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A Fund For Pandit Jog

A P Kamath

North American admirers of Pandit V G Jog have asked Professor B N Dixit, music lover and a friend of the violinist, to start and administer a fund to needs immediate financial aid to battle his illness. .

Pandit Jog, who popularized the Indian violin in the western world and grabbed the attention of the international music world with his inspiring duet performance with celebrated violinist Yehudi Menuhin, has been suffering from acute Parkinsons' disease.

The condition of the 80-year-old musician living in Calcutta was worsened by two successive strokes suffered recently, which have left him emaciated and paralyzed.

His only son, Gopal Jog, himself a competent violinist, died in August. It was a hard blow for the family.

The younger Jog was the only bread-winner in the family.

Professor Dixit is the director of the Center for Performing Arts of India at the University of Pittsburgh. His association with classical music and the artists goes back several decades. Typically, his Center organizes concert tours of four to six artistes every year, in close co-operation with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

He has, over the years, developed excellent personal relations with most of the top classical music artistes from India, many of whom, after having come to know about Pandit Jog's plight, have urged him to co-ordinate this effort.

A separate "no interest bearing account" has been opened with the Mellon Bank in Pittsburgh for this fund and all the receipts will be deposited in that account. The account will be in operation until December 31, 1999. Twice (the first on or about November 23, and the second at the end of this period) the Mellon Bank will send the funds by wire transfer to Pandit Jog's account in Calcutta. The bank will provide complete details of the deposits and the transfers and these details will be made available to any contributor who so wishes.

Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar, the renowned vocalist, and Vijay Kichlu, executive director of the Sangeet Research Academy, Calcutta, will co-ordinate the effort in Calcutta. They have agreed to take the responsibility of ensuring that the funds collected are used only to provide medical care to Pandit Jog, and to support the immediate financial needs of Pandit Jog's family, particularly of Mrs Jog, who suffers from diabetes and is about 74 years old.

Professor Dixit has asked Pandit Kashalkar to contact Mrs Jog and obtain the information about her bank account to make a wire-transfer of funds possible. It is desired that the first such transfer be made on or about November 23.

He will keep a record of all donations, including the names of individual donors and the names of the organizations making donations. Such details will be made public, and Mrs Jog will be given the names of all donors.

Any person, or any organization, who wants to make a donation should make a check/MO payable to 'B N Dixit', with a note on the memorandum line that it is for 'V G Jog Fund', and send the check/MO to Professor B N Dixit, at the following address:

University of Pittsburgh
541-2 Salk Hall
Pittsburgh, PA 15261

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