BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF BHRAT RATNA USTAD BISMILLAH KHAN CELEBRATED WITH POMP AT ARA

BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF BHRAT RATNA USTAD BISMILLAH KHAN CELEBRATED WITH POMP AT ARA

22-MARCH-ENG 3

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA----------------------------Birth anniversary of Shehanai Maestro Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan was organized at Ara under the chairpamship of Sushil Kumar. Journalist Narendra Singh conducted the programme. Professors, teachers, political leaders and others participated and also paid their floral tributes by garlanding the statue of Bismillah Khan Saheb installed at the Bhikhari Thakur Cultural Forum at the local Patel Bus Stand.

The speakers, speaking on the topic ‘Shehnai and Ustad Bismillah Khan’ said that the way Khan Saheb gave respect to the Shehnai by playing it at temples, mosques etc. on the banks of river Ganga and earned fame from abroad, today there is a need to revive it. They said that Shehnai is an auspicious musical instrument but today amidst the changing environment and culture of society, musical instruments like Disc Jockey (DJ) have created their own separate identity due to which folk musical instruments or folk arts and traditional folk culture are on the verge of extinction. They further said that during marriage in India, Shehnai is considered necessary but today it has almost disappear and very few people play Shehnai as it has become trivial.

Dr. Jaya Jain. Dr. Kiran Kumari, National Golden Revolution Army President, Poonam Singh, Dr. K D Singh, Dr. Nand Jee Dubey, Advocate Devi Dayal Ram and others said that today the number of Shehnai players is decreasing. In Ara and its vicinity, Shehnai players are disappearing. The speaking also said that during a survey it came to light that the Shehnai players have become negligible in front of the modern musical instruments. Due to which, in order to feed their families, they have made Shehnai a mere showpiece and have come into the category of modern musical instruments. They demanded from the government that musical instruments like Shehnai and its players should be encouraged.

Krishna Pratap Singh alias Pappu Jee, Jitendra Kumar Singh, Yashwant Singh, Ram Narayan Sharma, Jitendra Paswan, Kanhaiya Ram, Vyas Kamlesh Paswan, Vijay Kumar Singh, Gandhi Jee and others were also present on the occasion.