Bismillah Khan humiliated

HYDERABAD: Shehnai maestro ustad Bismillah Khan was in tears as he described the hardships he was put through over the last two days by the state government and the Andra Pradesh Lalita Kala Vedika, a private cultural organization.
He was made to run from pillar to post for a place to stay and to claim his performance fee. "Hamara man Hyderabad se chal gaya (i am heart-broken with hyderabad)," Bismillah Khan said.
The 86-year-old Bharat Ratna Awardee was to perform at necklace road as part of the festival of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday but the show was cancelled due to bad weather. He was also scheduled to play at Ravindra Bharati on Wednesday in a programme arranged by APLKV, which too did not happen.
APLKV founder RV Ramanamurthy took the initiative to invite the ustad to perform at the festival of Andra Pradesh. Ramanamurthy said, "I approached tourism director G Kishen Rao in December with a proposal to honour the ustad and asked him if Bismillah Khan's performance could be included in the festival of Andra Pradesh." He says Kishan Rao approved, but only if the maestro agreed to a 3lakh fee instead of his regular fee of 5lakh. Bismillah Khan agreed. According to Ramanamurthy, Kishan Rao agreed to contribute 2lakh towards the fee with the APLKV pooling in 1lakh. This deal agreed, APLK was told to make the arrangements, Ramanamurthy says.
Ramanamurthy went ahead and arranged for khan's travel to Hyderabad on Jan.7, one day ahead of the necklace road performance. But in the meantime, the deal between APLKV and the tourism director to split the bill fell through.
Ramanamurthy claims Kishan Rao backed out of his commitment to contribute 2lakh. The latter offered to give just 1lakh so, just a day before the performance, Ramanamurthy says he had a maestro on his hands with his accommodation not yet arranged for and no money to pay for the performance.
When Bismillah Khan reached Hyderabad, he was taken to the state guest house, but had to wait in the taxi for nearly two hours. "I pleaded with the authorities to let him stay but they refused as he was not a state guest," Ramanamurthy claimed. Kishan Rao denied Ramanamurthy's allegations. "I did not make any promises," he said. "I was actually trying to rescue the deal and see to it that the maestro does not face any more trouble," Kishan Rao said.
After two days, Bismillah Khan was given the status of a state guest and the state government agreed to meet all his expenses.
Despite his harrowing experience, Bismillah Khan said he was finally going to perform at necklace road.
and the state government agreed to meet all his expenses. Despite his harrowing experience, Bismillah Khan said he was finally going to perform at necklace road.