USTAD BISMILLAH KHAN
This rendition opens up so many pathways of development of the raag Yaman. The gat must be set to words so that it serves as a delectable bandish that may be sung to its aesthetic evening end. How many marriages have witnessed the shehnai rendition of Ustad Bismillah Khan, how many souls have been united while the soft strains of the maestro's instrument have purified the evening air of all the mundane dross to set up the hour of union ! The beauty, the sublimity and the pathos come out in Bismillah Khan's rendition in a holy wedlock of moods that stir up feelings quite unparalleled despite the occasional lapses here and there which, perhaps, give the rendition a touch of imperfection and make the melody all the more touching in its human fallibility and fragile fragrance.
Ustad Bismillah Khan draws a veil over the evening and cuts off outside influences with his raag rendition, and that is the hallmark of his genius, this ability to create an atmosphere unearthly in some sense and intensely human in some other, a mixture of moods that carries the audience into an altered state of consciousness where everything is bright and beautiful. Such is his mastery over this difficult instrument that it seems to sing, which is the ultimate aim of instrumental music but is rarely achieved.
The shehnai in Ustadji's care comes alive as an individual with an exquisite soul. The instrument is no longer inert but is very much a living companion of the maestro, not so much as an extension of his being but an inseparably entwined separate individual like lovers distinct in locked embrace.
As the raag unfolds the evening draws its shade over the Ganga and Varanasi beholds the nightly spread across the holy stretch where Vishwanath and Annapurna bless the notes with their ethereal touch.
Blessed Bismillah, blessed Benaras, blessed Bharatvarsha that has given birth to such a soul, a ratna (jewel) of Bharat indeed !
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