'He was a saint'

He was like my elder brother. His sister, Annpurna Devi, is my guruma and it felt so bad when I met her after Khan saab had passed away.
She didn’t speak much and I understood what she must be going through. I have such fond memories of him and today when I think of him, I truly believe that he was a saint. Every time I was at his place in California, he would cook for me.He had even wanted me to stay back in California to assist him. At that point in time, I was busy with my film projects like Silsila and Lamhe. It’s so difficult to turn him down.
So, I had just said: “dekhbo”. Today, I miss him a lot. That’s why this tribute concert is so special. We’ve had vocal jugalbandis. Pt Rajan and Sajan Mishra have so many such recitals. But has Kolkata ever seen a vocal and instrumental jugalbandi? I don’t think so. I don’t remember any duet of Ustad Amir Khan saab and Ustad Vilayat Khan saab. At least not in Kolkata. That’s why this tribute concert to my elder brother is so special.
(As told to PDG)