जडण-घडण Jadn-Ghadn (The Shaping of a Life - Kishori Amonkar's Memoir)

किशोरी आमोणकर सांगतात की बालपणीचा काळ त्यांच्यासाठी महत्त्वाचा होता, कारण त्याच काळात आईने केलेल्या संस्कारांमुळे त्यांची संपूर्ण जडणघडण झाली. वडील त्या सहा वर्षांच्या असतानाच निवर्तले, त्यामुळे त्यांचा सांभाळ व शिक्षण आईनेच केले.

The author says that her childhood years feel important to her, because it was during that time that all her values were shaped. It was her mother's upbringing that made her a singer, and also gave her direction as a person to live a good life. Though her family's native village was Kurdu, her mother had settled in Mumbai, so the author was born there. She was the eldest of three siblings. When she was just six, her father passed away, so her mother alone raised and educated her.

लेखिकेची आई मोगूबाई कुर्डीकर या उस्ताद अल्लादियाँ खाँसाहेबांच्या प्रतिभावंत शिष्या होत्या. वडील निवर्तल्यावर घरची परिस्थिती बिकट झाली, तरी माई खचली नाही; तिने स्वतः कष्ट करत मुलांना स्वतंत्र होण्यासाठी वाढवले, आणि दिवसभर काम करूनही गाणे व्रतस्थपणे जपले.

The author's mother, Mogubai Kurdikar, was a celebrated singer, whom everyone called 'Mai.' As the gifted disciple of Ustad Alladiya Khan Sahib, she had earned special renown. After her husband's death, family circumstances turned difficult, yet Mai, naturally courageous and determined, never lost heart - refusing to surrender to circumstance, she began working herself, driven by her resolve that her children should achieve something on their own. Despite toiling all day, she nurtured her singing as a sacred vow, and these very qualities gradually shaped the author's own character.

घरातले वातावरण धार्मिक होते व फक्त धार्मिक पुस्तकेच घरी येत, त्यामुळे गीता, ज्ञानेश्वरी लहानपणीच वाचून झाले. माईने स्वयंपाक, धान्य कांडणे यांसारखी कामेही शिकवली. वयाच्या दहाव्या वर्षापासून गाणे शिकवायला सुरुवात केली, आणि एकाग्रतेने ऐकण्याचा कठोर आग्रह धरला - एक तान दोनदा दाखवून तिसऱ्यांदा म्हणता आलेच पाहिजे, अशी तिची अपेक्षा असे.

Since the household atmosphere was devoutly religious, not just any book found its way in - Mai instilled discipline about what and how to read, so the Gita, its Marathi translation, and the Dnyaneshwari were all read in the author's childhood itself. Mai insisted that the author learn to do every kind of household task - cooking, grinding on a stone slab, pounding grain, drawing rangoli - and she demanded that all these be done properly. At the age of ten, Mai began teaching her to sing - her cardinal rule was that anything learned had to be listened to with total concentration; she would sing a phrase (taan) at most twice, and by the third time the student had to reproduce it - failing which she would scold sharply, so during practice the author's entire attention stayed fixed on Mai's notes alone.

माई तान एकशेआठ वेळा घोकून घ्यायच्या, आणि जमल्याशिवाय जेवणही मिळायचे नाही. जहांगीर आर्ट गॅलरीत तानपुरा नीट न लागल्याने माईने खाली उतरायला सांगितले, ज्यामुळे लेखिकेतील अहंकार नाहीसा झाला. लेखिका शेवटी म्हणतात की त्यांच्या जीवनाची व जडणघडणीची खरी शिल्पकार माईच आहे.

If a phrase wasn't reproduced correctly, Mai would say, 'Now sing this phrase one hundred and eight times,' and there was no escape until it was sung all one hundred and eight times; sometimes she would even say, 'No dinner tonight unless you can sing it correctly.' This strict discipline instilled in the author the habit of hard work. Mai also taught humility - once, while accompanying her mother on the tanpura at the newly opened Jehangir Art Gallery, the author, distracted by watching the audience, failed to tune the instrument properly, and Mai angrily said, 'If you can't do it, get up and get off the stage.' From that moment, the author's ego dissolved. In closing, the author gratefully says that Mai is the true sculptor of her life and character.