Ustad Badal Khan, music Guru of Pandit Bhishmadev Chattopadhyay, was once asked the following question: "Ustadji, what is your religion?" (Ustadji, aap kis mazhab ke hnay?) The venerable maestro instantly replied: "Babu, I am neither a Hindu nor a Muslim, I am but a musician, nothing more." (Babu, mein na Hindu hnu na hi Mussalman; mein toh sirf gayawiaa hnu.) This statement aptly sums up the character of Hindustani classical music and its syncretic tradition and culture. Truly has this Hindu-Muslim cultural fusion been possible in the realm of Hindustani classical music and dance like nowhere else so well in India's rich cultural heritage. The Hindu musical maestros (Pandits) are seen singing to the Prophet of Islam and his followers such as this bandish (song): 'Aaley Nabi ke aulaad Ali par' set in Raag Yaman Kalyan while Muslim maestros (Ustads) are seen singing this bandish in Raag Kedar: 'Kaanhaa re, Nanda-nandana' with effusion of love and devotion. The Kathak style of North Indian classical dancing is a perfect illustration of this cultural fusion of the two great streams, Hinduism and Islam, where Krishna is exhorted and worshipped in a dance style that has incorporated Muslim manners and Hindu mores in a lucid harmonic way. More evidence there is of this harmony of hearts in the world of art and architecture as is quite natural for any evolved culture that has diverse elements in its midst in such copious measure out of which it must fashion the form and fulfilment of its fundamental theme.
All this is there in tangible terms even today as the possible solution to fanatical conflict that seems to have possessed the mind of the modern man in no way better than the medieval messiahs who had begun it. The beauty of this land of Bharat is this that, however it may be persecuted and punished for its superior culture and philosophy by barbarous marauders, it yet fuses the best elements of the incoming culture to modify and enhance its own and so emerge triumphant, stronger and richer, and with the resulting undying vitality. Despite persecution of the Hindus by the Muslims invaders and rulers on an unparalleled scale over the protracted period of a millenium when 80 million Hindus were butchered and tens of thousands of their holy temples razed to the ground, when Hindus by the millions were converted by force to Islam and those that resisted were taxed, tormented and tyrannised, the Muslim intruders gradually got absorbed into the body politic of India and their culture was absorbed in the Hindu culture as well to give rise to this beautiful fusion which is the Indo-Islamic culture.
Ustad Badal Khan's utterance must be seen in the right light to be able to appreciate that Hindustani classical music and dance hods a key to future fusion of the Indian race through the apparent divisions extant today and is indicative of a possible wider harmony in the sub-continent through the channels of art and culture. Future humanity will have to be facilitated with the tools of tolerance and acceptance and unity through the fostering of culture that cuts through barriers of race, clime or time, and in this Hindustani classical music may play a seminal role.
The life of the Ustad must be studied while mastering his inimitable bandishes (songs) so that we get a view of the inner workings of the mind of a maestro and the deeper urges in it that fashions his outlook on life. Suffice it to say that these floral tributes at the altar of the motherland make India the civilisation it is although we must never forget the horrors perpetrated on the Hindus by Muslim cohorts in the name of spreading Islamic civilisation. But we must move ahead and not brood over past abuses and injustices alone for we have much to account for ourselves the way we have treated our Shudra brethren for ages and the outcasts and untouchables who we have reduced to beasts of burden till now they have started asserting their power in a democracy where numbers count more than anything else and we have no recourse but to restore them their fundamental human rights which we have trampled upon for millenia. Now millions of them are taking to aggressive modes and methods to make their voices heard and society, so long used to taking cognisance of them as so much sub-human garbage, is veering round to give them their due share in the affairs of the State. All said and done, India is rising out of the chaos of the times and the confusion of caste, creed and corruption a single nation with its eternal theme: Ekam sad vipra bahudhaa vadanti (Truth is one, sages speak of it variously).
The national music is harmony in discord, a contradiction in terms when seen superficially but quite compatible when viewed in depth. The waves chaotically beat the surface of the ocean but the waters are more tranquil below. So with the life-force of a nation. The disparate elements are dispersed on the surface, the unifying force is within. In the light of the Atman may be envisioned the future citadel of the nation rising, fusing great masses of conflicting currents among the Hindus and the Muslims and blending them into a mighty synthesis of head and heart in which may we remember the tiny contribution, perhaps, of that forgotten musician, Ustad Badal Khan, who lived 104 years of dedicated service to the cause of melody and harmony and the stringing together of the various moods of man in the phrases of his compositions which we are enthralled to hear in the voice of his protege Bhishmadev Chattopadhyay. Our prostrations at the feet of the venerable Ustad and his mercurial disciple. May Mother Saraswati bless all! Jai Ma!
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