Union Minister Prakash Javadekar Attends 75th Birthday Celebration Of Hindustani Classical Vocalist Pandit Prabhakar Karekar

Jyothi Venkatesh

The Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar joined doyens of classical music, to honour Hindustani classical vocalist Pandit Prabhakar Karekar on his 75th birthday, at Nehru Centre Auditorium, Worli, in Mumbai on Saturday. Padma Vibhushan and Santoor Legend Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, senior artist Dr. Babasaheb Taranekar and Arun Godbole were present on the occasion.The event was marked by a recital by santoor exponent Rahul Sharma, with Shri Yogesh Samsi on the tabla. A vocal recital also was presented by Begum Parveen Sultana, accompanied by Mukundraj Deo and Srinivas Acharya.The Minister and other dignitaries extended their warm wishes and greetings to Pandit Karekar. A book on Pandit Prabhakar Karekar too was released on the occasion.

Addressing the gathering, the Union Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar said that the book written by Mangala Khadilkar Ji describes how great he is. Recalling that he had come for Pandit's 61st birthday and now today for 75th birthday, Javadekar expressed the hope that he will be able to attend his 100th birthday as well, since people with clean hearts tend to have a healthy and long life. Thanking Pandit Prabhakar, the Minister said: "Thank you for making us good listeners; you gave us inner peace through your sangeet. We grew up listening to your sangeet on radio as there was no television in that era."Speaking on the value of art and artists, the Minister said: "It takes tremendous effort to create an artist because the artist should not only have God-gifted talent but should also take tremendous efforts to develop that talent. An artist is created only due to passion, hard work and talent. The richness of a country depends upon how art flourishes in that country. It is the culture of this country that kings bow in front of artists and not the other way round. A listener does not ask for anything more than superb rendition of the art that artist is a master of. I thank you all for gathering here to show your love towards Karekar Ji."

Pandit Shivkumar Sharma said that Pandit Karekar has always exhibited a loving, kind and respectful disposition. He said that Pandit Karekar has learnt from gurus and evolved his own style of music based on that. Begum Parveen Sultana said that Pandit Karekar and she share a long brother-sister relationship lasting for around 40 years. She said that he has consistently been very friendly and caring, and requests for her to join him in his concerts in such a gentle way that one cannot say no to him. She wished him good health, a long life and continued joy in the family. Pandit Karekar shared his experiences from his decades-long life and career as an artist and thanked everyone for their kind words, love, support and affection.

Pandit Prabhakar Karekar has won several accolades in the Indian music industry by his  his accomplishment in classical music. Hailing from Goa, he learnt music from Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki, Pandit Suresh Haldankar and late Padmabhushan Pandit C.R.Vyas. He was awarded Tansen Sanman in 2014 and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in the year 2016. He has been known as a graded artist of AIR and Doordarshan. Karekar has trained several promising and accomplished young musicians. He has many recordings to his credit and has performed, lectured and held workshops or taken part in conferences in many countries. He was honored with Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his contribution to Hindustani Vocal music. Karekar is also the Founder and Chairman of the Swarprabha Trust, which came into existence with the prime objective of promotion of young vocal artistes and to aid young seekers of classical music. The charitable trust is dedicated solely to spreading and propagating music, primarily in its classical form.Swarprabha Trust organizes 'Swaranjali', the annual Indian Classical Music festival and was launched to honor late Pandit Suresh Haldankar, late Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki and late Padmabhushan Pandit C.R.Vyas. These three gurus bestowed guidance and contributed to the classical music knowledge of Pandit Prabhakar Karekar. Launched in 2002, Swaranjali is a 'Shraddhanjali' or reverence of swaras or musical notes.

Prakash Javadekar

75th Birthday Celebration of Pandit Prabhakar Karekar

75th Birthday Celebration of Pandit Prabhakar Karekar

75th Birthday Celebration of Pandit Prabhakar Karekar

75th Birthday Celebration of Pandit Prabhakar Karekar

75th Birthday Celebration of Pandit Prabhakar Karekar

75th Birthday Celebration of Pandit Prabhakar Karekar

75th Birthday Celebration of Pandit Prabhakar Karekar

75th Birthday Celebration of Pandit Prabhakar Karekar

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