How music conspired to find young Sa'adat Hussain and turn him into Khayyam

A deep dive into the timeless compositions of one of India's finest music composers on his 92nd birthday

Music was always looking for Khayyam. Instead of paying attention to his studies, the young boy, named Sa’adat Hussain, was busy listening to singer-actor K.L. Saigal.

Khayyam’s father, a man of cultural tastes, prided himself on his bookshelves and the family’s reputation. He found his son’s neglect of education unbearable and could not reconcile with his son’s ways. One day, he threw the eleven-year-old boy out of the house.

Music had planned this heartbreaking – but liberating – departure to perfection. Music was waiting to seize him, and deliver him to his gurus in Delhi: the first music-director duo, Pt Husnlal and