Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan passed away at the age of 90 on Monday, 21st August, due to cardiac arrest. Known for his performance at the Red Fort on India's first Republic Day, it had been his last wish to perform at India Gate for global peace, but that remained a wish unfulfilled, as a concert there earlier in the month was cancelled for security reasons. Anyway, it's really incredible that he had been able to perform up to such an advanced age. It's not so long ago that he recorded music for the film Swades. We are also talking here about the person who single-handedly took the ancient wind instrument out of the confines of temples and wedding halls, into the concert halls. He was initiated into the instrument by his uncle Ali Bux, who played the shehnai at the Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi. He never saw any conflict between his music and his religion. Even as a staunch Shia, he was also devoted to the goddess Saraswati. He would practise music at night at a temple. Once when a Hindu musician remarked at a conference that Islam has downgraded music, Bismillah Khan replied humorously: Sir, as you know, most of the best classical musicians of North India are Muslims. Can you imagine what would have happened if Islam had upgraded music?

Shehnai is a difficult instrument that demands good breath control in addition to finger techniques. It's amazing how Bismillah Khan could produce such a mellow sound and play such fast notes. It's certainly not an instrument that many young people of our generation will find time to learn. When he performed in Hollywood in 1960s, an American youth came to him at the end of the recital, touched his feet and said he wanted to come to India for six months and learn Shehnai from him; the great maestro told him to forget it, because in six months he would not even learn to hold the instrument properly, it's a lifetime vocation. Bismillah Khan was the third classical musician to win India's highest honour Bharat Ratna, after M.S. Subbulakshmi and Ravi Shankar. But he lived a simple life, never owning a car, travelling around Varanasi in a cycle rickshaw. In fact he lived in a little room of a three-storeyed house in a crowded lane of the city, with a bed, a telephone and a lantern as his only possessions, apart from the instrument so dear to him. It has been reported that when he was ailing a few years back, he could not even afford treatment and was asking financial help from the government. However, music organisers said he was simply supporting a large household of family and fellow musicians and they complaint he would bring an unwieldy group for every concert expecting them to bear all expenses. There was yet another report of Bismillah Khan alleging that leading Indian record companies had stopped paying royalty for his music. Perhaps increased music piracy has caused record companies to cancel royalties. Bismillah Khan said it should be the duty of the government to promote artistes and organise classical concerts. The standard of classical music is going down and one hardly sees any new artiste playing shehnai, he said.

Apparently the secret of Bismillah Khan being able to play shehnai at a ripe old age is that he built up a stamina by swimming in the Ganges. He was very attached to the river. Once during a concert in Europe, he was offered a car, a bungalow with servants and even citizenship. He reportedly replied asking: Does the Ganga flow here?