Bismillah Khan enthralls distinguished audience

When Bharat Ratna Bismillah Khan's shehnai echoed in Parliament House, it helped a very distinguished audience forget politics and the heat of the day in the temple of democracy.

After lighting of a lamp to inaugurate the evening, Khan was felicitated by President A P J Abdul Kalam and other dignitaries.

Describing Delhi as an oonchi jagah (influential place), the octogenarian expressed his love for Benaras saying, "It is full of ras (music)."

Khan and Ghosh began with Kajri, generally played at night, on a rainy day.

"I am a devotee of melody. It's just a sound. But when you hear it, you forget everything," a frail Khan, seated in a wheelchair, said in his simplistic manner.

As the sun set outside, the magnificent auditorium in the Parliament library reverberated with Ras Barse, a jugalbandi between Khan and his adopted daughter, vocalist Soma Chakravarty Ghosh.

Besides the President, the mesmerized gathering included Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi, Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh, Leader of Opposition Sonia Gandhi, Union ministers and MPs.