Dear Friends,

 

Below is an article by Ashish Sharma that was published in The Indian Express (Sunday Supplement) on October 24, 1993.  I had cut it out and preserved it and thought of some day disseminating it among Ustad Amir Khan admirers.  I have been adding pages to my site and have typed out the article and am now presenting it to you.

 

A Legend and its Legacy

 

– Ashish Sharma

 

The disciples of Ustad Amir Khan demonstrate the genius of the late maestro, by enriching his music in various ways

 

Ustad Amir Khan’s unique system of continuous musical creativity born out of deep introspection and irrepressible passion, that combined masterly craftsmanship in form with the voice application typical of him has had music lovers bewitched ever since he took to the concert stage.  Nearly two decades after his untimely death, Khan Sahib remains the colossus he was during his lifetime, as the number of his followers continues to grow.

 

Even as his direct disciples have carved a niche for themselves, several others have emerged who have never had the opportunity to avail of his tutelage, but still attempt to assimilate the intricacies of his music.  “At least 60 per cent of today’s musicians have been inspired by Khan Sahib,” says noted vocalist Pandit Amarnath, who had a long association with him of over 25 years.  Concurs Khan Sahib’s other disciple, Surinder Singh of the famed Singh Bandhu duo, when he says, “We are living in the age of Ustad Amir Khan.  While only three or four records of his came out when he was alive, 14 have appeared since his death.”

 

Some years back, the Urdu Service of All India Radio had received angry letters from its listeners in Pakistan, who pointed out that in a programme featuring Khan Sahib, another name had been wrongly announced.  But it turned out that the AIR was right.  Even experienced music listeners were misled on this occasion. At a function organized as a tribute in honour of Ustad Amir Khan in the capital recently, the same musician – Pandit Gokulatsavji Maharaj of Indore – sang Khan Sahib’s compositions and was also presented with an Ustad Amir Khan Memorial Award.

 

But how did he do it?  Gokulatsavji, a descendant of the founder of Vallabh Sampradaya – a religious body – says, “It is my misfortune that I could never meet Khan Sahib, but I listened to his recordings over and over again, and tried to emulate the spirit behind his music.”  He has a mind-boggling collection of Khan Sahib’s recordings which include even thumris, ghazals, and qawwalis besides khayals, “which add up to around 3500-4000 hours, with rare ragas like Sarparda, Zurtaba, Kalingra, Lachchasakh, Chayanat, Khemkalyan…”

 

It is common knowledge that Khan Sahib did not believe in the gharana system.  Pandit Mahendra Sharma, well-known vocalist, who was close to the Ustad ever since he first met him in 1958, quotes him as saying that the gharana system curbed the freedom of the musicians.  “He did not believe that a influence should be rejected just because it came from a different gharana.  He himself adopted the alap ang from the Dhrupad and freely admitted it.  In fact, although he started his training under his father Ustad Shahmir Khan, he was exposed to the music of other great masters of the era since every musician who visited Indore used to come to their house.  People like Rajab Ali Khan Sahib, Naseerudin Dagar and Aman Ali Khan beenkar were regular visitors.  Every Friday, there used to be a mehfil at their place.”

 

Tejpal Singh elaborates on the influences on Khan Sahib’s gayaki, “I believe that he consciously assimilated everything that appealed to him.  That it all helped to evolve a gayaki that ultimately bore his personal stamp is too well known.  The Jhoomra taal came from Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, taans from Rajab Ali Khan Sahib and intricate sargams from Aman Ali Khan Sahib.”

 

Pandit Amarnath touches on another aspect when he says that while Khan Sahib was obviously inspired by Abdul Wahid Khan Sahib, there was more tayyari in his gayaki.  “Also, he introduced the element of pause which is very significant to his style of music,” he adds.  Surinder Singh speaks for all when he says: “He was perhaps the first musician who shut his eyes to the audience, and sang to himself.  With Amir Khan, music became a matter of personal expression rather than a demonstrative art.”

 

Pandit Mahendra Sharma, who accompanied Khan Sahib whenever he came to Delhi, got to know his intimate views on various aspects of his gayaki, including the reason for deciding against singing thumris in public even though he was a deft exponent of the genre.  “Khan Sahib once said that since he considered Bade Ghulam Ali as a better singer of thumri, he had decided against public exposition of his capacity for the same.”  This certainly speaks for the genuine admiration of one genius for another. 

 

But how does the music of his followers stand vis-à-vis the Ustad?  Are they merely trying to ape him?  Gokulatsavji demonstrated the fact that his strongpoint was in resembling the maestro as closely as possible.  But Surinder Singh holds opposing views on the subject.  “Art is within you,” he declares and carries on, “In music you cannot copy.  What does one want to copy anyway?  The form or the spirit?  Every artiste is a different person with a unique voice and his own aesthetic sensibility.  What you can do is imbibe the influences that are in keeping with your own voice.  The very idea of aping mindlessly is an anti-Amir Khan idea.  Nobody will ever be able to sing like him.  All of us are trying our best but he was too big for all of us.”