The Lone Royal Swan…
The Life of Bal Gandharva
Manjusha Amdekar
Translated from the original Marathi (“तो राजहंस एक…”)
10. Fate Gives but Deeds Take Away
Red-Cross Fund
Still, distrust lingered in everyone’s mind that Bal Gandharva, falling once more under Gauharbai’s sway, would again let the management slide into chaos–and the talk of a compromise fell through. But, curiously enough, amid all this uproar, a turn of events came about that no one could have anticipated.
At a time when it seemed that the doors of the stage might well have closed for Bal Gandharva, a company called the “Red-Cross Fund” decided to put on a play to help him. This scheme was put into effect. But since the name “Gandharva Mandali” could not be used, it was decided to present the play under the name “Gandharva Nat-Sanch.” And the production met with unprecedented success that none could have imagined even in a dream. The chief condition was that Bal Gandharva would not set foot on the stage unless the fee for each performance was received in advance. And, of course, all the reins of the business were in Gauharbai’s hands. She had within her the mettle to recover every last paisa. It was indeed remarkable that, over a span of a year, in some 200 performances put together, Bal Gandharva, at the age of 56, earned Rs 100,000. Apart from the trifling daily living expenses of Bal Gandharva, Gauharbai and her daughter Ashamma, what became of the rest of the money is a mystery. Out of this money, spending Rs 25,000, Gauharbai had bought a house in Vijapur in the name of a close relative of hers. He, acting in bad faith, sold that house off privately to another Muslim man. Before the transaction could be completed, that relative left for Pakistan. As a result, the government confiscated the house.
Marriage to Gauharbai
Every possible effort was made to have that confiscation lifted and to take possession of the house. Someone suggested that if Bal Gandharva were to marry Gauharbai, the government might perhaps consider the matter sympathetically. So, on April 27th 1951, Bal Gandharva married Gauharbai by the registry method. But it proved to be of no use whatsoever. Solely through the mediation of Kakasaheb Gadgil, Bal Gandharva was able to go on living in that house to the very end. In short, whatever notion Bal Gandharva had cherished—that Gauharbai had made an enormous sacrifice to pull him out of his financial crisis— turned out to be no more than a fable.
Speaking once of his past, Bal Gandharva had said, “I had become Balasaheb’s gramophone…” In the same way, he had now become Gauharbai’s gramophone. Talking to people he would say with great feeling, “O Lord, a day had arrived when I would have had to take poison…but she was the one that saved me…you have no idea about what she has done for me…!” Though he never said anything about what had she actually done. The unceasing propaganda of falsehood went on. The chief point of that propaganda used to be that Gauharbai, by pouring out thousands of rupees earned through her own labor, had paid off his debts.
In fact, it was Gauharbai who was responsible for a cheating case filed against Bal Gandharva by Sardar Madhavrao Narayanrao Munshi of Baroda. During one stay in Baroda, Gauharbai had obtained about Rs 10,000 or 12,000 from him. In that connection, she had uttered some hurtful words and he filed a suit for cheating against Bal Gandharva. This was yet another great humiliation that Gauharbai had plunged Bal Gandharva into through her deeds. As per proceedings, Bal Gandharva was to be handed over to the Baroda police (whether this actually happened or not has not been documented anywhere). This did not affect Gauharbai. Finally, Dr Bhalerao came to the aid of Bal Gandharva. He arranged for paying off the money from the salary earned for the Mahotsav and thus salvaged the situation.
There was no contract of any kind. They would take props on hire and stage a performance as best they could — sometimes Rukmini would be sitting in Sudhakar’s drawing room, at other times it would be Sindhu grinding and pounding grain in Rukmini’s palace; that was the sort of thing that went on. Gauhar had resolved firmly to use Bal Gandharva to extract as much money as possible. So, she pressed him hard, insisting that he should act in films alongside her. But no one was willing to cast Gauhar in films, and Bal Gandharva himself had been utterly defeated. So, her schemes came to nothing there.
Forced Retirement
Then, out of the money Bal Gandharva had earned, she spent Rs 22,000 in obtaining some props made for the plays. But within a few days, a defect developed in Bal Gandharva’s legs causing him inability to walk. By the end of 1952, in Baroda, this ailment began to grow even more troublesome. Treatment given by the renowned Doctor Shripad Kirtane cured Bal Gandharva. But the doctor had clearly warned that unless complete rest was taken for at least 6 months, the illness would raise its head again. Because this prescribed regimen was not followed, soon that leg of his was injured, and his other leg too became disabled, making it impossible for him to even stand. Finally, in 1955, he had to take forced retirement from the stage.
But did that then make it possible for him to live a calm life of retirement? No! To run the household, he had to earn money. So, he kept on performing bhajan programs. Seeing his crippled condition, the Government of Maharashtra began giving him a grant of Rs 300 a month. Increasing gradually until the time of his amrita-mahotsava (75th-birthday celebration), this amount had risen to Rs 750. Meanwhile, on June 30, 1950, his mother passed away. In 1951, he had done a registered marriage with Gauhar and given her the status of wife. So, she went about openly and grandly, with her head held high, as his wife.
Gauhar started spreading a new story, that from 1952 onwards, Bal Gandharva had become completely lame and bedridden. In that period, she claimed, Gauhar had rendered him every service: bathing him, cleaning his excreta, feeding him, and so on. And yet she had once put this question to Acharya Atre: ‘How long am I to keep doing this scavenger’s work?’ Atre too has written down somewhere that, ‘It was because Gauharbai was there that Bal Gandharva stayed alive!’
Height of Falsehood
But it turns out that there was no truth in any of this. Whatever Gauhar was saying was, quite literally, the very height of falsehood. From 1938, when Gauhar first stepped into Bal Gandharva’s life, right up to 1952 when his legs became lame — through that entire span, apart from a cough, Bal Gandharva had no illness at all. During this period, even though Bal Gandharva was earning money, Gauhar would take possession of that money and would not even give him enough to travel by bus. He used to walk on foot from Dadar to Girgaon. For bhajan programs out of town, Gauhar would buy him a third-class railway ticket. As long as only one leg was disabled, he would somehow drag his leg along, taking some support, and perform his roles. But once both legs became disabled, even that stopped. Yet even so, until 1964, he could speak and had vision. After this period, he become unable to go for the call of nature on his own. Gauhar may have helped him for barely 8 or 10 months. But after that, she herself fell ill. She had to undergo surgeries. Yet she did not even appoint a paid attendant for Bal Gandharva. In truth, 1000s of rupees that Bal Gandharva had earned were in her control. But she paid no heed to that. It was Ramesh, the son of the tabla-player Raghunath More, who was rendering service to Bal Gandharva.
Fate Gives, and Deeds Take Away
No one other than Bal Gandharva himself could be blamed for this catastrophe. Destiny had given him an opportunity to set things right—he had been given money in abundance and fame. But, he had been unable to hold on to what destiny gave him. He was like a person who strikes an axe on his own legs! Under Gauharbai’s thrall, he kept handing over his money to her without asking a single question. Now, living in bondage had become his destiny. There were alternatives. His son-in-law was willing to take him. If he had left Gauharbai, the money coming in would be sufficient for him to live on. But he refused to take the help offered and continued to live in the wretched circumstances. He, at one time, used to feed a 100 people a sumptuous mean every day. Now in this later period when he was still able to walk, he would stand in a queue before a restaurant along with other waiting customers dawdling for a small bite of food! This sight of him would wring anyone’s heart. But Bal Gandharva had decided to stay with Gauhar till the end. Therefore, whatever circumstances he encountered, enduring them was inevitable.
There were so many who loved him and were ready to take care of him permanently…but these people held the view that he would have to leave Gauhar for this…which Bal Gandharva wasn’t willing to do. Gauhar capitalized on these feelings wherein his heart was entangled with her to an unwarranted extent. As a cat plays with a mouse, downright played with his life, his money, his health, his feelings, and his dignity. Now and then, when he went to meet relatives or friends, he would be happy. But the moment a letter or message from Gauhar arrived, he would at once grow despondent, even downright terrified. Whenever Gauharbai was around, he would behave as though in dread of her, like one unhinged. Why this should have been so was a riddle indeed.
Bal Gandharva still had the opportunity to continue with his art. As long as he could walk, he could have at least got 4 performances a months. Bhajan programs were available all along. People were ready to render services. Bapurao Olkar was ready to be his manager. His son-in-law and other well-wishers were ready to host him permanently. It was within his reach to spend the latter part of his life with self-respect and in happiness, savoring cultural joys. Yet, he refused it. What can one say about such an irony of fate ?
Money-earning Machine
Gauhar was not willing to accept anyone who was ready to help him, and Bal Gandharva was not willing to leave Gauhar! Therefore, the events were inevitable. For Gauhar, he was merely a money-earning machine.
Bal Gandharva needed rest. But Gauhar wanted money. She therefore harnessed him to work. Bal Gandharva would work until late. He would go to sleep at 2.30 or 3 at night. At dawn, he would have to rise early again and travel by bus through the dust, to another town. He would perform singing programs. Yet, he never had enough money for his own needs. There was no limit at all to the hardships, the toil, and the dependence. But he had accepted all this of his own will. Once, before a program, he had had to take an injection, and then he had been able to sing. After that, well — that same injection began to be used on him again and again. But Gauhar had not even considered what effect it was having on him. Just as sugarcane is put through the press and the juice extracted to the very last drop, so the woman was squeezing him dry. She had but one obsession… money! And she kept relentlessly impressing upon his mind that it was because of her that he was alive — and that, since he bore the responsibility of 3 lives, he must keep working to the very end.
Once, while Bal Gandharva was singing ‘Mama atma gamala’ in Swayamvar, he was seized by a fit of coughing. That coughing fit was so violent that in the end Bal Gandharva had to go behind the curtain. The auditorium was so silent one could have heard a pin drop. But after a short while, Bal Gandharva came back onto the stage and began to sing. Then, a tremendous thunder of applause broke out. This was during the period when he could at least still move about.
Utmost Limit of Bondage
Later, after both his legs became useless, this too came to an end. In his final period, Bal Gandharva would lie all alone in a room on the second floor of a two-storeyed house in ‘Asia Manzil’, near the fish market in Mahim. His bed had a wooden plank and when the call of nature came, he would pull out the plank and relieve himself, his excreta falling below. Now and then, it would be cleaned, but until then, he had to remain in the filth. Often, for a whole 2 months at a stretch, he would not be bathed. Bal Gandharva, who in the earlier days used to bathe three times a day, was now living in such a horrible state as though dwelling in hell. Therefore, there was always a foul stench, and besides, Bal Gandharva would sit constantly scratching his body. When mealtime came, something would be served to him just once, on a nickel plate. Some curry, a bhakri, and three or four pieces of onion. He would eat alone. No one would come near to ask, or to serve him any more.
Even though Gauhar was receiving sufficient money she wanted others to bear Bal Gandharva’s expenses. Dr Kirtane had given Bal Gandharva 4 pairs of half-pants, 4 shirts, 4 undershorts, 1 panchha, and a pair of sandals. When his legs became useless, even in that condition he could sit in one place for an hour or two and could sing. To Gauhar, this too seemed a golden opportunity. So, in the period from 1955 to 1964, she made him perform bhajan programs. But once even that became impossible, she taught him to behave servilely in front of everyone. She made him beg for help by describing his wretched circumstances to one person after another. Whenever some wealthy person was to come to meet Bal Gandharva, Bal Gandharva would have to be seated wearing a torn kurta. Care would be taken that his pitiableness would be on display everywhere. A plate would be passed around before people, saying, ’Please help.’
A time even came when the woman would arrange singing programs in Bal Gandharva’s name, and Bal Gandharva — the emperor of musical notes — would play the tanpura. Care was taken to ensure that he kept appearing pitiable to people. A plate would be passed around for help.
Once Bal Gandharva said to Bakre, ‘Now I am beginning to go off-key. The notes will not come, and my mind suffers great anguish. Now life is beginning to feel unbearable. But if I do not sing, what am I to eat?’
Meanwhile, Gauharbai’s health too kept deteriorating. Finally, she died suddenly, on 20 November 1964. After that, Bal Gandharva sank still lower. Bal Gandharva, whose songs all of Maharashtra had memorized, could no longer remember his own songs. After 1965, illnesses such as failing eyesight, paralysis, and loss of memory had also closed in upon him. Having had her fun at the cost of his life, Gauhar had departed. When he truly needed care, not only was she not with him, but the daughter she had had from before, had been planted upon him. She rendered Bal Gandharva no service whatsoever. Yet even so, Bal Gandharva, instead of going to his relatives, stayed on with Ashabi.
However, in society there was still love, respect, and honor for Bal Gandharva. So, a government clerk would come to his house, complete the paperwork, and give him the government grant. Gopalrao Mehendale, the manager of the Trinity Club in Mumbai, was a very great admirer of Bal Gandharva. He would see to whatever Bal Gandharva needed. In 1955, the admirers had decided that a trust should be established as aid for Bal Gandharva, and that arrangements should be made through it for him to keep receiving a fixed sum every month. Accordingly, action had even begun. But Gauharbai insisted, as a condition, that provision should be made for that money to come to her as well after Bal Gandharva. But since the trustees did not agree to this, the whole proposal fell through.
That Bal Gandharva — in the condition of one who understands but cannot act upon it — had become aware of this wretched plight of his long before, is clear from one of his own letters. On 21 March 1941 — that is, a short while after Gauhar had come into his life — he had written in a letter to his daughter Sau. Sarojini: ‘On hearing that dear little Padma had had a fever, I cannot put into words what I felt in my heart. That the 53 years of my life have gone to waste has indeed been proved. The end of one’s life ought to be made sweet, but that does not seem to be in my fate. Extraordinary tangles have arisen in my life, and I do not feel its end will come in any good way. I feel very sorry that I have come to this pass. But whatever I did, I did for the Gandharva Company. I write to you only because you are mine — that is all!’
That, royal swan though he was, he did not to the very end hold to the discernment of the swan that separates milk from water — that is a mystery indeed.
.
Amrita-mahotsava (The 75th-Birthday Celebration)
In 1955, Bal Gandharva had been given the President’s Medal for acting. On February 2, 1964 the amrita-mahotsava of Bal Gandharva was inaugurated. The ceremony was carried out with great pomp and splendor in the presence of S. K. Patil, Vasantrao Naik, Dayanand Bandodkar, Yashwantrao Chavan, and Vijayalakshmi Pandit. On February 8, 1964, this ceremony came to a close.
But the decline that set in after that, Bal Gandharva himself too could not withstand. On receiving a letter saying, ‘Nana’s health has worsened. He cannot even speak,’ Padma and Durgaram went at once to Mahim. This event [took place in] 1966. After that, in 1967, Bal Gandharva lost consciousness altogether. His well-wishers, relatives and doctors came rushing. A stream of help began to flow from thousands of hands. Oxygen and glucose were administered. Within just 2 days, the news spread throughout the whole of Mumbai. Crowds of people queued up to have his darshan. Dr. Bawle began keeping a “rojnod” — a daily log. The pages filled up rapidly. Durgaram and Padma reached Mahim on April 11, 1967. Bal Gandharva had been unconscious for 2 or 3 days. He never regained consciousness to the very end.
By now, no one but his close relatives could do anything for him. And so, although Acharya Atre tried to obstruct it, Bal Gandharva was taken to Pune on May 1, 1967. In Pune, he was kept at Dr. Mainkar’s place. There too, people began to form queues to have his darshan. Having toiled all his life and borne so many blows, Bal Gandharva was now so exhausted that it seemed as though he had no wish at all to wake from that sleep. Yet even in that condition his face looked as radiant as it always had. Looking at him, people were reminded of these lines from Gadkari’s poem —“Jari doot Yamache aale, ladkyas ya nyayala / Te nishthur asale tarihi, bhulatil pahuni yala” — “Even if the messengers of Yama have come to carry off this dear one, hard-hearted though they be, they too will be enchanted at the mere sight of him.”
Time crept slowly forward. In June, he was moved to the Jehangir Hospital in Pune. It was there that, around 3 PM on July 15, 1967, he drew his last breath—In the very same Pune where he had been born, where Lokmanya had conferred him with the “Bal Gandharva” title, where the first performances of 3 of Kirloskar’s plays had taken place, and where the Gandharva Mandali had been founded. In the very same Pune, Bal Gandharva breathed his last.
The weary, worn-out royal swan’s wings had begun to ache from flying non-stop. There was no strength left in those wings, no longing left to fly. At last, that royal swan had resolved to fold its wings, tuck its beak within, and dissolve into the infinite. Now, at the very least, that royal swan was surely going to find eternal repose.
His funeral could have been conducted in a manner befitting the dignity of his whole life. But — who knows why — within barely 3 hours of his passing, his last rites were hurriedly rushed through at the Omkareshwar cremation ground. It seems likely that here too it was Gauharbai’s dark shadow at work. For because of her, rumours had even sprung up that Bal Gandharva had become a Muslim. Everyone, perhaps, was afraid that the people from that side might come to claim possession of Bal Gandharva’s body. The police too were anxious that a Hindu–Muslim riot might break out. And so, it is said, the family was advised to perform the last rites quickly.
My royal swan has fallen asleep…
After Bal Gandharva’s passing, the headline in Atre’s newspaper Maratha read, “Bal Gandharva reigned over Maharashtra like an emperor.” Kesari printed, “The last resplendent lamp of the golden age of the Marathi stage has gone out.” Justice Gajendragadkar said, “The greatest of actors, who carried music into every home in Maharashtra.” Baburao Pendharkar said, “The glory of theatre-music, of acting, of effortless beauty and of magnificent qualities has ended today.” Sudhir Phadke said, “An unprecedented, otherworldly chapter of music has closed.” N. S. Phadke said, “Bal Gandharva was an incarnate being who walked among us.” Lata Mangeshkar said, “In obedience to my father’s command, I listen to his recordings with devotion and concentration.” P. L. Deshpande said, “I am a man who loved Bal Gandharva even more than I loved God. A versatile actor like him is born only once in many centuries.”
In so many ways, blossoms of praise were being showered upon him. But it was the headline in the weekly Navyug that drew everyone’s attention — “My royal swan has fallen asleep…”
In the form of Pune’s Bal Gandharva Rangamandir, a magnificent memorial stands on the bank of the Mula-Mutha. Its foundation stone was laid by Bal Gandharva himself on October 8, 1962. This theatre was inaugurated on Bal Gandharva’s birthday, that is, on 26 June 1968. The bridge right beside it was spontaneously named “Bal Gandharva Pul” by the people of Pune. Because of these two, there is no counting how many times Bal Gandharva’s name must be spoken today.
A single sentence that the poet G. D. Madgulkar uttered with deep tenderness says everything there is to say about Bal Gandharva: “There will never be another Bal Gandharva like him!”
Centenary Festival
Through this period, some movement or other was always taking place in the world of the arts. It had been decided to celebrate the centenary festival of the stage. At this festival, the plays performed by Bal Gandharva and the old actors too made a great impact. The festival drew an unprecedented response from connoisseurs. The reception-chairman of the festival was Acharya Atre, while Bal Gandharva graced the office of president. Because of this festival, the stage once again acquired a fresh luster. Gauharbai was nowhere to be seen amid all that glitter, and no one even enquired after her. Bal Gandharva was not going to leave the woman. But to stand once more upon the stage he was ready to make any compromise. In a letter he wrote to Vasant Desai, he says plainly, “Gauharbai will not interfere in the company’s affairs in the slightest! And even if, for whatever reason, Gauharbai is not included in the new arrangement, I shall not care. If it is felt that the Gandharva Mandali is not being run in its own interest, Dr. Bhadkamkar shall retain the right to take the company back into his control.”
It is worth noting that it was Bal Gandharva who made all the compromises.