Atanu Ghosh posts a long note remembering Ustad Bismillah Khan

Only a few days before the 14th death anniversary (August 21) of Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan, the Bharat Ratna awardee’s house at Hadha Sarai in Varanasi was being demolished. Even the room in which he used to live and do 'Riyaz', had already been demolished. It led to furor and social media was abuzz with demands of declaring his house as a heritage building.
Just like any other admirer of the Shehnai legend’s works, director Atanu Ghosh, too, feels sad. On Friday, he took to his Facebook handle to pay his homage to Ustad Bismillah Khan.
The National Award-winning director wrote: “Remembering Ustad Bismillah Khan, who passed away this day in 2006, a beloved legend of Indian music with whom the shehnai got synonymous. All that remains of his house in Dalmundi, Benaras, is a mound of rubble. The room in which he lived and did his riyaaz for so many decades has already been razed. His disciples wanted him to settle in the US. But he never left the place. Now, his near and dear ones are getting it demolished to build a shopping complex. Years back, one of his grandsons sold four of his favourite shehnais to goldsmiths for Rs 17,000. At this hour of renouncing faith in art and truth, bearing an illustrious legacy is a tough task indeed.” (sic)

The maestro, who breathed his last in 2006, had been conferred the Bharat Ratna in 2001. Incidentally, Bismillah Khan had played Shehnai at the iconic Red Fort on August 15, 1947, and became a part of history.