I must have been nine when I heard three of the greatest musicians of the century. The first was Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, The founder of Kirana Khayal Gayaki. This was his second visit to Calcutta. On an earlier occasion when he had come to the city he was hardly known. Since then his records especially the Bhairvi Thumri-Jamuna ke Teer and Piya Bin Awat nahi chain in Jhinjhoti had created a sensation. All the artists had flocked to the University Institute Hall. All I remember that Khan Sahab was sitting with his mouth Open, the Tanpuras were playing, the accompanists were not sitting idle either but no sound was emanating from Abdul karim Khans mouth. I kept on asking my father the reason of this mysterious phenomenon and all he said was, Hush Keep Quiet! will tell you later. Later, indeed much later I realized that Khan Sahab was singing Basant and he was lingering on the Sa, the tonic in the upper octave and his voice has mingled with the finely tuned Tanpuras and the Shadaj of the Harmonium so well that it created an illusion that he lost his voice. Many people have talked to me since then about this Swarsiddhi, this man who had attained the pinnacle of purity and the mesmerizing quality of his sur. -Kumarprasad Mukhopadhaya from The Lost world of Hindustani Music
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 23:04:50 +0000
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