A lot can happen over a period of 12 years – the gap between two consecutive Pushkarams of the Godavari. K. Harish, who was orphaned at an age of six during the Godavari Pushkaralu-2003, is now a musician with specialization in Hindustani vocal. In all likelihood, he will perform during the Pushkaram, scheduled for next year.
Harish, who is 18-year-old now, is one among the 20 Hindustani vocalists who performed in the National Cultural Festival conducted by the Union Ministry for Human Resources Development at Guwahati recently and the lone representative from Andhra Pradesh.
The Government Railway Police spotted six-year-old Harish abandoned in a train coach during the last Pushkarams and handed him over to Parivartana Home for the Street and Destitute Children at Bhaskar Nagar in the city. Pandranki Radhakrishna, a music teacher from Chakradharpur in Jharkhand, who settled in the city spotted Harish in the Home seven years ago and found that the boy was interested in music. Since then, music classes have become a part of the daily life for the boy, who is now pursuing Bachelors degree in music from Mumbai-based Akhila Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalayam.
“I don’t know anything about music before meeting my guru Radhakrishna. Beginning with vocal, he taught me Tabla and Harmonium as well,” says Harish, who spends seven hours on music practice everyday. After finishing electrical trade course from ITI, he is now looking for an apprenticeship in one of the local industries. “My plan is to pursue post-graduation in Hindustani music and to start a career as music lecturer,” he asserts in a confident tone. Harish is now getting monthly scholarship from the Mahavidyalaya.
“We made several efforts to find the address of his parents and send the boy back to them. He was able to give us the names of his parents and relatives, but he was not sure about the place where they reside. We took the help of the Bhimavaram police to trace his parents, but we could not make it,” says Vakkalanka Ramakrishna, secretary of Parivartana, the home that is providing food, shelter and education to 68 orphan boys.
