Read the passage given below:
Residents of the
Bhirung Raut Ki Gali, where Ustad Bishmillah Khan was born on March 21, 1916,
were in shock. His cousin, 94-year -old Mohd Idrish Khan had tears in his eyes.
Shubhan Khan, the care-taker of Bismillah’s land, recalled : “Whenever in
Dumaraon, he would give rupees two to the boys and rupees five to the girls of
the locality”. He was very keen to play shehnai again in the local Bihariji’s
Temple where he had started playing shehnai with his father, Bachai Khan, at
the age of six. His original name was Quamaruddin and became Bishmillah only
after he became famous as a shehnai player in Varanasi. His father Bachai Khan
was the official shehnai player of Keshav Prasad Singh, the Maharaja of the
erstwhile Dumaraon estate, Bismillah used to accompany him. For Bishmillah
Khan, the connection to music began at a very early age. By his teens, he had
already become a master of the shehnai. On the day India gained freedom,
Bismillah Khan, then a sprightly 31 year-old, had the rare honour of playing
from Red Fort. But Bishmillah Khan won’t just be remembered for elevating the
shehnai from an instrument heard only in weddings and naubatkhanas to one that
was appreciated in concert halls across the world. His life was a testimony to
the plurality that is India. A practicing Muslim, he would take a daily dip in
the Ganga in his younger days after a bout of kusti in Benia Baga Akhada. Every
morning, Bishmillah Khan would do riyaaz at the Balaji temple on the banks of
the river. Even during his final hours in a Varanasi hospital, music didn’t
desert Bishmillah Khan. A few hours before he passed away early on Monday, the
shehnai wizard hummed a thumri to show that he was feeling better. This was
typical of a man for whom life revolved around music. Throughout his life he
abided by the principle that all religions are one. What marked Bishmillah Khan
was his simplicity and disregard for the riches that come with musical fame.
Till the very end, he used a cycle rickshaw to travel around Varanasi. But the
pressure of providing for some 60 family members took its toll during his later
years.
Summary of the passage-
Ustad Bismillah Khan
born and bought up at Dumaraon got the taste of music at a very early stage of
life. He started accompanying his honour who was an official musician at the
Estate of Dumaraon. He got an honour to play his thumri tune at Red Fort on the
occasion of Independence. He believed that all religions are one. He led a life
of simplicity. Music was his soul and even on his deathbed he played his last
thumri in the hospital at Varanasi.
