Lamenting the absolute lack of documentation of the life and times of his father, guru and noted musician Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan, sarod maestro and son Ustad Amjad Ali Khan has called his new book "my guru-dakshina to my father".
"Despite being a noted artist and belonging to a lineage that ran up to the legendary Tansen, no book was written on his life, his life and times never documented, despite his eminence. And, so, this is my guru-dakshina to my father.... who put human expression into the sarod," Ustad Amjad Ali Khan said.
The sarod maestro later released his father's biography "My Father, Our Fraternity- The Story of Hafiz Ali Khan and My World" published by Roli Books " at a glittering ceremony late last night at the French Embassy here. The event marked the book's Delhi release.
The veteran musician said it was his family and their devotion that made the book possible.
"I had thrown all my diaries and notepads where I had reminisced and walked down memory lanes, into a dustbin. But, my family salvaged them, got it printed and offered it to me and exhorted me to write further," Ustad Khan told PTI before the release function.
Recalling the integrity of his father Khan said that his father would never accept humiliation of music and he was a "true hero of the 30s and 40s" alongside his equally heroic contemporaries Birju Maharaj's father, Ustad Abdul Karim and Ravi Shankar's guru.
