NEED OF THIS MOVEMENT

Four years ago, when Ustad Bismillah Khan did not have money and resources to meet the cost of his needs, the then National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government arranged for his performance at Parliament Annexe, where Khan had to virtually give a charity show for his own benefit. It was then we – Shivenath Jha and Neena Jha - who had launched a programme – Bismillah:The Beginning, a nationwide movement – Aandolan Ek Pustak Se - to protect musicians, academicians and artists who brought pride and laurels to the nation, thought of bringing out a monograph on the life and art of the Ustad Bismillah Khan to extend financial support to him and other musicians, academicians, artists, policemen and others in needs. Our movement gained a victory of sorts after the Government of India, the Ministry of Home Affairs allowed Bismillah:The Beginning movement to invite Ustad Bismillah Khan to play his shehnai at the India Gate to pay tribute to the 'unsung heroes of World War-I and for the global peace and security and fulfill his lifetime desire. But the fate did not allowed

ABOUT THE MONOGRAPH

Man is a mortal creature. Every born is destined to die. But, there are people who leave behind indelible footprints. History adores them in golden words. Shehnai wizard Bismillah Khan sits high in the galaxy of such exalted personalities. His shehnai has charmed every body around the globe. The uniqueness of Bismillah Khan’s shehnai lies in the fact that this lad from a faceless Bihar village not only scaled Himalayan heights in the world of music but also brought pristine glory to this innocuous musical instrument. He enthroned shehnai on a high pedestal. Without fear of contradiction, Bismillah Khan can be called modern Abhimanyu, but with a difference. Unlike the Mahabharata hero Bismillahhas torn asunder the musical Chakrabyuh. Born in a family of Shehnai players, he took to these instruments in the wee years of life and mastered the art to become Bismillah Khan (God) of Shehnai. His is a life of dedication, sacrifices, devotion, tenacity, etc, all rolled in one. For him shehnai is a medium for reunion with the God. ‘Music, sur and namaz are the same thing’, says the shehnai saint and adds ‘we reach Allah in different way.’ Bismillah Khan has become a living legend; an institution in himself. It is not possible to do full justice to such a personality in one small book. this is just a humble effort to pay tribute to the shehnai emperor, on his turning 90. an educationist Neena Jha and senior investigative journalist Shivnath Jha have penned this monograph on the phenomenon musician. It may be a coincidence or the God’s will that Shivnath’s life too has been a rag to rich story. He began as a newspaper hawker in late 60s and rose to become a senior journalist, passing through all steps of the professional ladder. The couple deserves kudos for compiling and editing this monography.Bismillah Khan is one-man army engaged in propagating and popularizing once innocuous musical instrument, called shehnai. Upcoming or budding musicians, especially shehnai players have many things to learn from this saint instrumentalist. He has gems of advice for theneo-musicians. “You should have the ability to efface an wipe yourself out.” Lord Krishna, in Shrimada Bhagwat Mahapurana, tells Gopis to shed every thing and dissolve yourself for the reunion with god. Pretentions and façade cannot bring success in one’s life. A million-dollar question arises as to why Bismillah Khan has not “groomed” his successor. Is the waiting for a devoted disciple mante? There is no ready answer.

USTAD BISMILLAH KHAN

Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan died of cardiac arrest in the wee hours on Monday. The 91-year-old Bharat Ratna awardee, who had been admitted to Heritage hospital here on August 17 with age- related health problems, passed away at 2:20 am. Khan was born on March 21, 1916 into a family of court musicians and later trained under his uncle, the late Ali Bux 'Vilayatu,' a shehnai player at Varanasi's Vishwanath temple. During his long and fruitful career as an artiste, Khan enthralled audiences at performances across the globe. He was bequeathed the Sangeet Natak Akademi award, the Tansen award as well as the Padma Vibhushan. In 2001, Khan became the third classical musician after Pt Ravi Shankar and M S Subbulakshmi to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour. Despite his fame, Khan's lifestyle retained its old world charm and he continued to use the cycle rickshaw as his chief mode of transport till his deathPerhaps we were one of the luckiest family comprising me (Shivnath Jha), my wife (Mrs Neena Jha) and my nine-year-old son Master Akash Jha) of the world who met Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan more than dozen times during the past four years. Reason-We have compiled, edited and published a 200-page monograph on Ustad Bismillah Khan to take care him at the winter of his life.After forwarding the ornamental issue of the monograph to the President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam to mark the 90th birthday of Ustad Sahib on March 21, 2005, we moved pillar to post to get it printed at any cost. On January 26 when we went to visit Ustad at his Sarai Harha house to show the ornamental issue (before it goes for final printing) he told us "Alham-Dil-Lillah (God be praised)". He blessed us and said "Allah ney tumsey achcha kaam karwa hi liya. Then he autographed on the cover page of the monograph, which was released by Ustadji on his 91st birthday (four days later) on March 25th, 2006. We have presented him a three-kg silver shehnai, Rs 1.5 lakh cash and a 91 kilogram birthday cake to celebrate his 91st birthday. He was very happy. He had never celebrated such type of birth day in his life. On that very day he expressed his desire to play shehnai and fulfill his lifetime desire at India Gate. We took up the matter with the Government of India and within 10 minute got government's nod to invite him for shehnai rendition at India Gate to pay his homage, respect and regards to the warriors and soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the motherland. When we visited him in May, 2006 to invite to play shehnai at India Gate on July 15, 2006 he was very happy and told us "aakhir tumney meri khwaes pura kar hi diya". We strictly advised him and his family members not to leave Benaras and stop performance anywhere he plays his shehnai at India Gate. He had agreed to comply our requests. But, we don't know under what circumstances he went to Jaipur in the month of June 2006 and fallen ill. This led to extension of the programme from July 15 to August 9. In the meantime, when we again visited him in July, his condition started deteriorating. On August 16, we received a call from his sons, grand-daughters and other family members that he was looking for us, my wife and son, Aakash. We immediately rushed to Benaras by then he was hospitalised at Heritage hospital.We went to Herigate and spent more than 16 hours during my three day stay in Benaras. We were optimistic. He talked a length with my wife and my son Aakash and said: "Thora kamjor ho gaya hun....lekin tumharey saath India Gate tak jaunga...tum mere paas baithna..."When we inquired about his shehnai, which hypnotized the world for more than eight decades, he told us "beum ghar par hain...akeli hongi...jaunga to hal puchunga..."At about 5 in the evening when we told him that we are leaving for Delhi, he told my wife "tum gari lekar jaldi aana...hum tumharey saath India Gate chalengey....Shehnai bajayengey...." We left at 7 in the evening for Delhi. At about five in the morning when we were in train, we got a call on our mobile. We just can not believe this. We had no option. When we call back to his place in Benaras at 6 in the morning, when we were crossing Ghaziabad, till then we were late. He died of cardiac arrest.Back to home in Indiarapuram, my wife fallen ill and my son started vomiting.A man with whom the name of an instrument has been so inevitably identified as to become synonymous died without the instrument. And, the man was no other than Shehnai maestro Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan. He died without his ‘begum’ (Shehnai).We have launched a programme Bismillah-The Beginning to protect musicians, academicians and artists who brought pride and laurels to the nation, an also authored a monograph on the life and art of the Ustad to extend financial support to him.“The death of his wife decade ago had left the Shehnai maestro, shattered and inconsolable, but he came to terms with the tragedy by treating 'shehnai' as his 'begum' and used to keep it on his bed and under his pillow. It inspired him. It gave him power to think about 'ragas' and music.At last, after struggling for life for more than 96 hours, the master who took his last breath without his ‘begum’ in the wee hours on August 21, exactly five months later when he had celebrated his 91st birthday after cutting a 91 kilogram cake. Hardly two feet long instrument, Shehnai, after getting touch with the lips of Ustad Bismillah Khan had hypnotized the world for more than eight decades.In the last half a century or more, no one could think of shehnai without Bismillah Khan or vice versa. It is he who, in fact, gave a popular folk instrument the capacity and courage to rise to be admitted to the hoary company of instruments of Hindustani classical music globally.A man of tenderness, a man who believed in remaining private and who believed that musicians were supposed to be heard and not seen died without his Shehnai.We appeal people across the world, and more importantly the music lovers and youth to buy a monograph, join our movement to protect others and fulfill their wishes.

You may contact us at the following address:

SHIVNATH JHA & NEENA JHA
BISMILLAH:THE BEGINNING FOUNDATION
SRB-124D, SHIPRA REVEIRA,
GYAN KHAND-III,
INDIRAPURAM, GHAZIABAD (UP), INDIA.
Mobile: 09810246536/TEL-FAX: 0120-2605503
or mail us at shehnaimaestro@gmail.com/jshivnath@gmail.com/shivnath@journalist.com

NATIONAL OBTUARY

August 21, 2006 09:00 IST (PTI)Ustad Bismillah Khan: On the shore of the ocean of musicOn India's first Republic Day, Ustad Bismillah Khan had enthralled audiences with a sterling performance from the ramparts of the Red Fort. But fate did not allow the shehnai maestro to fulfil his last wish, that of playing at India Gate. The man who mesmerised generations of Indians with his mellifluous music wanted to make the performance a memorable one. But a concert at the venue, scheduled for August 9, was cancelled due to security reasons. The 91-year-old Bharat Ratna awardee, said to be single-handedly responsible for making the shehnai a famous classical instrument, had earlier alleged he had been denied the opportunity to play at India Gate because he was a Muslim. However, Khan was quick to point out he never faced any hurdles on account of being a Muslim. "Music has no caste. I have received love and affection all over the world. The government has given me all the four highest civilian awards in the past five decades," he said. Khan was born on 21 March, 1916. His ancestors were court musicians in the princely state of Dumraon in Bihar and he was trained under his uncle, the late Ali Bux 'Vilayatu', a shehnai player attached to Varanasi's Vishwanath Temple. Where others saw conflict and contradiction between his music and his religion, Bismillah Khan saw only a divine unity. Even as a devout Shia, he was also a staunch devotee of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of music. During his long and fruitful career as an artiste, Khan enthralled audiences at performances across the globe. He was honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi award, the Tansen award as well as the Padma Vibhushan. In 2001, Khan became the third classical musician to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour. He was also bestowed honorary doctorates by the Benares Hindu University and Shantiniketan. The maestro played in Afghanistan, Europe, Iran, Iraq, Canada, West Africa, USA, USSR, Japan, Hong Kong and almost every capital city across the world. In Khan's words, music was an ocean and he had barely reached its shores even after 91 years. Despite his fame, Khan's lifestyle retained its old world charm and he continued to use the cycle rickshaw as his chief mode of transport. A man of tenderness, he believed in remaining private and said musicians were supposed to be heard and not seen. He was critical of today's musicians and said they only craved instant success. Bismillah Khan has often been credited with taking the shehnai from the marriage mandap to the concert hall. He single-handedly pioneered the conversion of a mundane ceremonial instrument into one capable of expressing a range of human emotions and musical nuances. His long career and eminence assured him of a busy performance calendar as well as the highest fees. However, he was not very well off in his last days as his joint family of 60 members literally lived off him. In 2003, he had to appeal to then prime minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee to sanction a gas agency to his grandson. Life for an ailing Khan was far from easy. Hardpressed for money and after repeated pleas to the central government for financial assistance, Vajpayee granted him 'delayed aid' of Rs 5 lakh.On August 3 this year, Khan was given a cheque of Rs 2.51 lakh on behalf of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Varanasi. Four years ago, when he did not have money and resources to meet the cost of his needs, the then government arranged for his performance at Parliament Annexe, where Khan had to virtually give a charity show for his own benefit. It was then that Delhi-based couple Neena and Shivnath Jha, who had launched a programme to protect musicians, academicians and artists who brought pride and laurels to the nation, thought of bringing out a monograph on the life and art of the Ustad to extend financial support to him. Their movement gained a victory of sorts after the centre allowed Khan to play 'Tune India' from the India Gate to pay tribute to the 'unsung heroes of World War-I and for the global peace and security'. However, the programme was cancelled due to security reasons. His other wish, to perform at Darbhanga, where he had spent a considerable period of his early days, also remained unfulfilled. The Ustad was identified with the shehnai but found the greatest fulfillment in singing bhajans to children. "The applause that I get from children when I sing the bhajan Raghupati Raghav Rajaram gives me the greatest fulfillment," Khan had said in 2004 while performing at a cultural programme in New Delhi to mark Gandhi Jayanti. Khan said it gave him tremendous satisfaction to know that at least some of the children will remember the 'old man' for the song that he sang for the same.

Monograph on Bismillah Khan launched

New Delhi September 18, 2006 Admirers of late shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan and lovers of Indian classical music can leaf through a monograph on the musical legend. The autographed monograph was launched in India on Sunday to mark the ''chaliswan'', last day of rituals following his death on Aug 21. Bismillah Khan had released the monograph on March 25 on the occasion of his 91st birthday in Benaras. Delhi-based Om Arora of Variety Book Depot is distributing the monograph. He plans to make the book available to music lovers throughout the country and abroad, especially the US, Britain, Germany and France. "It''s a priceless book and a noble way to pay respect to the legend," said Arora. The proceeds of the sale are aimed to support artistes and educationists who have excelled in their fields. The has been brought out by a Delhi couple Neena Jha and Shivnath Jha, who were great admirers of Bismillah Khan. The book has a foreword by noted Hindustani vocalist Rita Ganguli. Bismillah Khan had autographed the monograph after writing the first words with which the Koran begins - "Alham-Do-Lillah (God be praised) - Bismillah Khan". (IANS

USTAD’S LEGACY

Lalu to be ‘brand ambassador’NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 23, 2006 (UNI) A political veteran and the latest management guru, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad will now become the “brand ambassador” of shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan’s legacy.As a step to perpetuate the memory of the music wizard, Lalu Prasad is going to place the first-ever autographed monograph on him in over 7000-odd railway stations across the country.Pointing out that “charity begins at home”, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) President said, “I will make the monograph on Bismillah Khan easily accessible and give an opportunity to the poor to know his contribution to Indian music and his secular philosophy.”Recalling the life-philosophy of the maestro, Mr Prasad said Bismillah Khan had once said “once we realise that we all are the creation of a single divine force, harmony and unity will prevail”.The 200-page monograph has been brought out by Neena and Shivnath Jha, a Delhi-based journalist couple, who were moved by the plight of Bismillah Khan who had to virtually conduct a charity show for his own benefit in the Parliament Annexe four years ago. The monograph was released by the shehnai maestro on his 91st birthday on March 25 this year.It was launched in India and across the world on September 17, coinciding with Khan Saheb’s chaliswan, the 40th and final day of his mourning. An ornamental issue of the monograph was forwarded to President A P J Abdul Kalam.“It is the first and the only book in the country to be launched as part of a movement to extend financial support to the needy artists. It is our responsibility to strengthen the movement and spread Khan Saheb’s philosophy of secularism,” Mr Prasad said. “I have gone through the monograph. Besides information on Bismillah Khan and his contribution to Indian music and cinema, it contains rare photographs of the maestro’s life, and his ancestral house in Bihar shot by Patna-based photo-journalist Alok Jain,” the minister added.“This monograph will help the youth and music lovers to know the legend and his association with Benaras and the Ganga river,” he said. Shivnath Jha said the monograph was not only a book, but also a movement.“Ustadji was not only thrilled to see it, but readily appended his signature after writing the first few words with which the Quran begins — Alhan-do-lillah (God be praised),” Mr Jha said

Delhi couple to fulfill all wishes of the maestro

New Delhi, Aug 30 (IANS) - A Delhi-based journalist couple plan to fulfil the wishes of late shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan, including the renovation of his ancestral house, from the sale proceeds of the first-ever autographed monograph on the musical legend.Neena and Shivnath Jha have also taken the responsibility of imparting education to Bismillah Khan's grandchildren.'Ustad Bismillah Khan hailed from Bihar and so do we. When he saw the photograph of his ancestral house compiled in the monograph, he had requested us to renovate his house and also impart education to his grandchildren, especially the girls,' the couple said. Four years ago, when the shehnai virtuoso did not have any resources to meet his needs, the then government arranged for his performance at Parliament Annexe where he had to virtually give a charity show for his own benefit.It was then that the couple, along with photojournalist Alok Jain, thought of bringing out a monograph on the life and art of the Ustad to extend financial support to him.Autographed by the shehnai maestro, the monograph comprises the life of Bismillah Khan, his love and affection for River Ganga, Benaras and music. The monograph, which also has some rare photographs, was released by the Ustad himself on his 91st birthday March 25, 2006.Ustad Bismillah Khan, who will always be remembered as the one who played the shehnai from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Aug 15, 1947, died of cardiac arrest Aug 21.However, Bismillah Khan's last wish - to play at India Gate in the heart of New Delhi - remained unfulfilled.Said Jha: 'Our mission was to make Ustad Bismillah Khan and his family economically viable. The government had given us permission for the India Gate shehnai recital. We did our best to fulfil his lifetime desire but Ustadji is no more. Still, we want to fulfil all his wishes which he had requested of us.'