Classical music guru Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan dies at 107

The grand old guru of Indian classical music, Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan, breathed his last in Kolkata on Thursday. He was 107 and is survived by his daughter and grandchildren. Condoling his death, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted: "Saddened at the passing away of veteran vocalist Padma Bhushan Abdul Rashid Khan. India has lost a great gem in the world of music."
Khan, an exponent of the Gwalior gharana, was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2013, making him the oldest to receive the honour.Not just music, he was also known for his wrestling skills and poetry. Khan has written some 2,000 poems and used to write under the pseudonym of 'Rasan Piya'.
His musical journey was not without obstacles. Some even claimed that professional rivalry had once led to an attempt on his life. A jealous singer was reportedly so insecure after a jugalbandi with Khan that he bribed a waiter to mix mercury in Khan's food. The mercury ended affecting Khan's fingers. But it couldn't impact his voice. Even a hip surgery at the age of 90 couldn't take away his zest for performances.
Less than a month back, Pt Vijay Kichlu had recorded him for a Doordarshan project. "With age, the first thing that gets affected is the voice. But Khan saab had such a steady voice and very recently, he sung for over one-and-a-half hours," Kichlu said.
It was Kichlu, incidentally, who had got Khan to relocate to Kolkata and become a guru at the Sangeet Research Academy. "In the early 70s, I had organised a small tour with V G Yog, A T Kanan and Malabika Kanan. We were travelling in a redesigned matador to Kashmir. On our way, we stopped at Lucknow where I met the collector. He asked us to come to Raebareli for lunch and music," Kichlu recalled. 0That's where Kichlu first heard Khan's recital. "I was surprised that we had such an amazing singer and yet so few people knew about him. When we established the SRA in Kolkata, I invited him over. He had a repertoire of thousands of compositions besides his own creations," he said.