Ustad Bismillah Khan the Shehnai maestro who won several acknowledgments from the Government of India and others, his 14th death anniversary will be observed on August 21. For his extraordinary talent, Khan was also awarded India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 2001.
Days before the fourteenth death anniversary of shehnai maestro, the demolition of the room of his daily ‘riyaz’ (practice) has drawn strong reactions from fans, musicians, and political leaders.
As per reports, some of Ustad’s family members wish to build a commercial complex at the site. Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav called for the conservation of the room.
On the 14th death anniversary of Bismillah Khan, here are unknown facts about the Ustad:
- Bismillah Khan was born as Qamaruddin Khan on March 21, 1913, in Dumraon, Bihar. He was given this name to sound like his elder brother’s name Shamsuddin.
- He started attending musical concerts from an early age but his religious faith soon became an obstacle in his path. Being a Shia Muslim by birth, where music is forbidden or considered ‘haram’, he started worshipping Goddess Saraswati just so he could adapt ‘the seven swaras as his namaaz’.
- He learnt to play shehnai from his maternal uncle Alibaksh Vilayati, when Khan went to Varanasi. Khan learned various ragas like Thumri, Chaitti, Kajri, and Swani. He also studied Khayal music later.
- Khan’s first public performance was in the Indian Music Conference in Kolkata in 1937. However, he got the biggest break in 1938, when he got a chance to work in Lucknow, All India Radio. He also received fame all over the world after performing at the Edinburgh Music Festival.
- Khan has played shehnai is a few Hindi films, one of which is ‘Gunj Uthi Shehnai’. He has also played shehnai for the song Karedaru Kelade in the Kannada movie ‘Sanaadi Appanna’.
- Khan even performed for the global audience in the Cannes Art Festival, Osaka Trade Fair and World Exposition in Montreal.
- Ustadji had a large family with his five daughters, three sons, and many grandchildren. He also had an adopted daughter Dr Soma Ghosh, who is a famous Hindustani shastriya sangeet artist.
- The Indian Army gave him a 21 gun salute at his burial ceremony.
