Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan - Mian Ki Todi, Bihag, interview

a part of an interview enveloped by Raag Mian Ki Todi and Raag Bihag Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali, one of the greatest singers of all times, was capable of weaving a magic spell with his swaras and taans. He had once said: "My throat is like a paint brush and I paint on the waves of wind with my voice. The swaras -- the notes of the raga -- are my colours. It is like a painting created in the air, which is my canvas." He inherited the formidable musical parampara (tradition) of Punjab that encompassed the Hindu, Muslim and Sikh religions. Saint Hazrat Bulleh Shah, whose Sufiana Kalam (Sufi song) is sung even today, was buried in Kasur, Ghulam Ali's birth place. The shepherds, wandering in the hills, sang in praise of Hazrath Ali andHussain -- grandsons of Prophet Muhammad -- in melodies akin to classical Indian ragas. The shabads and qawwalis of the Sikhs were often based on ancient Dhrupads and Khayals, again Indian classical ragas. In the biography of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, authors Malti Gulani and Quratulain Haider have paid a rich tribute to the maestro. Ghulam Ali's uncle and guru, Ustad Kale Khan, was himself trained in the Patiala school of music (Patiala gharana); he taught the young Ustad simple compositions. In 1911, Ghulam Ali accompanied Kale Khan to Delhi, at the age of 9, and watched him perform at the 'Dilli Darbar'. Thus began the grooming and development of the musicalpersonality of the young disciple, alongside rigorous taleem (training) under his uncle's baton. Later after a brief acquaintance with Lucknow and its highly refined soirees, Ghulam Ali returned to Lahorewith his father and resumed his nightly riyaaz (practice) on the banks of the river Ravi. Singing all night not only developed his stamina, but also gave him the rare sensitivity to gauge the external response. In 1932, he lost his wife Allah Jiwai. His grief, poured into melody, gave birth to the immortal thumri: Yaad piya ki aye, reflecting the very trauma of his heart. On arrival in Mumbai in 1940, Ghulam Ali thrived under the benign patronage of the noted singer Ganga Bai. A Sufi at heart, he was once greatly moved by the poem Hari Om Tat Sat, and rendered it musically in the haunting raga Pahari. Years later, he explained, "God, Truth and Haq is one. I've Allah in my mind when I sing these words...Different people in the world have different names for the Supreme Being who is 'One'. In 1947, he visited Afghanistan at the invitation of King Zahir Shah and re-established the splendid rapport in music between the Afghans and Indians, where the Afghan string instruments like Rabab and Santoor were part of the Hindustani ensemble. Many Indian musical instruments still retain their Persian roots, such as Tabla, derived from Persian tabl; Sitar meaning seven strings and Dilruba being a longer version of Sarangi. The Partition in 1947 dealt a severe blow to the composite culture of the Indian subcontinent. But Ghulam Ali at a concert organized by Radio Lahore sang his own composition in raga Mian ki Todi: Ab Mori Raam / Raam ri Daiyyan (Ram is my only solace). In 1951, he was invited by Morarji desai to have Indian citizenship and sing at concerts all over thecountry. According to the cognoscenti, earlier the Ustad's singing was like the sound of the waterfall striking against the mountainside and rushing with great force to mingle with the ocean; now it resembled the vast ocean itself whose might and depth was unfathomable! In 1963, Ghulam Ali shifted to Kolkata where he was frequently invited to sing before highly appreciative audiences. He would say: Maharashtrians are great connoisseurs of classical music, with their approach being technical and academic. The exuberance, which the people of Kolkata show, is characteristic of their emotional and artistic nature! It is in Kolkata that he took young Malti Gilani (singer and later his biographer) as his gunda-bund shagird (committed disciple). She has noted how the open house atmosphere prevailed at the Ghulam Ali residence - reminiscent of the Sufi Khanas and hospices of the Middle Ages. In such places -- as even in the Dargahs today -- a cauldron of rice was always being cooked for the traveller and food distributed to the rich and the poor alike! In this respect, theSufis of Islam, the Bhaktas i f the Vaishnava cult and the Catholic mystics of the Medieval Europe - they all shared a similar spirit of tolerance and bonhomie. After having accomplished a lot, Ghulam Ali breathed his last in 1968 in Hyderabad -- far away from the green wheat fields of Kasur on the eastern seaboard of India. That he always took his listeners on an inward journey of musical understanding and fulfillment remained true to his last day. This biography provides an insight not only into the music of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan but into the history of Indian classical music at large. *** Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan -- His Life and Music by Malti Gilani & Qurantulain Hyder; Harman Publishing House, New Delhi; Price Rs. 1200/

Channel: Music
Uploaded: November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am
Author: kishoriray

Length: 10:23
Rating: 4.82
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Tags: Ali  Bade  classical  Ghulam  indian  kasur  Khan  maeastro  music  patiala  Ustad  vocal  

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