A Tribute To A Tabla Maestro - Ustad Amir Hussain
Khan
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Art and culture
must put down roots and draw their sustenance from the soil if they
have to survive. From the Tabla wizards namely Ustad Munir Khan,
Ustad Natthu Khan, Ustad Ahmedjan Thirakhawa, Ustad Gulam Hussain
Khan, Ustad Habibuddin Khan, Pandit Kanthe Maharaj, Pandit
Samtaprasad, Ustad Alla Rakha Khan, to the doyen of Farrukhabad
Gharana, Ustad Amir Hussain Khan, the artistes in this country have
had a vibrant, catholic tradition of creative interaction and
assimilation of the past. All such stalwarts, whose list is endless,
belong to this Rich Indian tradition and culture.
This article is a humble tribute to my Guru, late Ustad Amir Hussain
Khan. “Khansaheb” as he was affectionately and respectfully called
by all of us, was the true embodiment of Indian culture. He saw the
percussion instrument with the eyes of his soul and his own life,
devoted to this art, exemplified the towering tenets of Indian
culture. He not only preached the philosophy of “Simple living and
high thinking” but also practiced it. I have seen no other man ever
asking of life so little for himself!
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A teacher can
never truly teach unless he is still learning himself. To quote
Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore – “A lamp can never light another lamp,
unless it continues to burn its own flame.” Khansaheb religiously
did “riyaz” for hours on end, every day, so that he could not only
attain perfection in the nuances of this art practiced in different
Gharanas, but also impart the best training to his students. He
himself was a student “par excellence” of his distinguished Guru,
Ustad Munir Khan, who was a pioneer in introducing this art to
Maharashtra – an art which, so to speak, was an exclusive
domain of
North India. What is unique about Ustad Munir Khan was that he had
mastered this art from as many as 24 Gurus of different Gharanas,
enriched the treasure by adding to it his own superb inimitable
compositions and popularized both ‘Khula’ and ‘Band’ ‘Baz’
in Maharashtra. No wonder he was justifiably credited with producing
a plethora of distinguished artistes, such as Ustad Ahmedjan
Thirakwa, Ustad Amir Hussain Khan, Ustad Gulam Hussain Khan, Ustad
Habibuddin Khan, Ustad Shamsuddin Khan, Pandit Vishnooji Shirodkar
and Pandit Subramama Ankolekar, to name a few.
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Ustad Amir
Hussain Khan’s father Ustad Ahmed Baksh Khan was a renowned Sarangi
maestro who was brought to
Hyderabad
from Meerut with state honors by the Nizam of Hyderabad. Ahmed Baksh
started giving lessons to young Amir Hussain who showed scant
interest in this instrument, as he was more attracted by the Tabla.
His uncle Munir Khan therefore voluntarily took up the
responsibility of giving him lessons in Tabla. He generously gave
away all his knowledge to this little disciple, who did justice to
this gesture by painstakingly picking up the knowledge. The boy
diligently practiced Tabla solo and grew up to become Ustad Amir
Hussain Khan of national and international renown.
Ustad Amir
Hussain Khan’s reputation spread far and wide. It so happened that
the Maharaja of Raigadh State, Raja Chakradhar Singh, once brought
him as a guest to his palace with full state honors. The Maharaja
heard his solo for two hours every day for six consecutive days. On
the seventh day, Khansaheb gave a breathtaking performance for a
full four hours, without repeating a single “Bandish”. Overwhelmed
by the superb skill of the artiste, the Maharaja bestowed on him a
gift of 1000 Ashrafis (gold coins)!
Khansaheb had the
good fortune to stay with Ustad Munir Khan in Mumbai till the
latter’s sad demise, i.e. from 1932 to 1937. He returned to
Hyderabad
after attending his Master’s cremation rites. At the instance of his
friends and his father’s disciple Sarangi Maestro Chhote Khan,
Khansaheb once again returned to Mumbai in 1945. His students Pandit
Pandharinath Nageshkar, Gulam Rasool, Sharif Ahmed and Jamal Khan
were instrumental in making him stay in Mumbai permanently.
It was indeed a
treat to watch Ustad Amir Hussain Khan play Tabla solo. He was a
great crowd puller and always played before a packed audience. From
a slow and steady beat, he used to effortlessly build up the rhythm
into such frenzy that many in the audience used to go into an
ecstatic trance. Every time the Tabla maestro performed, he
spontaneously evoked hysteria among the youth, something not
witnessed for any other classical musician, let alone a Tabla
player!
Ustad Amir
Hussain Khan has been an inspiring and motivating force in my life.
He was the living embodiment of the highest aspirations of all his
disciples, the noblest instances of humanity, the loftiest
attributes of the divine spirit in an earthly garb. His was not a
life to be described in words or measured in years. He lived in
Eternity!
Arvind Mulgaonkar (21.11.2000)
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