Shehnai maestro seeks financial succour from government

BENARAS, JAN 26, 2006 (IANS) Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan, who was conferred the Bharat Ratna in 2001, is upset with the government for ignoring him and has urged that all the financial promises made to him be redeemed.The nonagenarian musician has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to release all outstanding financial dues pending "since 1961" so that he could take care of his needs in his old age.The visibly upset maestro stated this while autographing the cover page of a book on him, compiled and edited by a journalist couple, at his dilapidated house in Varanasi last week.With tears in his eyes, the ailing musician said: "Mujhey yaad nahin hai ke kisne kya kaha tha aur kya ummid dilaye thi, lekin agar mere marney se pahley Bharat sarkar ek rupiya bhi de deti to shayad mujhey sukun milta. (I don't remember who promised what, but before I die if the Indian government gives me even one rupee then it will give me mental peace)."Delhi-based journalist couple Neena and Shivnath Jha, who got the great musician to autograph the book, also presented him two shawls and Rs.20,000 cash to buy medicine. Khan has also received the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.Khan said: "Since 1961, when I was awarded the Padma Shri, I have raised the issue with every successive prime minister and top politicians including Indira Gandhi, P.V. Narasimha Rao, Rajiv Gandhi, H.D. Deve Gowda, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani and Sonia Gandhi but none has paid attention to my plea."He alleged that he had requested that he be allowed to play at the India Gate in New Delhi, but was denied a chance because he is Muslim."Desh ne mujhe bahut samman diya lekin ek baat ka kaphi dukh hai ki mujey India Gate par bajaney ka mauka nahin diya kyonki mein musalman hun. (The country has bestowed on me great honours, but one thing that upsets me is they have not allowed me to play at the India Gate because I am a Muslim)."The musician, sitting on his wheel-chair, said he was deeply touched and overwhelmed by the journalists for bringing out a book on him. The couple has arranged a public felicitation at his home on his 91st birthday, which falls on March 21."Ustadji hails from Bihar and so do we. Till date, neither the Bihar government nor the people of the state have organised any public function to pay tribute to the living legend for his contribution to Indian classical music," Shivnath Jha told IANS.On his birthday, Khan will release the book. The Jhas will gift him Rs.150,000 on the occasion.

IMPACT OF THE MOVEMENT

The Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh forwarded a cheque worth Rs 2.5 lakh to the shehnai maestro to take care him at the winter of his life.

Ustad Bismillah Khan to perform at Darbhanga

New Delhi, April. 7, 2006 (PTI): A much-cherished desire of Shahnai legend Ustad Bismillah Khan, who recently turned 91, will be fulfilled when he performs for the first time at the historical India Gate in the national capital later this year.The performance by the legendary Khan will be held in July as part of the movement 'Bismillah: The Beginning' launched to benefit musicians, academicians and artistes who have brought laurels to the country, the organisers said.The Shahnai maestro, who lives in a narrow lane of Sarai Harha in the temple town of Varanasi, had expressed as his "last wish" on his 91st birthday the desire to perform at the India Gate in New Delhi and at Darbhanga in Bihar.Conferred with all four of the top national awards -- Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna -- Khan had played Shahnai at the Red Fort on August 15, 1947. Mithila University Vice-Chancellor Rajmani Prasad Singh is organising the Ustad's programme in Darbhanga some time next month. Khan has spent a considerable part of his life in Darbhanga.Khan celebrated his 91st birthday in Varanasi last month, cutting a 91-kg cake brought by by his admirers. The 'Bismillah: The Beginning' movement has been launched by Delhi-based journalist couple of Neena Jha and Shivnath Jha. The two, who run a publication in New Delhi, also presented the 'ustad' a monograph of his life, promising him royalties from the book as a "token contribution" to help him lead a comfortable life as also a silver shehnai weighing three kg in recognition of his contribution to classical music.

IMPACT OF THE MOVEMENT

Jaiswal to invite Bismillah Khan for India Gate concertNEW DELHI, April 26, 2006 (PTI) Minister of State for Home, Sriprakash Jaiswal, will visit Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan's house in Varanasi on Friday to personally extend an invitation to the legend, who has expressed his 'last wish' to play at the India Gate in July for global peace and communal harmony. The non-agenarian Ustad, who enthralled a newly-independent India from the ramparts of the Red Fort in 1947, has now been given official nod to fulfil his wish of a solo concert, titled 'The Tune India' at the India Gate on July 15. The initiative was taken by the capital-based couple Neena Jha and Shivnath Jha, who have launched an initiative "Bismillah" (The Beginning) to provide succour to musicians, academicians and artists who have brought laurel to the country. "As a part of the initiative, I am going to request the maestro to play his melodious 'sur' at India Gate for global peace and communal harmony and to pay respects to the World War I martyrs," said Jaiswal.... Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal, who had announced a financial assistance of Rs 10,000 per month for the ailing musician, said the concert would "play a key role in restoring peace and communal harmony not only in India, but across the world."

Musicians now seek 'instant success': Bismillah Khan

Benaras, September 13, 2006 (IANS) Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan, who received the Bharat Ratna in 2001, is upset with the musicians of today and their disciples, saying they only hunger for instant success. The 'guru-shishya parampara', the sacred relationship between the musician teacher and the disciple, is "finished", bemoaned the nonagenarian musician. "Sab kuch khatam ho gaya (everything is finished)," Khan told a Delhi-based journalist couple Neena and Shivnath Jha at his Varanasi home.Neena Jha runs an all-women magazine 'The Indraprastha NCR', while her husband works with Sahara Time, a weekly news magazine.Khan said the teachers and disciples of today have no patience to hone their music."Today, both the guru and the disciple want instant results and have stopped believing in the virtue of patience. The guru today has neither discipline nor does his shishya possess 'adab' (respect). Everything is gone. Ab to Allah ka hi karam hoga to music bachega... sab khatam ho gaya (Only if god is merciful will music survive)."The musician, who has been ailing for a while, reminisced how his forefathers would perform for a few rupees a month at a temple in Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges."When my grandmother performed, do you know what the deal was fixed for? Fourteen annas!" he told the Jhas at his double-storied dilapidated house in a narrow lane of Sarai Rohla in Varanasi, 280 km from Lucknow. (Sixteen annas made a rupee then)The Jhas presented the great maestro, who has also received the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan, a book on his life. They hope to raise money through the sales of the book to help the musician who is not well off financially.On his frail health, Khan said: "Sab Allah ki meharbani hai (it is all a gift of god). I am too old to fight age. But I still feel young. My begum (the shehnai) is with me."Khan, who turns 91 on March 21, will cut a 91-kg cake in celebration. He will pay tribute to the old maharajas of Dumraon and Darbhanga in Bihar whose palaces he used to visit as a child."I have never celebrated such a type of birthday," he said.Khan, who was born in Dumraon in Bihar, reminisced how he would do rigorous 'riyaaz' (practice) for four or five hours every morning under the guidance of his maternal uncle Alibux Khan. He regretted that his old age had made it difficult to go to some of the Hindu temples in Varanasi as he would do in earlier days. "I do feel like going there, but my old age prevents me," he said.To a question, Khan said he had 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." However, the maestro at the same time alleged that he had been denied an opportunity to play at New Delhi's India Gate because he was a Muslim.According to Khan, since musical functions had been held at the India Gate lawns earlier, he should also be invited to play there.The maestro became emotional when asked if the government had given him any financial aid. He received Rs.500,000 from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government when he was ill."No one in the government or any of the prime ministers has extended any financial support. Barring that (Rs.500,000), the government has extended no support. They have not released a single paisa which they promised me down the years."Asked how much he was expecting to get from the government, Khan said: "Not less than Rs.10 lakhs (1 million)."The maestro said he believes that music dispels all evil. "The shehnai is one such instrument whose melodious sound dispels all evil."

91 kg cake for Bismillah Khan on 91st birthday

NEW DELHI, January 18, 2006 (IANS) Shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan will be presented a 91 kg cake in New Delhi on his 91st birthday on Mar 21 by a young couple who say they want to focus attention on the government's apathy towards the musician who has been conferred the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian honour. At a reception in New Delhi on that day, Khan will release a monograph on himself authored by the journalist couple, Neena and Shivnath Jha, who will present the maestro Rs.150,000 "to take care of him in the winter of his life"."Ustadji hails from Bihar and so do we. Till date, neither the Bihar government nor the people of the state have organised any public felicitation to pay their tribute to the living legend for his contribution to Indian classical music," Neena Jha said of the celebrations."Bismillah Khan is a one-man army engaged in propagating and popularising the Shehnai globally. He had broken through the musical 'chakravyuh' (maze) through a life of dedication, sacrifice and tenacity.This is the least we can do to highlight his work," Jha added of the celebrations.

Bismillah Khan to perform at India Gate

NEW DELHI, APRIL 9, 2006 (PTI, UNI, IANS) :Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan will perform for the first time at India Gate in July to pay tribute to the unsung war heroes and maintain peace and communal harmony in the country.This was announced by "Bismillah: The Beginning," a movement lunched by New Delhi-based couple Neena Jha and Shivnath Jha to protect musicians, academicians and artists who have brought pride and laurels to the nation."It is my heartiest desire to render shehnai at the India Gate," a World War I monument in the heart of the Indian capital, Bismillah Khan said. The maestro played shehnai from the rampart of the Red Fort Aug 15, 1947.Central Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal said of the event: "It's virtually a movement launched by a couple through a book for a noble cause."The Jhas have brought a monograph on Bismillah Khan to extend financial support to the ailing maestro.Conferred with all the four national awards - Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna - Bismillah Khan, who lives in a narrow lane of Sarai Harha in the temple town of Varanasi, had expressed his "last wish" to perform shehnai at Darbhanga in Bihar and India Gate in New Delhi on his 91st birthday.Khan has spent a considerable period of his struggle in Darbhanga.Neena Jha who runs an all women magazine "The Indraprastha NCR", is a teacher in St. Thomas School at Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), while her husband works with Sahara Time.Expressing concern over the physical and financial condition of the maestro, Sibal said: "The entire world of the maestro is limited to a small room of 8x10 on the second floor of the house as his physical condition and old age don't allow him to move around without the support of the others."It is our responsibility to spread the message though out the world and popularize the monograph and the movement launched by the couple," Sibal said.Around 30 percent of the earnings of the monograph would go to the Ustad for rest of the life, the Jhas said, adding they have also instituted two monthly scholarships of Rs.2,500 to promote shehnai in the country.Bismillah Khan was born March 21, 1916 in a family of a professional shehnai players of a princely state Dumraon in Bihar.He later shifted to his maternal uncle Ustad Ali Bux, an eminent shehnai player in Varanasi to learn shehnai. He started "riyaz" (practice) at the tender age of six.The couple said: "Bismillah Khan failed to get him and his shehnai marketed like other musicians in the country. Simplicity in his demeanor could take him nowhere in rumbling of marketplace, throbbing with hundreds of thousands of auction and mega deal with each passing day, but not a pence for the genuine player of historical gallery. If an artist has suffered on account of his simple living and simple considerations, it has been none but Bismillah."