BISMILLAH KHAN PART-2

PARA - 6

 At the age of 14, Bismillah accompanied his uncle to the Allahabad Music Conference. At the end of his recital, Ustad Faiyaz Khan patted the young boy's back and said, "Work hard and you shall make it." With the opening of the All India Radio in Lucknow in 1938 came Bismillah's big break. He soon became an often-heard shehnai player on the radio.

When India gained independence on 15 August 1947, Bismillah Khan became the first Indian to greet the nation with his shehnai. He poured his heart out into Ragg Kafi from the Red Fort to an audience which included Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who later gave his famous 'Tryst with Destiny' speech.

Word meaning: 

Accompanied: संगति किया, 

Conference: सम्मेलन,

Recital: संगीत गायन, Patted: थपथपाया, Often: अक्सर, Big break: अवसर, ठहराव, 

Gained: प्राप्त किया, Independence: स्वतंत्रता, Greet: अभिवादन किया, poured: डाल दिया, Audience: दर्शक, Include: शामिल करना, Later: बाद में, Famous: प्रसिद्ध, tryst: भेंट का प्रबंध किया, Destiny: भाग्य,

8 Bismillah Khan has given many memorable performances both in India and abroad. His first trip abroad was to Afghanistan where King Zahir Shah was so taken in by the maestro that he gifted him priceless Persian carpets and other souvenirs. The King of Afghanistan was not the only one to be fascinated with Bismillah's music. Film director Vijay Bhatt was so impressed after hearing Bismillah play at a festival that he named a film after the instrument called Gunj Uthi Shehnai. The film was a hit, and one of Bismillah Khan's composition, "Dil ka khilona hai toot gaya..., "turned out to be a nationwide chartbuster! Despite this huge success in the celluloid world, Bismillah Khan's success in film music was limited to two: Vijay Bhatt's Gunj Uthi Shehnai and Vikram Srinivas's Kannada venture, Sanadhi Apanna. "I just can't come to terms with the artificiality and glamour of the film world," he says with emphasis.

9

Awards and recognition came thick and fast. Bismillah Khan became the first Indian to be invited to perform at the prestigious Lincoln Centre Hall in the United States of America. He also took part in the World Exposition in Montreal, in the Cannes Art Festival and in the Osaka Trade Fair. So well known did he become internationally that an auditorium in Teheran was named after him-Tahar Mosiquee Ustaad Bismillah Khan.

10 National awards like the Padmashri, the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan were conferred on him.

11 In 2001, Ustad Bismillah Khan was awarded India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna. With the coveted award resting on his chest and his eyes glinting with rare happiness, he said, "All I would like to say is: Teach your children music, this is Hindustan's richest tradition; even the West is now coming to learn our music."

2 In spite of having travelled all over the world Khansaab, as he is fondly called, is exceedingly fond of Benaras and Dumraon and they remain for him the most wonderful towns of the world. A student of his once wanted him to head a shehnai school in the U.S.A., and the student promised to recreate the atmosphere of Benaras by replicating the temples there. But Khansaab asked him if he would be able to transport River Ganga as well. Later he is remembered to have said, "That is why whenever I am in a foreign country, I think of only Benaras and the holy Ganga. And while in Benaras, I miss the unique mattha of Duraon.