Kaveta A Chhibber
Kaveta’s note:
It was April 30th 1993, and finally came the day when I had the good fortune to see the man whose music I had grown up listening to. It was all thanks to my father’s passion for ghazals and my mother’s talent as an accomplished singer who had trained under santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma’s late father, that I was exposed to the best of music from the time I was a baby.
Mom had attained instant fame when she sang gulon mein rang bhare at an event in Afghanistan when dad was posted there as military attaché and we were little kids. Her song was broadcast over and over again on the radio. It was not just her voice but the amazing composition and the mastery of the man who had made this song an all time classic hit.
Fortunately mom happened to be visiting and got to meet the legend himself again. She had seen him earlier in the durbar of the then King of Afghanistan the late Zahir Shah. Mom also met poet par excellence Farhat Shahzad whose verses had become an integral part of Mehdi Hassan’s music.
When we met him the next day after the concert, he was to catch a flight. He delayed his departure to do the interview. Mehdi Hassan’s warmth, thoughtfulness and genuine goodness moved me deeply. He fed us the entire famed kheer (rice pudding) from Karachi meant for him and was so loving I felt I had known him for ages.
Those who have known him closely have repeatedly told me that Mehdi Hassan lived life like royalty but he was also the most non-materialistic person you would come across, generous to a fault. Mehdi Hassan was a scholar of music. His knowledge of his craft was immense. Listening to the maestro in concert was like an impromptu lesson in classical music. He introduced the audience to each number that he sang by explaining the central theme of the ghazal, the raga it was based on, humming some of the raga before rendering each ghazal or geet in the ageless unique style that made him an incomparable genius of his craft. He told me he had also finally quit drinking and smoking recently to preserve his voice.
The last ten twelve years of Mehdi Hassan’s life were fraught with ill health and financial troubles but he was deeply loved by not just music lovers but musicians across the world who stepped up to help.
Following is the interview I did with him and it seems just like yesterday.
His music knows no boundaries and his name will go down in the annals of ghazal singing as a man who made ghazal a global genre inspiring many to follow in his footsteps. He remains a legend incomparable and while many have tried to ape him, no one has come close to being Mehdi Hassan.
Mehdi Hassan is the same on and off stage. He has a child like, endearing personality and he is forthright to the extent of frequently putting his foot in his mouth.
He is warm, lucid and elegant. He talks as fluently as he sings his voice as beautiful and mellifluous. He has an incredible memory and as we sat down he dished out delicious kheer and memories of a life enriched by music in its purest form.
Tell me about the early days.
I come from a family of many generations of topnotch classical musicians. I am from the 16th generation though I don’t know where we are originally from and when we came to India.
I was born in a little village near Raipur in 1934 or 35. As long as I can remember we were always surrounded by royalty. My elders were ustads and teachers to the royal families, the biggest among them being the King of Nepal. They took care of us and we taught and entertained them. My mother died when I was very young and soon the Maharanis(queens) took me under their wing, even changing my diapers.
“I loved music from a very early age and used to constantly hum and compose even while doing other things, a habit I retain to this day. Often exasperated friends complain that while they are trying to relate something I’m busy humming a tune.
One day when I was around six, while playing outside I composed music to the simple lyrics-“ Tu ja bugla ja, aawat hain Buddha thera, udavat hai bugla –tu ja re bugla ja” and decided it was so good I must render that composition before my father and uncle.
So I went running to them and said, “ What’s the big deal about composing music? You think only you can do it-her listen to me.”
They patiently heard me out and afterwards said-“ Indeed it was a wonderful composition and as a reward you are now under arrest. From now on, every movement of yours will be determined by us.”
My musical education began from that day and I started accompanying them everywhere. Music became such an obsession that all the discipline and training was never a restraint in my eyes. Often the shopkeepers would see me running errands and shaking my head, moving my hands to imaginary taals, contorting my face and actually thought that either this child is a mental case or afflicted with some illness.
By the age of 4 or 5 I had already started singing songs and the royalty enjoyed that thoroughly, but I gave my first official performance before the Maharaja of Baroda at the age of eight.
Being around royalty must have been fascinating.
The royal upbringing has stood me in good stead. It taught me how to conduct myself and deal with people since I’ve never had the opportunity to complete my education due to the demands of music. I used to get up at 4 a.m. and exercise extensively, bathe, say my namaz, all before sunrise. Then I would practice till 11 am, eat lunch, sleep around noon, get up at 4 pm and then again exercise.
People would say to my father-“ Are you training a singer or a wrestler?’ He would reply that unless I developed the necessary stamina and discipline I would never become a good singer. Thanks to those rigorous workouts I still do not go out of breath, and have actually sung nonstop for 52 hours at a stretch.”
And then things changed from what I’ve read.
Yes, when I was about 10-11 years old and my brother about 16, our father decided to remove us from the palaces and the easy life there. The royalty were upset ad asked my father why he was doing that. He replied, “Right now they are having such a good time, they do not know when the sun rises and when it sets. Tomorrow if you lose your states what will happen to them? So I’m withdrawing them because I want to introduce them t the real world.”
It must have been a big change.
I was petrified. So far I had been cocooned in a security blanket and now suddenly that security was no more. We were on our own. We came to our village and met some of our relatives who were professional musicians in the field of classical music and qawali and then left to make our fortune. We reached Roopnagar and met a lawyer there who was ready to pay a thousand rupees for a performance. When we finally performed, my brother and I got an additional 3 and a half thousand from his appreciative friends. I was thrilled and my brother said-“ See you were unduly worried. We have this wonderful gift, and talent and I’m sure that with the grace of God, we will make it.”
Thereafter we came to Lahore and were the guests of royalty there and thus began our saga of success. We mostly sang classical ragas, as light music was frowned upon. And if anyone requested anything other than classical, we would get angry at them. As time went on I became more flexible and later on my brother would permit me to sing film songs and light music on popular demand.
A place that was totally taboo for us was the red light area where tawaifs(courtesans) lived. We were not permitted to perform for them or take money from them. We had been told that we were the Ustads, the teachers and hence like fathers to the courtesans who sang our music and taking money from a daughter was not the done thing.
Most of the great Ustads, Salamat Ali Khan, Mubarak Ali Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan stayed in that area and took great offence to this attitude that I had but I was young and didn’t realize that I was offending people.
When did you move to Pakistan?
We moved before it became Pakistan. One day I said to my brother that I had heard of the film industry and wanted to try my luck there. When my brother approached the then famous Shahnoor studio, they said they would consider me only if I played an instrument. They didn’t want a singer.
Well way back in 1942-43, a musician had come to the Royal Palace and had played the Jal Tarang and I had been fascinated by it. I had messed around a lot trying to play the same thing till a Jal Tarang set was purchased for me. So with the true aplomb of youth I said “ Oh I am a Jal Tarang maestro.” I then proceeded to buy 18 china cups and went to perform at the studio. So good was my performance that they hired me at 450 rupees a month at a time when their top musicians were paid only 350 rupees. Very soon I learnt all the tricks of the trade you needed to survive in the film industry.
After Pakistan came into being, I attended the wedding of the nephew of a producer Raja Anwar Sahib and sang there without musical accompaniment. He heard me and gave me 500 rupees on the spot and said he now had exclusive rights and would call me to sing for a film he was making in Karachi. I was soon called there and sang in films from 1952 onwards. The songs became a hit.
I think the reason was that I added my own classical touches to whatever people gave me to sing, raising each song to grater musical heights.
There came a time when music directors were told, “You’ll get a film if you can create songs like Mehdi Hassan. Soon they started coming directly to me. My first composition was in 1958, “ gulon mein rang bhare bade na bahar chale”. It was a stupendous hit. Even today when I go to any village in Punjab, the illiterate masses will say “ Can you sing badlo bahar?” when I correct them they say, “ Oh we don’t care about the accuracy of the lyrics. All we know is- sanu changa lagda hai. “(We like the way it sounds).
How would you like to be remembered?
My main contribution to music is that I revived the art of ghazal singing which had slowly started dying in the early 50s. What I added in addition was the classical touches to ghazal singing. Our ragas can never die or become obsolete and so it was a two dimensional thing. I was able to contribute immensely to the revival of the ghazal and of classical music and people loved it.
People ask if I would start my school of music and I say I have been running a global school of music. Look at how many of my songs and style of rendition are being plagiarized. It’s okay-I take it as a compliment! My mission remains to continue to create new dimensions in music.
When poetry blends with the right musical notes, its magic and the listener mesmerized. I want to continue to find that fusion of right lyrics and music.”
Away from music, is there anything about you that no one knows?
I’m a wizard at mechanics. I can smell the muffler of a car and tell you how many miles the engine has done!”
As I look back my heart fills up with immense love and gratitude – not just for the legacy of outstanding music that Mehdi Hassan left behind but because his humanity matched his music. Mehdi Hassan sahib you will be deeply missed, but your music lives on.
It is a very good article about Mehdi Hassan Sahab. Thanks for such a good interview. You mentioned that he was born in a little village near Raipur. But I think he was born near village Jaipur. Thanks
I record my interviews. That is what he said 🙂