Today (October 30) is the 50th death anniversary of Mallika-e-Ghazal Begum Akhtar. German poet Rilke had said, “Cut these sentences and they bleed.” One can say the same about Akhtar’s music.
Renowned for the reach and richness of her voice, its unforgettable tone, and timbre, she could musically convey the deepest sorrow with a smile. She was asked if smoking and eating spicy food did not spoil her throat. Her characteristic reply was, “Jo log gale se gaate hai, unka gana kharab hota hai. Hum to dil se gaate hai.”
Not many are aware that she had the desire to learn sitar. The wish came to fruition in 1971 when she told Pandit Arvind Parikh, a family friend, whose wife Kishon Parikh, an eminent vocalist from Kirana gharana, and Akhtar got along well. Pandit Parikh said that he would talk to his guru, sitar maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan, who would be glad to teach her. Akhtar replied, “No, Arvindbhai, you know these big Ustads, they have no time. I know you have had taleem from Vilayat Khan saheb for the last 30 years, I want to learn from you.” Embarrassed at this request, he politely refused saying, “Begum Sahib, I belong to the category of disciples and you have the stature of an Ustad...” Akhtar remained insistent and he finally relented.
Pandit Parikh remembers her as an earnest disciple. “It requires a tremendous amount of moral courage for a person of her status to consider me to be her Ustad and accept all the obligations of an ordinary disciple,” he said. Akhtar learned sitar for almost two-and-a-half years and had eight-10 sessions learning Raag Yaman. Unfortunately, those were the last years of her life.
Pandit Parikh remembers the doyen of ghazals for her humility. One day, he asked her whether she practiced after she returned to Lucknow. Akhtar diplomatically said, “Arvindbhai, kacche shagird ko to Ustad ke samne hi riyaz karna chahiye.” Akhtar was scheduled to perform in Ahmedabad on October 26, 1976. She was not feeling well and probably had a premonition about her end. She thought that the recital was not sparkling enough and started singing ‘Jamuna ke teer” in Raag Bhairavi from a higher note by madhyam as the shadaj. This probably caused further strain and had to be hospitalised. She died on the October 30.
Don’t you think that only an artiste who had practised inayat, insaniyat, and ibadat all her life would have the izazat of the Almighty to end the concert of life singing ‘Jamuna ke teer’ in Bhairavi?
