SAROD maestro Ustad Ali AKBAR KHAN

[gobilalitha]

Just now I saw the news that the great sarod exponent Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, passed away at 10am IST atSanFransisco today. Heartfelt condolences to his family members, millions of his rasikas. I remember him taking part in Thyagaraja aradhanaiat Tiruvaiyar some years back. gobilalitha

[cienu]

Just now I saw the news that the great sarod exponent Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, passed away at 10am IST atSanFransisco today. Heartfelt condolences to his family members, millions of his rasikas. I remember him taking part in Thyagaraja aradhanaiat Tiruvaiyar some years back. gobilalitha

To the best of my knowledge the Sarod Maestro who took part in Tiruvaiyaru Thyagaraja Aradhana was Amjad Ali Khan.

Ali Akbar Khan has been living in the US for a pretty long time and may not have visited India for many many years.

[gobilalitha]

yes . I was wrong. just mixing up of names . thanks for correcting .gobilalitha

[mohan]

Sad to hear the news about this sarod maestro http://www.hindu.com/2009/06/20/stories ... 862000.htm

[ragam-talam]

Came across this transcript of a fascinating interview with the maestro (from UC-Berkeley's oral history series):
http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/r ... _akbar.pdf

And this interesting tidbit of info:
"my family are seventh generations, actually, in Bangladesh. The great-grandfather was the last one. We were Hindu, not Muslim. Brahmin, pure. High-class Brahmin, seven generations back."

[smala]

Yes, which is why Aashish Khan, the oldest son and sarod player, re-converted to Hinduism since his father's death, saying the family was never Muslim, causing some consternation within the immediate family. This was in the news.

The Khan family was settled in Maihar, a small princely state of British India, (now a part of Madhya Pradesh), where the revered father, Alauddin Khan, was a royal court musician at the time. The family traces their ancestry to the village of Shibpur, Brahmanbaria, (translates to "houses of brahmins") modern-day Bangladesh. The well known all-rounder Annapurna Devi, elder sister to Khan sahab, formerly Roshanara Khan, re-converted to Hinduism when she married sitarist Ravi Shankar at age 14.

The Senior maestro himself performed an elaborate Saraswati puja every morning before a deity installed in his puja room at home.

[vgovindan]

tu hindu banega na musalmaan banega
insaan ki aulaad hai, insaan banega

acchha hai abhi tak tera kuch naam nahin hai
tujh ko kisi mazhab se koi kaam nahin hai

jis ilm ne insaan ko taqseem kiya hai
us ilm ka tujh par koi ilzaam nahin hai
tu badle hue waqt ki pehchan banega

maalik ne har insaan ko insaan banaya
hum ne use hindu ya musalmaan banaya

kudrat ne bakshi thi hamein ek hi dharti
humne kahin bharat kahin iraan banaya
jo mod de har band wo tufaan banega

nafrat jo sikhaye, wo dhaam tera nahin hai
insaaf jo ronde, wo kadam tera nahin hai
quraan na ho jisme wo mandir nahin tera
geeta na ho jisme wo dharam tera nahin hai
tu aman ka aur sulah ka araman banega

ye deen ke tajar ye watan bechne waale
insaano ki laashon ke qafan bechne waale
ye mehel mein baithe hue qaatil ye lootere
kaanton se madh rooh-e-chaman bechne waale
tu in ke liye maut ka elaan banega

insaan ki aulaad hai, insaan banega
tu hindu banega na musalmaan banega
insaan ki aulaad hai, insaan banega

Lyricist : Sahir Ludhiyaanvi
Music Director : N. Dutta
film 'Dhool Ka Phool' directed by Yash Chopra

(let the sleeping dogs lie)

[smala]

What a lofty composition and stellar composer! Thanks Sri Govindan for sharing this.