music evolved a lot by nurturing the music deeply, and with his spirit of giving back to the society. He is passionate about taking the music to a large group of learners, so that, we develop our communities that thrive on the culture and spirituality of the people of this nation.

In his pursuit to teach and perform music with its authentic essence, Shri Narasimha Joshi thinks deeply, and he means it when he says, sangeet se ek vyakti hai, vyakti se sangeet nahi hai. Meaning: an individual becomes due to music, music doesn’t become due to an individual. He truly believes that musician is a small part in front of a sea, and as much he cultivates music within himself, he is inspired to analyze works of other musicians and write about the same, with a pure motive to create authentic content about the subject.

COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP AND HIS LEGACY

Shri Narasimha Joshi did not have a tanpura for 5 years in his formative years of music education. It was a struggle, but he was sincere in his sadhana, and had a first-hand experience of the lack of support from the established communities, the ones that are largely biased towards supporting influential people, even in today’s times. He is passionately working towards creating an inclusive community support system that is sincerely engaged in supporting learners from all walks of life. His experiences and his zeal to make a difference inspire him to think deeply about music and the music education system today.

He has emerged to be a musician and a community builder in the truest sense of term. Shri Narasimha Joshi is dedicated towards identifying talented students and supporting them in their quest for music. He also organizes concerts to showcase talents that deserve the recognition and branding. We are honoured for getting the opportunity to participate in his mission to nurture an inclusive community of artists, learners, and thereby make a difference in the Indian classical music education system and talents recognition in India.

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