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A legend passes into the ages

The death of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan marked the end of a legend in global music history. His rendition of devotional songs, and their popularity the world over, proved that music was a form of communication which transcended all barriers.

Khan believed his music attracted people because of its rhythm and the purity of its poetry. "My music," he would often reiterate, "is traditional and religious, with no materialistic message." He belonged to the qawwal-bachon gharana, a tradition which specialises in two classical streams -- dhrupad and khayal.

A specialist in sufiya kalaam, Khan sang in a mixture of Persian, Punjabi and Urdu. During public performances, where each song would last at least half-an-hour, his nine-man troupe would use only the tabla, the harmonium and their voices to create the right background for his mellifluous voice.

Javed Akhtar, the renowned lyricist, poet and scriptwriter, knew the Ustad was battling with blood pressure and kidney and heart problems. "Yet, it was a great shock to hear of his death. I was fortunate to work with him. To say that he was an excellent artiste would be stating the obvious. People close to him will vouch for the fact that he was an excellent human being as well. Despite his spectacular success on the international scene, he was simple, modest and soft-spoken. He had nothing but reverence and respect for all good artistes. I wanted to work with him again. He had so many great ideas. Unfortunately, that won't be possible anymore."

Earlier this year, Khan had unveiled plans to produce a film. Though he refused to divulge details, his enthusiasm for the project could hardly be hidden. "It will be a co-production, but I cannot say anything more about it now because I still have not worked out all the details," he told Rediff On The NeT.

This musician would have been a doctor if his qawwal father, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, had had his way. "I would secretly listen while my father taught his students," he said. "One day, he caught me practising." Khan was just nine years old then, a roly-poly child who was something of an embarrassment to his famous and handsome father.

It was a recurring dream that pushed Khan towards his career as a qawwal. He saw himself singing at the shrine of Nazrat Khwaja Moin-ud-din Chisti at Ajmer, India. At first, he dismissed the dream as absurd. No qawwal had ever been allowed to sing inside the important Muslim shrine. But the dream recurred, and he decided the sign was too important to ignore.

He joined the family troupe shortly after his father's death in 1964, but only became its leader in 1971 after his uncle, Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan, became ill. Though it took Khan a while to shake off his natural shyness, his extraordinary vocal abilities immediately grabbed attention. In 1973, he was honoured with Pakistan's highest honour for artistes. And, in 1979, he became the first qawwal to be invited to sing at the Chisti shrine.

His international profile took a quantum leap in the late 1980s, when Peter Gabriel approached him to sing for the soundtrack of Martin Scorcese's The Last Temptation of Christ. Gabriel's Real World label has since released five Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan albums. Khan also went on to compose music for films like Dead Man Walking and Natural Born Killers. Bollywood, quick on the uptake, plagiarised his tunes. He also composed the music for Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya (released on August 15), Kartoos and Kaache Dhaage.

Rahul Rawail, director of Aur Pyaar..., was shocked by the Ustad's death. "He was a genius; I was fortunate to have worked with him. I will cherish the experience all my life. He was a very hardworking, a wonderful person." The music of Aur Pyaar... is fusion of Indian classical music, qawwali and Western sounds.

"I cherish the tradition of classical music more than my life," Khan would constantly reiterate, "but, as an experiment, I do not mind the use of Western instruments. I use them because I believe you can dress up a pretty child in any way and not mar its beauty."

Bollywood composer Anu Malik admits to being 'inspired' by the maestro's music. The inspiration and the inspired were bought together to compose the music for producer Firoz Nadiadwala's Kartoos. "I came to know and love Ustad. He has an amazing control over his voice. He was very melodic and blessed with a tremendous knowledge of music. As a person, he was very humble and simple. He liked the music I did for Border. In fact, I played it to him and he gave his approval by nodding his head. It was like a reward for me. We will have to wait for centuries for another musician like him."

Khan's musical legacy will be carried on by his students, but the grand family lineage stretching back 600 unbroken years, has come to an end. Stern precepts, handed down through the centuries, has ruled that his only child -- a daughter aged 13 -- cannot aspire to replace him . Earlier, this year, he smiled wistfully as he told Rediff On The NeT, "Though my daughter does sing at home, she cannot sing qawaali professionally. So she might end up becoming a doctor or an engineer."

RELATED LINKS: Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: An Interview
Three notes of harmony
EXTERNAL LINK: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan buried in Faisalabad