It is a pleasant evening in Dharwad and music lovers have gathered to honour Pandit Raghunath Nakod, the ace tabla player. Backstage at the event, organised by Sri Puttaraj Kavi Gawai Trust, is another celebrity, busy folding the shawls that will be presented to the guests.
“Someone has to do this work too, right?’’ says Pandit Venkatesh Kumar, a musician known across India. When the announcer says he is wanted on stage, he rushes to do the honours, only to come running backstage little later to run errands.
The maestro is the founder trustee of the Sri Puttaraj Kavi Gawai Trust. He used his savings as seed money to start the Trust in the name of his Guru. But he has never been its chairman.
