Pt. D B Harindra was born in Harihar in 1924. His father was the well-known lexicographer D.K. Bharadwaj. Pt. Harindra’s interest in music was kindled at a young age of five and he took his first steps into the world of music under the guidance of Carnatic vocalist H.K. Sheshagiri Rao.
Pt. Harindra‘s keen and creative mind, never content with just faithful reproductions of his guru’s lessons, systematically explored and experimented with various aspects of music. Especially noteworthy was his research on rare aprachalit raags. The outcome of his meticulous research was prolific writings on the topic with contributions to various publications on music and lec-dems to acquaint, the uninitiated and masters of the art alike, with intricate nuances of music.
Some of Pt. Harindra’s outstanding contributions to music literature are his article in ‘Bharatiya Kala Darshan’, his extension lecture on Hindustani Music published by Bangalore University and his paper on ‘The role of Kannada in Hindustani music tomorrow’ at the World Kannada Meet in 1985.The growth of his musical career saw him performing at various prestigious forums. He was an AIR artist for over three decades. He was an examiner for music exams conducted by both State Government and Gandharva Mahavidyalaya of Mumbai. He also served as a member of Audition Board of Akashvani. He had received many awards and honors from the State Government as well as several prestigious cultural organizations for his contributions to music.
A unique feature of Pt. Harindra’s performances was, rendering raags seldom included in most artists’ repertoire. He believed a raag would ‘become rare’ only if not cultivated and made popular by the artist. In Pt. Harindra’s own words, “There is no raag outside the context of the saptaswaras. And as long as a raag is within these seven notes why make a raag rare or common?” Proving his point and with his great affinity for taranas, he published a book ‘Tarana Tarang’ which is a compilation of 101 taranas composed and tuned in 87 raags.
For someone who pursued music with an adventurer’s spirit, Pt. Harindra could never accept singing of a raag could be a ‘closed chapter’ at any time in a musician’s life. Each raag became a personality for Pt. Harindra which revealed a new dimension, quite different from its earlier ones, with every rendition.
As a teacher Pt. Harindra was an apt role model. His commitment and dedication to teaching was unparalleled.
Many of Pt. Harindra’s students, who are themselves teachers today, fondly remember the lessons they learnt from him, not only about music, but about life as well. As one student recalls, “Guruji was a selfless teacher, he would impart knowledge whole heartedly to the students…constantly gave us tips to improve.”
One recurrent thought that was instilled in all his students was, “Creativity is the basis of one’s growth in music. A blind reproduction of a teacher’s lessons is not enough to become a good artist. It is essential for every musician to develop his own style. They have to experiment and explore the innumerable possibilities of rendering a raag and bring their own personality to the raag. In a way each musician is a Gharana in himself. If my student goes beyond my teaching and develops his own style and brings it back to me in his individual style, I would then consider my teaching as being fruitful.”
Pt. Harindra’s modesty as a guru was exemplary. As another student recounts, “Any time a student would present something new in a raag, Guruji would come home and sit down to practice the same and the next day he would give his perspective and advise us on how to make it better! What set him apart as an exceptional teacher was his ability to teach and simplify a delicate or difficult topic without diluting the subject matter.” With his creative teaching methods, he instilled in his students, an undying interest and an eternal thirst for music.