By Kaumudi Tiwari:
2011 is set to take a bow and exit the stage to make place for 2012. This year has been particularly a sad one for the world as we have witnessed the loss of many of our adored celebrities. Maestros of various fields and arenas have bid us goodbye. Here is a little tribute to them and an account of their achievements.
Maqbool Fida Husain
Popularly known as MF and regarded as “Picasso of India”, the artist breathed his last at the Royal Brompton Hospital on June 9, 2011. Husain had been keeping “indifferent health” for the last one-and-a-half month.
In the wake of legal challenges and death threats in his home country, Husain had been living abroad in self-imposed exile since 2006 and was offered Qatar citizenship in January 2010, which he accepted. Though Husain had been saying that he was keen to return to India, his wish had remained unfulfilled.
Husain was associated with Indian modernism in the 1940s. A dashing, highly eccentric figure who dressed in impeccably tailored suits, he went barefoot and brandished an extra-long paintbrush as a slim cane. He never maintained a studio but he spread his canvases out on the floor of whatever hotel room he happened to be staying in and paying for damages when he checked out. He created four museums to showcase his work and had a collection of classic sports cars. Enormously prolific, a gifted self-promoter and hard bargainer, he claimed to have produced some 60,000 paintings. Three of Husain paintings recently topped a Bonham’s auction here, going under the hammer for Rs2.32 crore with an untitled oil work in which the legendary artist combined his iconic subject matters — horse and woman — fetching Rs1.23 crore alone.
Amy Jade Winehouse
English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse’s 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Her 2006 follow-up album, Back to Black, led to six Grammy Award nominations and five wins, tying the then record for the most wins by a female artist in a single night, and made Winehouse the first British female to win five Grammys, including three of the “Big Four”: Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
In 2007 she won a BRIT Award for Best British Female Artist; she had also been nominated for Best British Album. She won the Ivor Novello Award three times: once in 2004 for Best Contemporary Song (musically and lyrically) for “Stronger Than Me”, once in 2007 for Best Contemporary Song for “Rehab”, and once in 2008 for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for “Love Is a Losing Game”.
Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning on 23 July 2011. Her album Back to Black subsequently became the UK’s best selling album so far in the 21st century.
Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi
Nicknamed Tiger Pataudi, was an Indian cricketer and former captain of the Indian cricket team. He was the ninth Nawab of Pataudi until 1971, when India abolished royal entitlements through the 26th Amendment to the Constitution of India. Pataudi Jr., as Mansoor came to be known during his cricket career, was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium pace bowler. He was a schoolboy batting prodigy at Winchester, relying on his keen eyes to punish the bowling. He captained the school team in 1959, scoring 1,068 runs that season and beating the school record set in 1919 by Douglas Jardine. He also won the public schools rackets championship, with partner Christopher Snell.
He made his first-class debut for Sussex in August 1957, aged 16, and also played for Oxford while he was at university. On 1 July 1961, he was a passenger in a car which was involved in an accident in Hove. A shard of glass from the broken windscreen penetrated and permanently damaged his right eye. The damage caused Pataudi to see a doubled image, and it was feared this would end his cricketing career, but Pataudi was soon in the nets learning to play with one eye.
He was an Indian Cricket Cricketer of the Year in 1962, and a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1968. He published an autobiography, Tiger’s Tale, in 1969. He was the manager of the India team in 1974-5, and referee for two Ashes Tests in 1993. He was later a member of the council of the Indian Premier League. In 2007, in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of India’s Test debut, the Marylebone Cricket Club has commissioned a trophy for Test match series between India and England which was named the Pataudi Trophy in honour of his father, the 8th Nawab. Pataudi was admitted to New Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital on 22 September 2011 with an acute lung infection. The infection was caused by chronic interstitial lung disease which prevented his lungs from exchanging oxygen properly. The same day he died of respiratory failure.
Steven Paul Jobs
An American businessman and inventor widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc. Jobs was co-founder and previously served as chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios. He became a member of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company in 2006, following the acquisition of Pixar by Disney.
In the late 1970s, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak engineered one of the first commercially successful lines of personal computers, the Apple II series. Jobs directed its aesthetic design and marketing along with A.C. “Mike” Markkula Jr. and others.
In the early 1980s, Jobs was among the first to see the commercial potential of Xerox PARC’s mouse-driven graphical user interface, which led to the creation of the Apple Lisa (engineered by Ken Rothmuller and John Couch) and, one year later, of Apple employee JefRaskin’s Macintosh. After losing a power struggle with the board of directors in 1985, Jobs left Apple and founded NeXT, a computer platform development company specializing in the higher-education and business markets.
In 1986, he acquired the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm Ltd, which was spun off as Pixar Animation Studios. He was credited in Toy Story (1995) as an executive producer. He remained CEO and majority shareholder at 50.1 percent until its acquisition by The Walt Disney Company in 2006, making Jobs Disney’s largest individual shareholder at seven percent and a member of Disney’s Board of Directors.
In 1996, NeXT was acquired by Apple. The deal brought Jobs back to the company he co-founded, and provided Apple with the NeXTSTEP codebase, from which the Mac OS X was developed.” Jobs was named Apple advisor in 1996, interim CEO in 1997, and CEO from 2000 until his resignation. He oversaw the development of the iMac, iTunes, iPod, iPhone, and iPad and the company’s Apple Retail Stores.
In 2003, Jobs was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer. On October 5, 2011, he died in his Palo Alto home, aged 56. His death certificate listed respiratory arrest as the immediate cause of death, with “metastatic pancreas neuroendocrine tumour” as the underlying cause. His occupation was listed as “entrepreneur” in the “high tech” business.
Here’s what APPLE had to say after Steve Jobs demise – Over a million people from all over the world have shared their memories, thoughts, and feelings about Steve. One thing they all have in common – from personal friends to colleagues to owners of Apple products – is how they’ve been touched by his passion and creativity.”
Jagjit Singh
A prominent Indian Ghazal singer, composer, music director, activist and entrepreneur. Known as “The Ghazal King”, he gained acclaim together with his wife, another renowned Indian Ghazal singer Chitra Singh in 1970’s and 80’s as the first successful husband-wife duo act in the history of recorded Indian music. Sajda (An Offering, 1991), Jagjit Singh’s magnum opus double album with LataMangeshkar holds the same record in non-film category. He had sung in Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Sindhi and Nepali languages. He was awarded India’s third highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan, in 2003 for his contribution to the fields of music and culture.
Singh is credited for the revival and popularity of ghazal, an Indian classical art form, by choosing poetry that was relevant to the masses and composing them in a way that laid more emphasis on the meaning of words and melody evoked by them. With a career spanning over five decades and a repertoire comprising over 80 albums, the range and breadth of his work has been regarded as genre-defining.
The 70-year old was admitted to Mumbai’s Lilavati hospital after he suffered brain hemorrhage in September 2011. He underwent two surgeries and was on life support. On October 2011 the maestro breathed his last breath and left world to mourn the great loss.
Dev Anand
Dharam Dev Pishorimal Anand, was an Indian film actor, writer, director and producer known for his work in Hindi cinema. Part of the Anand family, he co-founded Navketan Films in 1949, with his elder brother ChetanAnand.
Dev Anand has been referred to as  the ‘Evergreen Romantic Superstar’ of Indian Cinema. Just the mention of his name conjures up images of youthfulness, romance, style, and extremely good looks in the minds of his millions of fans and admirers the world over. After having played the Lead Actor for more than Five Decades in over 110 motion pictures, the awe-inspiring DevAnand continues to bestride Indian Cinema today. He has given a new dimension to that magical state known as Stardom. For his exemplary work, he had been awarded the Padma Bhusan – a title awarded to a person of extraordinary talent for his outstanding contribution and/or achievements in his discipline by the President of India.
To add to his glory, on 29th of December 2003, he was honoured with the prestigious ‘Dada SahebPhalke Award’ for his outstanding contribution to Indian Cinema, by the President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.
His career spanned more than 65 years with acting in 114 Hindi films of which 110 have him play the main lead actor. DevAnand was 88 when he succumbed to a massive cardiac arrest in a London hospital 3rd December, 2011 . Ever since the news of his demise broke out, the refrain across his fans and well-wishers was a line from his song from “Hun Dono” – “Abhi na jao chodkar ke dil abhi bhara nahin”.
Shammi Kapoor
Hailed as one of the most entertaining lead actors that Hindi cinema has ever produced, Shammi Kapoor was one of the leading stars of Hindi cinema during the late 1950s, the 1960s and early ’70s. He made his Bollywood debut in 1953 with the film Jeevan Jyoti, and went on to deliver hits like Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Dil Deke Dekho, Junglee, Dil Tera Diwana, Professor, China Town, Rajkumar, Kashmir Ki Kali, Janwar, Teesri Manzil, An Evening in Paris, Bramhachari, Andaz and Vidhaata. He received the Filmfare Best Actor Award in 1968 for his performance in Brahmachari and Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for Vidhaata in 1982.
Kapoor started out with serious roles but with Filmistan’s Nasir Hussain directed Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957) opposite Ameeta and Dil Deke Dekho (1959) with Asha Parekh, he attained the image of a light-hearted, and stylish playboy. Tall, athletic, lively, fair complexioned, green-eyed and with handsome features, Shammi was a heartthrob, and his good looks and physique complemented his image. Both the films were debut films of the respective actresses Ameeta and Asha Parekh and both went on to be big hits and are regarded as classics.
Kapoor was admitted to Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai on 7 August 2011 suffering from chronic renal failure. His condition remained serious for next few days and he was kept on ventilator support. He died on 14 August 2011, 05:15 am IST, of chronic renal failure, aged 79.
Bhupen Hazarika
Bhupen Hazarika (1926—2011) was an Indian lyricist, musician, singer, poet and film-maker from Assam. His songs, written and sung mainly in the Assamese language by himself, are marked by humanity and universal brotherhood; and have been translated and sung in many languages, most notable in Bengali, and Hindi. Known for writing bold lyrics with themes of communal amity, universal justice and empathy, his songs have become popular among all sections of ethnic and religious communities in Assam, besides West Bengal and Bangladesh. He is acknowledged widely in the Hindi film industry for introducing Hindi film to the sounds and folk music of Assam and Northeast India.
Hazarika was hospitalized in the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital and Medical Research Institute in Mumbai in 2011. He was admitted to the intensive care unit on 30 June 2011. He died of multi-organ failure on 5 November 2011.
Mario Miranda
Mario João Carlos do Rosario de Brito Miranda (2 May 1926 — 11 December 2011), popularly known as Mario Miranda or Mario de Miranda, was an Indian cartoonist based in Loutolim in the Indian state of Goa. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2002, and Padma Shri in 1988.
Miranda had been a regular with The Times of India and other newspapers in Mumbai, including The Economic Times, though he got his popularity with his works published in The Illustrated Weekly of India.
Miranda started his career in an Advertising studio, where he worked for four years, before taking up cartooning full-time. He got his first break as a cartoonist with The Illustrated Weekly of India which published a few of his works.
Miranda was offered the Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian Scholarship, which enabled him to travel to and stay a year in Portugal and this time in Portugal, according to Miranda, helped him to broaden his horizons. After a year in Portugal, Miranda travelled to London, England and was to spend five years there, learning as well as doing jobs for newspapers and even worked in television animation, at Independent Television.
On 11 December 2011, Mario Miranda died of natural causes at his home in Loutolim.
Satyadev Dubey
Satyadev Dubey, a producer, director and playwright who inspired generations of Indian actors and other playwrights, died on December 26th, 2011. He was 75.
Mr. Dubey not only revived the Hindi theater but also modernized it, enabling it to compete with the English-language theater that once prevailed in Mumbai. Looking to European theater for inspiration, he produced a Hindi adaptation of Albert Camus’s “Cross Purpose” and Hindi versions of Jean-Paul Sartre’s “No Exit” and of “Dear Liar,” Jerome Kilty’s play based on correspondence between George Bernard Shaw and Mrs. Patrick Campbell. His production “Shantata! Court Chalu Ahe” (“Silence! The Court Is in Session”) was an adaptation of “Die Panne” (“Traps”), a story by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. He was also a sought-after theater teacher. His students included the Bollywood villain Amrish Puri, the actor-filmmaker Amol Palekar and the director and cinematographer Govind Nihalani.
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond “Liz” Taylor was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Age. As one of the world’s most famous film stars, Taylor was recognized for her acting ability and for her glamorous lifestyle, beauty and distinctive violet eyes.
National Velvet (1944) was Taylor’s first success, and she starred in Father of the Bride (1950), A Place in the Sun (1951), Giant (1956), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959). She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for BUtterfield 8 (1960), played the title role in Cleopatra (1963), and married her co-star Richard Burton. They appeared together in 11 films, including Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), for which Taylor won a second Academy Award. From the mid-1970s, she appeared less frequently in film, and made occasional appearances in television and theatre.
Taylor devoted consistent and generous humanitarian time, advocacy efforts, and funding to HIV and AIDS-related projects and charities, helping to raise more than $270 million for the cause. She was one of the first celebrities and public personalities to do so at a time when few acknowledged the disease, organizing and hosting the first AIDS fundraiser in 1984, to benefit AIDS Project Los Angeles.
In February 2011, new symptoms related to heart failure caused her to be admitted into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for treatment, where she remained until her death at age 79 on March 23, 2011, surrounded by her four children.
Dennis Ritchie
Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie, was an American computer scientist who “helped shape the digital era.” He created the C programming language and, with long-time colleague Ken Thompson, the Unix operating system. Ritchie and Thompson received the Turing Award from the ACM in 1983, the Hamming Medal from the IEEE in 1990 and the National Medal of Technology from President Clinton in 1999. Ritchie was the head of Lucent Technologies System Software Research Department when he retired in 2007. He was the ‘R’ in K&R C and commonly known by his username dmr.
Ritchie was found dead on October 12, 2011, at the age of 70 at his home in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, where he lived alone.
Ustad Sultan Khan
Ustad Sultan Khan was an Indian sarangi player and singer who performed Hindustani classical music. He was one of the members of the Indian fusion group Tabla Beat Science, with Zakir Hussain and Bill Laswell. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilian honor, in 2010.
Very few people know that Ustadji started his career at Radio station Rajkot in Gujarat as 20 yr old boy. Just having come out of his native Sikar of Rajasthan state, he had only idea that Rajkot is quite near to Mumbai ( as told to him during his interview of radio job. In fact 1 hr for flight but took 18 hours to reach mumbai by road/rail). This was choosen in disguise as he had earnest urge to settle & show his talent to mumbai due to good classical music appreciation there. See reference below After having spent 8 yrs in Rajkot very happily, he had a chance to play with Lata Mangeshkar during her visit to Rajkot. That was the turning point for U. Sultankhan. There after he was transferred to Mumbai radio station & then the sky was the limit as he was not only deeply involved with mumbai classical music circuit but also with the film industry music.
Khan died on 27 November 2011 in Mumbai, Maharashtra India after a prolonged illness.
Indira Goswami
Known by her pen name Mamoni Raisom Goswami and popularly as Mamoni Baideo, Indira Goswami was an Assamese editor, poet, professor, scholar and writer.
She was the winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award (1983), the Jnanpith Award (2001) and Principal Prince Claus Laureate (2008) A celebrated writer of contemporary Indian literature, many of her works have been translated into English from her native Assamese which include The Moth Eaten Howdah of the Tusker, Pages Stained With Blood and The Man from Chinnamasta.
She was also well known for her attempts to structure social change, both through her writings and through her role as mediator between the armed militant group United Liberation Front of Asom and the Government of India. Her involvement led to the formation of the People’s Consultative Group, a peace committee. She referred to herself as an “observer” of the peace process rather than as a mediator or initiator.
Anant Pai
Mr. Anant Pai, popularly known as Uncle Pai, was an Indian educationalist and creator of Indian comics, in particular the Amar Chitra Katha series in 1967, along with the India Book House publishers, and which retold traditional Indian folk tales, mythological stories, and biographies of historical characters. In 1980, he launched Tinkle, a children’s anthology, which was started under Rang Rekha Features, India’s first comic and cartoon syndicate, that lasted till 1998, with him as the Managing Director.
Pai was admitted to a hospital regarding the treatment of a bone fracture following a fall from a staircase. After some days, when he was recovering, he suffered from a massive heart attack on 24 February 2011 early in the morning. He died later that day around 5 PM.
Pt. Bhimsen Joshi
Pt. Bhimsen Joshi was an Indian vocalist in the Hindustani classical tradition. A member of the Kirana Gharana (school), he is renowned for the khayal form of singing, as well as for his popular renditions of devotional music (bhajans and abhangs). He was the most recent recipient of the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, awarded in 2008.
Joshi ji first performed live in 1941 at the age 19. His debut album, containing a few devotional songs in Kannada and Hindi, was released by HMV the next year in 1942. Later Joshi moved to Mumbai in 1943 and worked as a radio artist. His performance at a concert in 1946 to celebrate his guru Sawai Gandharva’s 60th birthday won him accolades both from the audience and his guru.
The death of this guru of classical music in India plunged the entire classical music community in sorrow.
We sincerely thank them for their contributions and continue to keep them alive in our hearts. May they rest in peace!