After his dream performance at the Parliament House, Bharat Ratna Bismillah Khan has just one more unfulfilled dream -- to weave the magic of his
shehnai at India Gate, the symbol of martyrdom.
And he says that given a chance, he would play "not any
raag, but
badhai."
Asked about his most memorable performance, the octagenarian artiste becomes nostalgic as he recalls India's first Independence Day when the counrty awoke to his melodius
shehnai. "I was playing
shehnai with my brother and we were moving towards the Red Fort with the then president Dr Rajendra Prasad and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Although Pandit Nehru did not say a single word, I could see the happiness on his face...he was listening to my
shehnai and liking it."
The Ustaad remembers he brought a thick
khadi sherwani, pyjama and shoes for that special performance and treasured them for years and years.
About the present crop of singers and musicians, the Ustad says: "Neither do we have music like yesteryears nor do we have that kind