HOME | SCOOP!! & NEWS | HAPPENINGS British media pays tribute to Ustad Bismillah Khan23rd Aug 2006 09.19 IST By Agencies Describing him as a symbol of Muslim-Hindu unity, British media on Tuesday paid rich tributes to Ustad Bismillah Khan and praised his single-handed efforts in giving respectability to the shehnai. "Khan single-handedly gave the shehnai classical respectability and introduced it to the concert platform and recital hall," said The Times in an obituary on the maestro who died of a heart attack at Varanasi on Monday aged 90. 
Khan's mastery of shehnai made him a national hero, it said. "He was awarded all four of India's top honours. He also played widely outside India, following such pioneers as Ali Akbar Khan on the sarod and Ravi Shankar on the sitar in introducing classical Indian music to Western audiences." Despite his renown, he remained a modest and simple man whose favoured form of transport was the cycle rickshaw and whose only vice appeared to be the Wills cigarettes that he smoked with obvious relish, the newspaper said. A pious Shia Muslim who lived almost all his life in the holy Hindu city of Varanasi, he came to symbolise Hindu- Muslim unity in India, it added. Describing him as "India's virtuosic master of the shehnai - a favourite of nawabs and nationalists alike - 'The Guardian' said for more than 70 years, Khan captivated his listeners with the range of his musical genius. "He was also held up by many of his fellow countrymen as an icon of the secular spirit of the Indian constitution for his open- mindedness on questions of religious affiliation." The Daily Telegraph described Khan as a musician whose compositions were said to represent 'the sound of India'. It said Khan was widely regarded in India as an Ustad, musical genius, "and his playing of the shehnai is considered to represent all that is best about Hindu-Muslim unity." Related Ustad Bismillah Khan | ALSO READ scoop ~ Michael Jackson converts to Islam: report ~ A R Rahman inspires people to vote! ~ Hrithik Roshan to play lord Ram? ~ Sada enters Bollywood with 'Khallballi' ~ Konkona Sen does a lesbian act! ~ Ash and Bon Jovi unite for Live Earth ~ How Salman improvised a romantic scene with Katrina! ~ Katrina Kaif did 'Yuvvraaj' for emotional reasons ( more in scoop ) happenings ~ Big B, Bon Jovi and Roger Waters team up for a cause ~ 'Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!' to premiere at IFFI ( more in happenings ) AKC HOT INDEX ECARDS > Halloween, New Year, Diwali, Birthday, Valentines, Love, Christmas MOVIES Dostana, Dasvidaniya, Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi, EMI, Golmaal Returns, Fashion, Heroes, Roadside Romeo, Kidnap, Drona, Yuvvraaj , Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi , Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! , Sorry Bhai MUSIC Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi , Yuvvraaj celebs » wallpapers » the celeb A-Z who's in » Katrina Kaif | Deepika Padukone | Ranbir Kapoor | Harman Baweja | Aishwarya Rai | Abhishek Bachchan | Imran Khan | Shahrukh Khan | Salman Khan | Aamir Khan | Hrithik Roshan | Akshay Kumar | Zayed Khan | Saif Ali Khan | John Abraham | Shahid Kapur | Kareena Kapoor | Vidya Balan | Priyanka Chopra | Rani Mukherjee | Mallika Sherawat | Bipasha Basu | Preity Zinta | Kajol | Neha Dhupia | Sameera Reddy | Juhi Chawla | Karisma Kapoor | Madhuri Dixit | Zeenat Aman | Payal Rohatgi | Sneha Ullal | Mahima Chaudhary | Meghna Naidu | Gayatri Joshi | Rakhi Sawant | Bhumika Chawla | Lisa Ray | Dimple Kapadia | Ayesha Takia | Dia Mirza | Sushmita Sen | Amisha Patel | Esha Deol | Amrita Rao | Amrita Arora | Genelia D'Souza | Arjun Rampal | Amitabh Bachchan | Vivek Oberoi | Raima Sen | Riya Sen | Rekha | Rimi Sen | Nigar Khan | Tanushree Dutta | Yana Gupta | Deepal Shaw | Shilpa Shetty | Celina Jaitley | Sonam Kapoor | Neha Oberoi | Nisha Rawal | Manjari Fadnis | Kamal Haasan | Rajnikant | Asin | Sanjay Dutt | Shahid Kapoor | Sherlyn Chopra | Farhan Akhtar | Prachi Desai | Koel Purie | Shahana Goswami | Adah Sharma | Kangana Ranaut | Anushka Sharma | Mugdha Godse | Masumeh Makhija | Minissha Lamba | Vidya Malvade | Malaika Arora | Shweta Kumar | | more... | 
|
|
|
|