The golden voice of India: Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, excerpt of an interview found on www.sarangi.org/
Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali, one of the greatest singers of all times, was capable of
weaving a magic spell with his swaras and taans.
He had once said: "My throat is like a paint brush and I paint on the waves of wind with my voice. The swaras -- the
notes of the raga -- are my colours. It is like a painting created in the air, which is my
canvas." He inherited the formidable musical parampara (tradition) of Punjab that
encompassed the Hindu, Muslim and Sikh religions. Saint Hazrat Bulleh Shah, whose
Sufiana Kalam (Sufi song) is sung even today, was buried in Kasur, Ghulam Ali's
birth place. The shepherds, wandering in the hills, sang in praise of Hazrath Ali and
Hussain -- grandsons of Prophet Muhammad -- in melodies akin to classical Indian
ragas. The shabads and qawwalis of the Sikhs were often based on ancient Dhrupads
and Khayals, again Indian classical ragas. In the biography of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan,
authors Malti Gulani and Quratulain Haider have paid a rich tribute to the maestro.
Ghulam Ali's uncle and guru, Ustad Kale Khan, was himself trained in the Patiala school of music
(Patiala gharana); he taught the young Ustad simple compositions.
In 1911, Ghulam Ali accompanied Kale Khan to Delhi, at the age of 9, and
watched him perform at the 'Dilli Darbar'. Thus began the grooming and development of the musical
personality of the young disciple, alongside rigorous taleem (training) under his uncle's baton. Later
after a brief acquaintance with Lucknow and its highly refined soirees, Ghulam Ali returned to Lahore
with his father and resumed his nightly riyaaz (practice) on the banks of the river Ravi. Singing all
night not only developed his stamina, but also gave him the rare sensitivity to gauge the external
response. In 1932, he lost his wife Allah Jiwai. His grief, poured into melody, gave birth to the immortal
thumri: Yaad piya ki aye, reflecting the very trauma of his heart.
On arrival in Mumbai in 1940, Ghulam Ali thrived under the benign patronage of the noted singer
Ganga Bai. A Sufi at heart, he was once greatly moved by the poem
Hari Om Tat Sat, and rendered it musically in the haunting raga
Pahari. Years later, he explained, "God, Truth and Haq is one. I've
Allah in my mind when I sing these words...Different people in the world have different names for the
Supreme Being who is 'One'. In 1947, he visited Afghanistan at the invitation of King Zahir Shah and re-established the splendid
rapport in music between the Afghans and Indians, where the Afghan string instruments like
Rabab and Santoor were part of the Hindustani ensemble. Many Indian musical instruments still retain their
Persian roots, such as Tabla, derived from Persian tabl; Sitar meaning seven strings and Dilruba
being a longer version of Sarangi. The Partition in 1947 dealt a severe blow to the composite culture
of the Indian subcontinent. But Ghulam Ali at a concert organized by Radio Lahore sang his own
composition in raga Mian ki Todi: Ab Mori Raam / Raam ri Daiyyan (Ram is my only solace). In
1951, he was invited by Morarji desai to have Indian citizenship and sing at concerts all over thecountry.
According to the cognoscenti, earlier the Ustad's singing was like the sound of the waterfall
striking against the mountainside and rushing with great force to mingle with the ocean; now it
resembled the vast ocean itself whose might and depth was unfathomable!
In 1963, Ghulam Ali shifted to Kolkata where he was frequently invited to sing before highly appreciative
audiences. He would say: Maharashtrians are great connoisseurs of classical music, with their approach
being technical and academic. The exuberance, which the people of Kolkata show, is characteristic of
their emotional and artistic nature! It is in Kolkata that he took young Malti Gilani (singer and later his
biographer) as his gunda-bund shagird (committed disciple). She has noted how the open house
atmosphere prevailed at the Ghulam Ali residence - reminiscent of the Sufi Khanas and hospices of
the Middle Ages. In such places -- as even in the Dargahs today -- a cauldron of rice was always
being cooked for the traveller and food distributed to the rich and the poor alike! In this respect, the
Sufis of Islam, the Bhaktas of the Vaishnava cult and the Catholic mystics of the Medieval Europe -
they all shared a similar spirit of tolerance and bonhomie.After having accomplished a lot,
Ghulam Ali breathed his last in 1968 in Hyderabad - far away from the green wheat fields of Kasur on the
eastern seaboard of India. That he always took his listeners on
an inward journey of musical understanding and fulfilment remained true to his last day. This biography
provides an insight not only into the music of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan but into the history of
Indian classical music at large. ***
Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan -- His Life and Music by Malti Gilani & Qurantulain Hyder; Harman Publishing House, New Delhi;
Price Rs. 1200/-.
Tags: Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Excerpt of an interview
