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Gramophone Celebrities – 47
Surshree Smt. Kesarbai Kerkar – (1892-1977)
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 extra terrestrial 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 in a family that earned their living through music. Naturally, she
was introduced to the art at 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
persuation 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. She had to
practice for 8-10 hours every day. Thus, a fine singer emerged out of her and
since 1931 she began to give public performances. Every concert was: “She
came, She sang and She conquered”. In addition to private concerts at elite
houses, she used to sing in almost all the prestigious music conferences
throughout India. This continued well upto 1965. She stopped singing voluntarily
when she could not maintain the quality of her music and then lived for another
twelve years. She taught her music to her only disciple Smt. Dhondutai Kulkarni.
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
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