Village, maestro waited for each other

The Bihar government virtually ditched him despite his child-like wish to perform at Dumraon. In 1994. the then chief minister of Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav had laid the foundation stone for a town hall on his name here but, the stone was removed by the police within hours of the ceremony as the proposed site was owned by the police department. The plan was to honour the shehnai maestro at this hall’s inauguration. Now the site is a garbage collection point.

Bismillah Khan had always been nostalgic about this place where he was born on March 21, 1916. About six years back, when a family member sold off their paternal house in Dumraon, he was irreconcilable. His eldest son, Mehtab, had then approached the Buxar district administration for help to save his father’s paternal house from being sold off. But his efforts proved futile. “Abba ghar bikne se bare shock mein rehate hain (My father remained under shock after losing his paternal house),” Mehtab had then said.

His last public visit to his native town was in 1979 when he dabbled in films. This was during the shooting of Baje Sehnai Hamara Angana. However, locals claim he had visited Dumraon over one-and-a-half -decade back, albeit clandestinely. “He secretly visited his home to save his family from being divided. Then, he had distributed money (between Rs 2-5) among the children of his locality. He had stayed for a few hours then,” Subhan Khan, who was then a 14-year-old boy, recalled.

Despite his longing for his native town, his association with Dumraon could never become a good chapter in his life. “Main apne paidaish ki jagah ko kiase bhul skata hun. Ji chahata hai ki us jagah ko ek nazar dekh lun,” Khan had once said in 2001 after receiving the Bharat Ratna. He was also fond of singing a folk song from this region: Ehi Matia Mein Bhulail hamar Motia re, Rama (The pearl I am searching for is lost somewhere in this very land)”.

“Main Chhthia pokhara ke pas gilli danda khelta tha. Urdu school mein padhta tha. Bihariji mandir mein Chaita gane ke liye sawa kilo ka laddu milta tha (I used to play Gilli danda near Chhthia Pokhara. I studied in the Urdu School there. Whenever I sang Chaita (a folk song) in Bihariji temple, the priest gave me a laddu weighing 1.25 kg,” Khan had said during a conversation in 2001. He also loved the “Dumraon ka bana mattha aur wahan ki dharti mein paida arhar dal (creamless curd and pulse of) and called it the secret of his health in old age.

He left for Varanasi at the age of six. But, one of his family members, Pachkauri Mian, continued to play shehnai at the temple in Dumraon till 1985. “Later, Bismillah took Pachkauri to Varanasi and helped him start a business,” Bismillah’s neighbour Sultan said.

Today, this town has little to boast its association with the Shehnai legend. His eldest son Mehtab has purchased about two kathas of land in the same locality to remain in touch with his father’s native place.

Meanwhile, on Monday when the news of his death was flashed on TV, the railway station in the town witnessed an unusual crowd of people wanting to board the Punjab Mail heading for Varanasi. About two dozen old people approached the Buxar DM Rashid Ahmed Khan, seeking the latter’s help to get reservation aboard Punjab Mail to reach Varanasi before the burial. “Eight persons, including Khan’s close relatives and his friends, were sent to Varanasi in an AC coach of the train while others were accommodated in the general compartment,” Ahmed told The Indian Express over phone.