Magical moments with music maestro Aashish Khan

Ustad Aashish Khan is one of the greatest ever musicians in the Indian subcontinent. He is one of the grandsons of Ustad Alauddin Khan. Ustad Alauddin Khan is widely known as "Sur Samrat" which means "monarch of melodies".

Aashish Khan has gloriously carried on the golden legacy of his grandfather Alauddin Khan through his musical excellence which has moved millions of audiences across the world.

I was lucky enough to pass some magical moments with Aashish Khan and talk to him about music. Aashish Khan's supreme command over classical and raga music makes him one of the finest musical legends in the entire world.

I once interviewed Aashish Khan in 2016. He visited Bangladesh at that time on a tour. He attended one of the programs organized by me. Aashish Khan is a wizard of music. Wherever he goes to participate in musical events he keeps on spellbinding the listeners. This is how his fame as an accomplished and decorated musician has spread all over the globe.

My meeting with Aashish Khan during his trip to Bangladesh in 2016 was facilitated by Indian High Commission in Dhaka. I am highly grateful to Indian High Commission for that. In particular I would like to convey heartfelt thanks to Laxmi Di from Indian High Commission who was very helpful to make it happen.

Aashish Khan enlightened me with his words, remembrances and thoughts while he was speaking to me during the interview. Aashish Khan's ancestors including Ustad Alauddin Khan were born in a part of Brahmanbaria district which is my native village. It makes us feel proud that Aashish Khan's roots are embedded in Bangladesh.

I would like to quote a few words of Aashish Khan which he said during the interview, "I always recall my sweet memories in Bangladesh. My cousins live at Brahmanbaria in Bangladesh. My grandfather last came here in 1959.

Our Brahmanbaria's house was a fort of the then landlord of Brahmanbaria who gifted the palace to my grandfather Ustad Alauddin Khan. I was very young at that time. There was a large pond beside that house. I frequently visited the 'Akhada' where my Dadu Aftabuddin Fakir used to practice music."

It shows that at the back of his mind Ustad Aashish Khan nostalgically misses his ancestral place which he expressed while talking to me. Aashish Khan, despite being a globally esteemed musician, is not at all prideful. He speaks in a very humble manner which impresses people who get in touch with him. He once played his mind-blowing music at a program in Alliance Francaise in Dhaka enchanting all the audiences.

Aashish Khan's nephew Siraj Ali Khan is an extensively popular musical star in India. Aashish Khan has been living in the United States of America for last many years where he has been going on with his musical career with utmost reputation and honor.

He is a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. Besides being a performer, composer and conductor, he is also an adjunct professor of Indian classical music at the California Institute of the Arts and the University of California at Santa Cruz in the United States.

Aashish Khan has earlier taught at the faculties of the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California, University of Alberta in Canada and the University of Washington, Seattle. While pursuing a busy career as a concert artiste and composer, Aashish Khan teaches students across the US, Canada, Europe, and Africa and in India as well. Many of his pupils have established themselves as successful stage performers in India and other countries.

Aashish Khan founded one of the Indo-American musical groups "Shanti" with tabla player Ustad Zakir Hussain in 1969. Under Ravi Shankar, Aashish Khan has worked as a background artiste on music for both films and stage shows, including Oscar Winner Satyajit Ray's Apur Sangsar, Parash Pathor, Jalshaghar and Richard Attenborough's famous film Gandhi.

Aashish Khan has also worked as a background artiste with Maurice Jarre on John Huston's film The Man Who Would Be King, David Lean's A Passage to India, and composed the music for Tapan Sinha's film Joturgriha for which he won the Best Film Score Award.

Aashish Khan was awarded the Fellowship of the Illinois Arts Council, USA, in 2002 and India's highest award for performing arts, the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 2005. He was nominated for a Grammy Award in the 'Best World Music' category in 2006.

Ustad Aashish Khan became the first ever Indian classical musician on 24 May 2007 to become a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, the United Kingdom's highest society in Asian arts and culture. This is how Aashish Khan has embellished his profile with prestigious prizes and recognitions from different parts of the world.

Aashish Khan's musical depth reminds me of the following words by sitar maestro Pundit Ravi Shankar, "The music that I have learned and want to give is like worshipping God. It's absolutely like a prayer.

I try to give to my music the spiritual quality, very deep in the soul, which does something even if you are not realizing it or analyzing it - that's the duty of music." Today 5th December is Ustad Aashish Khan's birthday. I offer my best wishes to him for a long and healthy life. I pray for his musical splendor to keep on charming us all the way ahead.

The writer is an entrepreneur, diplomat, social activist and a CIP