Bismillah
While I was just trying to move on with my life after sudden demise of my dear close friend, there strike another bad news “Bismillah Khan” sahib passed away.
At the age of 90 it was expected to happen but what hurt me most is that he had to ask for some financial support from PM and President and despite all assurance he got some pea nuts.
I still remember when I saw him playing during some festival in Lucknow and I fell in love with magical music of Sehnai and his love for Benaras (Varanasi)
Khan Sahab was an adept in this difficult form of musical expression. His breath control was phenomenal, especially in the long sustained passages containing many small notes in an incredibly fast tempo.
For more than 70 years, he captivated his listeners with the range of his musical genius. His music was beyond the boundaries of any religion.
Khan Sahib’s greatest moment came, perhaps, when he was asked to play the shehnai on All India Radio to celebrate the hour of India’s independence on August 15 1947.
He led a simple, unostentatious life in the manner of a sufi: Khan never owned a car, and liked to travel around Banaras in a bicycle rickshaw. He loved music all his life long and he loved Benaras like true banarsi.
There are has been a lot of coverage on him in news and magazine around, lots of them showing interviews of him. What captures my heart is his simplicity and childlike innocence that seems untouched by his stature as a musician. His eyes would light up every time he flashed that toothy smile. The last occasion he was interviewed was two days before his death on the hospital bed. Even with the tubes poking out all over he hummed a little kajri and yes flashed the same smile that went all the way to his eyes.
The Government of India made him a Bharat Ratna (Jewel of India) and the state funeral and flags at half mast are a testament to the esteem in which he was held.
Bismillah Khan, shehnai player, born 1916; died August 21 2006.
May Ustaad’s soul rest in musical peace, in Heaven though his last wish of performing at India Gate remained unfulfilled.
August 21, 2006:
I checked all his available composition all the day long and I never wanted to switch on the lights in my room though it was dark outside. My thoughts was flowing with raagas and kajri on Sehnai by maestro Ustad ji
Many people said its end of era of golden Sehnai and all i can think is “Bismillah” means Beginning, how it can be an End in any form? His work is immortal & will be remembered for centuries to come.
