! SAJAN PIYA A Biography of Ustad Khadim Husain Khan by N. JAYAVANTH RAO Published in January, 1981 (C) Sajan Milap & N. Jayavanth Rao This book or any portion thereof shall not be reproduced in any Form without the written permission of the author or Sajan Milap. Originally Published by Sajan Milap, C/o. S. S. Haldankar 4, Raghav Wadi, Haldankar (French) Bridge, Bombay 400 007 Originally Printed by Felix Aranha at Ahura Printing Press, Royal Industrial Estate, 5-B Naigaum Cross Road, Bombay 400 031 To My Dear Amma who nurtured a deep love of music in me right from my childhood CONTENTS AUTHOR’S NOTE ..........................................................................................................................................8 1. GHARANAS: THEIR ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION................................................................................ 12 2. AGRA GHARANA AND ITS USTADS ....................................................................................................16 3. USTAD KHADIM HUSAIN KHAN: FAMILY, BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD .........................................28 4. USTAD KHADIM HUSAIN KHAN'S TRAINING ..................................................................................35 5. LIFE AS USTAD HIMSELF ......................................................................................................................46 6. KHAN SAHEB’S REMINISCENCES ......................................................................................................53 7. KHAN SAHEB AS MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER ................................................................................61 8. KHAN SAHEB'S HUMAN SIDE .............................................................................................................71 EPILOGUE .....................................................................................................................................................75 GLOSSARY ...................................................................................................................................................76 APPENDIX 1 .................................................................................................................................................79 APPENDIX 2 .................................................................................................................................................80 APPENDIX 3 .................................................................................................................................................81 AUTHOR’S NOTE C. C. COULTON (1780-1832), an English clergyman and epigrammatic writer, has remarked : “There are three difficulties in authorship – to write anything worth publishing, to find honest men to publish it, and to get sensible men to read it.” The author of this biography has happily and fortunately crossed the first two hurdles. As for the third, being an incorrigible optimist, he hopes for the best. Ustad Khadim Husain Khan is not merely a living legend but also a live phenomenon. He is, to the best of the author’s knowledge, among the last of the era of khandani musicians belonging to the near-extinct world of guru shishya parampara – the age-old tradition of a disciple learning at the feet of the master in total servitude. There is about him an Arcadian simplicity that stuns those who come into close contact with him. He is a fierce abstainer and a non-smoker. He does not even chew paan or tobacco, the two “accepted companions” of a majority of musicians. He has only one bad habit and that is that he has no bad habits ! His love for and devotion to classical music is such that one can safely proclaim from rooftops that “here’s a man born for music, lives for music and will die for music.” ! Khan Saheb receiving Sangeet Natak Akademi award from President N. Sanjiva Reddy, New Delhi, March 1980 In a world where cheap publicity has become the norm of popularity, Khadim Husain Khan is not only an anachronism but a total misfit. A man who has loathed, detested and shunned publicity, he lives in an unrecognised world of recognised and uninhibitedly admiring lovers of music. This “gem of purest ray serene” happily vegetates in "the dark unfathomed caves" of sincere dedication and unalloyed devotion to music, blissfully unmindful of the honours like Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, etc. that should have come his way long, long ago but have not. Only last year was the ustad honoured with three awards of distinction. The first was from the Maharashtra Government for his outstanding contribution to and services rendered in the cause of classical music in the State. Such an award to a musician was instituted for the first time only last year and the Government’s choice could not have fallen on any one more deserving than the ustad to be its first recipient. The second award came to him from the Sangeet Natak Akademi of New Delhi, a distinction that should have been conferred on him a long time ago. But as the frequently used cliché goes : “Better late than never.” The third was an award from ITC’s Sangeet Research Academy in recognition of his outstanding contribution to classical music. ! Khan Saheb receiving ITC-Sangeet Research Academy award from Shri Vasant Sathe, Minister for Information and Broadcasting New Delhi, March 1980 Circumstances compelled Khadim Husain Khan to resort to vidya daan as a steady source of income at a time when he was at the zenith of his performing ability. Consequently, he was not quite able to make a “big hit” as a concert performer. But he basks in the sunshine of supreme happiness that he has a plenitude of shagirds and has carried the message and melody of music to innumerable homes. There are any number of musicians today who claim to be or are called Ustads ; but among the very few who, by word and deed, merit to be so called is Khadim Husain Khan. Vidya daan has been his mission of life and, to that sacred mission, he has gifted away his talent, genius and knowledge ungrudgingly and unsparingly. Khan Saheb has reached 75 this year. In this platinum year of his age, this biography of his, the author hopes, would be a humble but befitting tribute to his immeasurable and invaluable contribution to Hindustani classical music. This book is being brought out by “Sajan Milap”, a small but enthusiastic organisation started by a select group of Khan Saheb’s ardent admirers and disciples. It is dedicated totally to serve the cause, encouragement and propagation of traditional music. The choice of the name for the organisation is obvious from the fact that Khan Saheb’s nom de plume is “Sajan Piya”. This book, it is hoped, will be a forerunner of a series of books planned for publication by Sajan Milap on great musicians and their outstanding gayakis. The chapters on the Agra and Atrauli gharanas have been compiled from available references and details gathered from several musicians, including Khan Saheb himself. The maximum information came from Yunus Husain Khan, a khalifa of the Agra gharana, who has delved deep into the history, origin and evolution of his khandan and gharanas. In fact, it is the invaluable and informative family tree of the Agra gharana, produced by Yunusbhai on the occasion of Khan Saheb’s felicitation in 1970, that first kindled the author’s interest to go into the history of the Agra gharana. Some of the innumerable old references consulted by Yunusbhai in his mammoth endeavour have been mentioned in the second chapter of this book. Yunusbhai’s work forms almost the very basis for the details given in the second and third chapters on the Agra and Atrauli gharanas. To him the author owes a deep sense of gratitude. The author has no hesitation in confessing his ignorance of Persian, Urdu and Sanskrit in which authentic works of reference on music and musicians are available. Even his knowledge of Hindi is somewhat limited and this handicap again has precluded him from consulting authoritative references in classical Hindi. The two main volumes consulted by the author for the history of gharanas, apart from prolonged and stimulating discussions with several musicians and musicologists, are "संगीतजो का संसरन" by Vilayat Husain Khan and "आगरा घराना" by Prof. R C Mehta. Many others like "संगीत िवशारद" by Sangeet Karyalaya, Hathras (U.P.), Bhatkhande’s volumes, etc., were also consulted. While these have been of help to the author in enriching his knowledge of music, they provided little authentic information on the history and evolution of gharanas in general and the Agra- Atrauli gharanas in particular. The only book in English that the author came across was “Indian Musical Traditions” by Vamanrao Deshpande. This book too did not make the author any wiser on the history and evolution of any of the gharanas. In the course of his search for details of the Agra and Atrauli gharanas and their exponents of yesteryear, the author has come across several pieces of wholly contradictory information. There are family trees, as in "संगीत िवशारद" of Hathras, in which musicians known to belong to periods well-separated by a century are shown as contemporaries. The author has laboured a good deal to verify carefully the various details before leaping to a conclusion. In several cases, however, he has had no option but to make logical deductions or calculated judgements. He takes refuge in the fact that this book is a biography of Khadim Husain Khan and not a treatise on the Agra and Atrauli gharanas. The author has no intention of provoking a feud or controversy amongst