"Either you can capture music or you can submit yourself to it" says the vocalist whose lineage traces back to dhrupad master Ustad Behram Khan of the Gwalior gharana, who had continued to teach disciples about the intricacies of music till the ripe old age of 120.
The centenarian, whose repertoire includes khayal dhrupad, dhamar and thumri frowns on the dependance of gadgets by present-day musicians to enhance their music.
"Nowdays I see many youngsters rely on gadgets... But that is not how you learn music that is not how you sing. But we should do everything to encourage those youngsters who are interested in taking up classical music...," says Khan.
Currently confined to a wheelchair, Khan who has lost the ability to walk and whose hands have become gnarled with age, still manages to regale audiences with his powerful singing. Also a poet, Khan has written two thousand compositions under the pseudonym 'Rasan Piya.'
As he looks back, Khan says the journey so far has been memorable one.
"Everyone was my guru... I learnt from everybody. It is their greatness that made me a singer" says the Ustab who begins and ends each recital by invoking God.
During the 1940s he says he went through a really bitter phase when he was poisoned and had to face a lot of physical hardship.
"My passion for music saw me through those difficult times. I feel one has to devote ones entire life for music," says the veteran musician.
The maestro is performing here for "Transmissions", the annual fund raiser programme of the Indian Womens' Press Corps in collaboration with the Indian
Council of Cultural
Relations.
This year's event
celebrates the continuing traditions of Indian music.
The event also brings in performances by the globally acclaimed vocalist L Subramaniam, and Kavita Krishnamurthy, a renowned singer who ranges across genres ranging from classical to contemporary Bollywood.
Krishnamurthy who considers Khan as her guru says, "It is good fortune to have a guru like Ustad Sahib, not everyone is as fortunate as me."
