Dear Mr. Madani Mohiuddin Ahmad, let
God take what He has given us and
let us in all circumstances praise
His great name. Imagine the torture
that birth would be if there were no
deaths! The true value and greatness
of a man is recognized after his
departure from this wicked world of
ours. - Omar Luther King - Aug.
21, 2006
Generations of sweetness that flowed
through his Shehnai suddenly seems
lost. I feel left alone and lost in
a dark room with no sound at all,
not even the sound of my own
breathing.
His last words to me some months ago
"Aap fikr na keren Janab, Inshallah
agar tabyat nein saath diya toh hum
aap ke liye Bambai mein zaroor
bajayeinge".
For years I've been listening to him
religiously every night before
sleeping or else I could never
sleep. Be it Raag Madhuvanti, Tilak
Kamod or any of his Kajri's, every
note he ever played was magical. His
music touched the chords of the
deepest part of one's heart and one
would instantly feel a sense of
peace.
Khan Sahab's departure leaves a hole
in my heart and a vacuum in my life.
I so needed him to play here in
Mumbai for my wedding next year. I
believe some wishes left unfulfilled
last a lifetime and chase you till
heaven, maybe mine will.
The whole nation mourns the absence
of its finest legend. No sound can
ever replace his sweet music. -
Fahad Khalil Pathan, Mumbai - Aug.
22, 2006
He came into this world in a less
than a well to do family, just like
an average child born in Bihar. He
was not particularly beautiful, but
to his parents he was a gift from
God and they named him accordingly -
Bismillah!
Bismillah Khan grew up and learnt to
play the one instrument whose
beautiful sounds could easily evoke
both the pathos of grieving and the
momentous joy of weddings - The
Shahnai.
The Persians found the Shahnai in
Hindustan and honored it by calling
it the King of their own instrument
the 'ney', a flute like instrument
that is played in Persia till this
day. So the Shah-ney over the
centuries came to be known as the
Shahnai.
After reaching great heights, the
great maestro Bismillah Khan bowed
out of the mehfil of life. While I
pay this tribute to him, it pains me
to say that of late the Indian
youths have become so mesmerized by
the galactic tones of the
Synthesizers and the discordant
music of the composers who promote
their insipid fare by propping it by
things like hair braids or their
whacky appearances.
Bismillah Khan has moved on. He had
lost his patrons. The plaintive
notes of his Shahnai had ardent fans
who were ageing. Many young people
did not even know him. In fact, many
Indians today can not tell the
difference between a Santoor and a
Sarod. It can not be denied that we,
as a society, did not compensate him
adequately for what he gave us.
Today Hindustan mourns a man who
came into this world empty handed
and left empty handed. He picked up
the Shahnai while he lived and left
his legacy like few do... in his
melodious music and this mastery of
a complex art form that many of us
will hopefully begin to appreciate -
now that this maestro of Hindustani
Classical music has taken the bow,
and left the stage. - Aarcee -
Aug. 22, 2006
Good things always remain and the
receptive minds preserve them for
generation to come. Perhaps, every
thinking person keeps a notion of
this sort and moves forward towards
a singular purpose. What wakes up to
realize is: live in the unity of
pathos.
I find Omar Luther King Saheb's
comment and others very
enlightening. It shows that good
works don't die because we remember
them in one sense or the other. A
very long or short gap between life
and death decides the meaning of
human life.
Let Bismillah Saheb live in our
heart. It means 'begin in the name
of Allah' where life gets its
meaning. - Madani Mohiuddin
Ahmad, Riyadh , KSA -
Aug. 22, 2006 |
