U mite hav come across many ppl in ur life! many means a vry large number. but out of tat quantity, i wud like 2 point at a noble person named Bismillah Khan. With this info, many readers mite be instantly mapping this name in their brains, n searching. Some may knw but some won't. lemme add 1 more detail 2 his name, ustaad bismillah khan. Even now, some more mite hav reckoned him, n some didn't. now adding 1 more detail abt him, he was a shehnai player. Now many hav got who i m talking abt. thr is a reason 2 y am i taking his name wen thr r many ppl like gandhiji, obama, rehman, n many more.
this man hails frm banaras(varanasi). i wasn't fortunate enuf 2 meet him personally at home but i somehow made it 2 his concert thr. he is an "upaasak of naad-brahma puja," an embodiment of "ganga-jamuna tehzeeb", he was a symbol of secularism. this man is known 2 vry less number of ppl. ppl knw A.R.Rehman, Yaani, Elvis, Michael Jackson, etc. as gr8 musicians but this man was 1 step ahead of them all but instrument was not well-known. The person who hosted tat concert told, "He was d undisputed jewel in d crown of Indian music; one who will not be born in d nxt few centuries. He gave a whole new meaning 2 shehnai".
As i knw him, he was not a person who played 4 money or fame, he neva even used 2 leave his favourite banaras whr during my stay thr, i cud see d notes of his shehnai wafted across d Kasi-Vishwanath n Sankat Mochan temples n intermingled wid d placid waters of d ganga. This was enuf 4 me 2 become his fan. I like him 4 his simplicity n humility which is guided by d love he has 4 his ppl. After earning fame, he refused requests frm d district administration n a company selling air-conditioners 2 hav an A/C installed in his room. 4 this he said," How i cud hav slept in d cool comfort of d A/C wen my neighbour Ramzan Ali poured buckets of water on his "tattar" 4 keeping d heat away in summer".
According 2 d religion of Islam, thr r 5 things a muslim shd do. And this man obeyed all d 5 wid passion!
A life constantly n search of d right Sur. Something tat he always tried 2 find in not juz his music but in his human relationships too. This was his only prayer, n sadly, this had been his only crisis.
Yes, despite immense love frm d public, despite gr8 recognition 4 his art, he had always been a lonely man. Soft-spoken n often at ease wid his lonely state. 2day v hav blogspot 2 share our feelings, but he used 2 celebrate his solitude musically in his dilapidated terrace room n tried 2 share it directly wid d blue, clear sky. He was compelled 2 perform 4 money 2 keep his family going but this humble genius was neva on d lookout 4 material happiness but only craved 4 human love.
Mujhe kuch nahi chahiye. Main sirf khuda se maangta hoon ek sachha sur jo mujhe abad kar aur iss jahan ko abad rakhe.
Main ahat hoon lekin suron mein hoon, aur ek waqt aayega jab main ahat nahi hoonga kyunki suron mein anahat kii bhi vyavastha kar rakhi hai Khuda ne...
He represented d bridge between classical music as nurtured in d royal courts n its popular versions presented on proscenium stages of d world. He elevated d shehnai frm sounding d auspicious notes at weddings 2 a magic instrument 4 classical hindustani music. He enhanced d instrument's range, innovating wid d cross fingering system2 produce gamaks n tonal modulation appropriate 2 d spectrum of sound required 4 hindustani music. D unique tone tat characterized his shehnai was d testimony 2 these innovations. But perhaps gr8er than all these achievements was d fact tat he represented a world n a worldview tat has all but disappeared 2day. [:(]
He did not become a gr8 shehnai player coz he hailed frm a family of court musicians or coz his guru or uncle Ali Bux 'Vilayatu', was a temple musician in Varanasi. His gr8ness lay in d fact tat he was. And as long as he was, he played.
True genius is Sui Generis! Its hardly surprising tat thr is no obvious inheritor of his mantle. Musicians frm all over d world made a beeline 4 his home in d temple town, lending it an all2gether diff dimension as a pilgrimage centre. Humble it was, as he treasured no wealth more than his shehnai. It was his companion which he placed 2 his pillow after his wife's death. This person being a Muslim worshiped Maa Saraswathi, a true secularist . His pluralism n tolerance were not learnt. They were instinctive n non-didactic, something tat flowed naturally in d context of his being. He belonged 2 a generation tat worshiped NAAD, d abstract principle of d perfectly tuned note n also a perfectly tuned soul. It was d pursuit of this goal in a culturally composite context tat defined his gr8ness!
