UNIT 2 – SOUND OF MUSIC

(Part 2 – Shehnai of Bismillah Khan)

Introduction
The lesson is about Ustaad Bismillah Khan. He was a renowned shehnai player in India. He
is a legend because he did something which has historical significance. He played the shehnai
on the day India got independence i.e 15th August 1947. At the Red Fort, before the Prime
Minister of India, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru gave his speech. Before that Bismillah Khan
played the shehnai in order to signify something auspicious. Something auspicious for the
whole country was about to happen - India was about to get freedom. And so, on that
occasion, Bismillah Khan played the shehnai and so, he is a legend.
Theme
The feature is written on the theme that music transcends all barriers. The author’s focus on
Bismillah Khan’s achievements in the field of classical shehnai music reveals how this great
musician’s life was devoted to his passion for shehnai. It was Bismillah Khan’s secular
approach to music that he sharpened his skill without any bias towards the source of his
opportunities. The life of this legendary musician is an example of the rich, cultural heritage
of India that respects talent, irrespective of the religion of the artist.
Justify the title of The Shennai of Bismillah Khan
The title “The Sound of Music” and the subtitle “The Shehnai Bismillah Khan” are very
appropriate as they are in accord with the contents of the feature, which celebrates the
melodious music produced by Bismillah Khan’s shehnai. It also describes Bismillah Khan’s
evolution and achievements as a pioneering shehnai player.
Summary
History of ‘shehnai’
Emperor Aurangzeb banned the playing of pungi in the palace. The reason was that it had a
sharp and unpleasant sound. A barber thought to improve it. He chose a pipe with a natural
hollow stem. He made seven holes on its body. He played on it closing and opening some of
these holes. It produced a sweet sound. He played it before the royalty. It needed a name. So
it was named after the player. He was a ‘nai’ (barber). It was first played in the Shah’s
chambers.
‘Shehnai’ and Bismillah Khan
The sound of the shehnai was considered auspicious. So it is played in temples and at
weddings in north India. Earlier it was part of the traditional music groups. Ustad Bismillah
Khan has brought it onto the clas-sical stage.
Bismillah’s childhood
As a five-year old Bismillah Khan played gilli-danda near a pond in Dumraon in Bihar. He
would go to the nearby Bihariji temple. There he would sing the Bhojpuri chaita. At the end
he would earn a big laddu weighing 1.25 kg. It was on behalf of the local Maha-raja. This
happened 80 years ago. This little boy later earned the Bharat Ratna. It is the highest civilian
honour.

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Bismillah Khan’s birth and parents
Bismillah Khan was bom on March 21,1916 in a family of musicians in Bihar. His
grand¬father Rasool Bux Khan was the shehnai- nawaz of the Bhojpur king’s court. His father
Paigambar Bux and other ancestors were great shehnai players.
Bismillah as a young singer
The young boy Bismillah Khan took to music early in life. At three, his mother took him to his
maternal uncle’s house in Benaras. He was attracted towards his uncle’s practise the shehnai.
Soon he started going with his uncle Ali Bux to the Vishnu temple in Varanasi to play the
shehnai. Soon he started practising the playing of the instrument. For years the temple of
Balaji and Mangla Maiya and the banks of the Ganga became the places where he could
practise. The flowing waters of the Ganga inspired him to invent new raagas.

Bismillah’s rise
At the age of 14 Bismillah accompanied his uncle to the Allahabad Music Conference. The
opening of the All India Radio in Lucknow in 1938 became a big break for him. He became a
shehnai player on radio.
Bismillah as ‘the first Indian’
Bismillah Khan became the first Indian to greet the nation with his shehnai on August 15,
1947. He played Raag Kafi Irom Red Fort to people like Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru.
Bismillah Khan goes abroad and his effect on film world
Bismillah Khan has given many memorable performances both in India and abroad. His first
trip abroad was to Afghanistan. King Zahir Shah was deeply impressed by his shehnai. He
gave him priceless Persian car¬pets. Film director Vijay Bhatt was greatly impressed. He
named his film Gunj Uthi Shehnai after the instrument. The film was a hit and his composition
Dil ka khilona hai toot gaya became a record breaker.
Film world not Bismillah’s like
Bismillah Khan’s music in films didn’t go beyond Vijay Bhatt’s Gunj Uthi Shehnai and Vikram
Srinivas’s Kannada film Sanadhi Apanna. He found the film world artificial and glamorous.
He could not compromise with it.
Bismillah Khan’s awards
Awards came in plenty for him. He became the first Indian to perform at the Lincoln Centre
Hall in the USA. He took part in the World Exposition in Montreal, in the Cannes Art Festival
and in the Osaka Trade Fair. An auditorium in Teheran was named after him ‘Tahar Mosiquee
Ustaad Bismillah Khan’. National awards like the Padmashri, the Padma Bhushan and the
Padma Vibhushan were conferred on him.
‘Bharat Ratna’ awarded
In 2001 he was awarded India’s highest civilian award the ‘Bharat Ratna’. At this he said,
“Teach your children music. This is Hindustan’s richest tradition : even the West is now
coming to learn our music”.
Bismillah Khan’s love for his roots

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Bismillah Khan has travelled all over the world. But he is greatly fond of Benaras and
Dumraon. A student of his once wanted him to head a shehnai school in the USA. He promised
to recreate an atmosphere of Benaras by making temples there. But Khansaab asked him if
he would transport River Ganga there. He says that whenever he is abroad, he yearns to see
Hindustan. While in Mumbai he thinks of only Varanasi and the holy Ganga. And while in
Varanasi, he misses the ‘mattha’ in Dumraon.
Bismillah Khan’s life—a great example
Ustad Bismillah Khan’s life is a perfect example of the rich cultural heritage of India. It
accepts that a Muslim like him can play the shehnai every morning at the Kashi Vishwanath
temple.

Word-Meanings
• banned: prohibited
• shrill: very sharp
• unpleasant: something that you dislike
• generic name: a name given to a class or group as a whole
• Generic name means the scientific name or a broad classification of something
• reeded: wind instruments which have reeds like the flute, the clarinet, etc.
• revived: brought back to live.
• tonal quality: sound
• hollow: empty from inside.
• auspicious: promising to bring good fortune
• indispensable: without which a piece of work cannot be done, something which is
necessary
• Ensembles (pronounced ‘onsomble’): things (here, instruments) considered as a
group
• Laddu or laddoo are sphere-shaped sweets originated in the Indian subcontinent.
• paternal ancestors: ancestors of the father
• Captivated: attracted
• on end: for a very long time without stopping, continuously
• apprentice: trainee
• haunt: place you like come, where you like to visit many times a day
• solitude: being alone, single
• recital: performance
• taken in by: attracted or charmed by
• souvenirs: things given in memory of a place, person or event
• chartbuster: record breaker
• celluloid: old fashioned way of referring to films
• venture: project that often involves risk, something which has a lot of risk
• Emphasis: to lay stress on something
• thick and fast: he got a lot of awards and was recognized at many places

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• conferred: given, usually an award or a degree
• coveted: much desired
• replicating: making a copy of something
• yearning – longing, having a desire for something
• devout: believing strongly in a religion and obeying its laws and following its
practices
Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
Question 1.
Emperor Aurangzeb banned the playing of a musical instrument called pungi in the royal
residence for it had a shrill unpleasant sound. Pungi became the generic name for dreaded
noisemakers. Few had thought that it would one day be revived. A barber of a family of
professional musicians, who had access to the royal palace, decided to improve the tonal quality
of the pungi.
(a) Why did the Emperor Aurangzeb ban the pungi?
Answer: He banned the pungi because it had a shrill and unpleasant sound
(b) How was the pungi revived?
Answer: The pungi was revived after its tonal quality was improved.
(c) Who revived the pungi?
Answer: It was revived by a barber who belonged to a family of musicians.
(d) What was its new name? Why?
Answer: The pungi s new name was shehnai. It was played in the Shah’s (Emperor’s)
chambers by a nai (barber).
Question 2.
Few had thought that it would one day be revived. A barber of a family ofprofessional musicians,
who had access to the royal palace, decided to improve the tonal quality of the pungi.
(a) What does ‘it’ refer to?
Answer: It refers to a reeded musical instrument called the pungi.
(b) Why did ‘it’ need to be revived?
Answer: The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had banned the pungi as he found its sound to be
shrill and unpleasant. Therefore, it needed to be revived.
(c) Why did the barber have an interest in ‘it’?
Answer: The barber hailed from a family of professional musicians. That is why he had
interest in the reeded musical instrument, the pungi.
(d) Did he succeed in improving ‘it’? If yes, how?
Answer: Yes, he succeeded in improving the tonal quality of the pungi. He took a reed or a
pipe with natural hollow stem which was wider and longer than the pungi. He made seven
holes in it. When he played on it, closing and opening some of these holes, it produced soft
and melodious music.
Question 3.
As the story goes, since it was first played in the Shah’s chambers and was played by a nai
(barber), the instrument was named the shehnai.
(a) What does ‘it’ refer to?

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Answer: ‘It’ refers to the shehnai – a musical instrument, made with a hollow stem with
seven holes in it.
(b) What is the significance of the instrument being played in the royal court?
Answer: The pungi had been banned by the emperor Aurangzeb in the royal residence.
Therefore, concerts of the shehnai in the royal court made it a significant instrument.
(c) How is a shehnai different from a pungi ?
Answer: A shehnai is a pipe with a natural hollow that is longer and broader than a pungi. It
has seven holes on the body of the pipe.
(d) Where was the instrument traditionally played?
Answer: The instrument was traditionally played in temples and at weddings.
Question 4.
Till recently it was used only in temples and weddings. The credit for bringing this instrument
onto the classical stage goes to Ustad Bismillah Khan.
(a) Which instrument is being referred to as ‘it’ in the extract?
Answer: The instrument being referred to as ‘it’ in the extract is the shehnai.
(b) When and where was ‘it’ generally played? Why?
Answer: The sounds of shehnai were so melodious that they were considered to be
auspicious. Therefore, it was played in temples and weddings.
(c) What was the naubat? Where was it played?
Answer: Naubat was the name given to the traditional ensemble of nine instruments found
at royal courts. The shehnai was part of these nine instruments.
(d) How did Bismillah Khan bring the shehnai to the classical stage?
Answer: Bismillah Khan did a great service to shehnai as it came to be regarded as an
instrument of classical music because of the new melodies produced by him.
Question 5.
As a five-year old, Bismillah Khan played gilli-danda near a pond in the ancient estate of
Dumraon in Bihar. He would regularly go to the nearby Bihariji temple to sing the Bhojpuri
Chaita, at the end of which he would earn a big laddu weighing 1.25 kg, a prize given by the
local Maharaja.
(a) Where did Bismillah Khan grow up?
Answer: Bismillah Khan grew up in Dumraon in Bihar.
(b) How did Bismillah Khan spend his childhood?
Answer: Bismillah Khan spent his childhood playing gilli-danda and singing in the temple.
(c) Why did Bismillah Khan go to the nearby Bihariji temple daily?
Answer: He used to visit the temple daily to sing the Bhojpuri Chaita for which he was given
a big laddu by the local maharaja.
(d) Which musical instrument did Bismillah Khan play? From whom did he learn it?
Answer: Bismillah Khan played the shehnai. He learnt to play it from his maternal uncle, Ali
Bux.
Question 6.
For years to come the temple of Balaji and Mangala Maiya and the banks of the Ganga became
the young apprentice’s favourite haunts where he could practise in solitude. The flowing waters

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of the Ganga inspired him to improvise and invent raagas that were earlier considered to be
beyond the range of the shehnai.
(a) Who does “the young apprentice” refer to?
Answer: “The young apprentice” refers to Bismillah Khan.
(b) Why is he referred to as the young apprentice?
Answer: An apprentice is one someone who has agreed to work for a skilled person for a
particular period of time and often for low payment, in order to leam that person’s skills. He
is referred to as the young apprentice because from a very young age he had been getting
lessons in playing the shehnai from his Uncle, Ali Bux.
(c) What kind of impact did the waters of the Ganga have on ‘him ‘?
Answer: The waters of the Ganga inspired him to improvise the old raagas and invent new
ones for the shehnai.
(d) How did he widen the range of the shehnai?
Answer: There were certain raagas or musical notations which were considered to be
outside the range of the shehnai. He modified those raagas and invented and played new
ones on the shehnai and made its range wider.
Question 7.
When India gained Independence on August 15, 1947, Bismillah Khan became the first Indian
to greet the nation with his Shehnai. He poured his heart out into Raag Kafi from the Red Fort
to an audience which included Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who later gave his famous Tryst with
Destiny speech.
(a) Who was the first Indian to greet the nation?
Answer: Bismillah Khan was the first Indian to greet the nation with his Shehnai on 15th
August 1947.
(b) What was the occasion? Which raaga did he play on the occasion?
Answer: He played Raag Kafi just before Jawaharlal Nehru’s speech declaring India’s
independence.
(c) Why was he chosen to play on the occasion?
Answer: He was chosen to play on the occasion as he played upon the shehnai, the music of
which is considered auspicious in India.
(d) Explain the expression: “He poured his heart out.”
Answer: The expression implies that the music played on the shehnai came from the depths
of the heart of Bismillah Khan who, as a true patriot, was excited at the declaration of the
independence of India.
Question 8.
Despite this huge success in the celluloid world, Bismillah Khan’s ventures in film music were
limited to two: Vijay Bhatt’s Gunj Uthi Shehnai and Vikram Srinivas’s Kannada venture, Sanadhi
Apanna. “Ijust can’t come to terms with the artificiality and glamour of the film world, ” he says
with emphasis.
(a) What is meant by celluloid world? Why is it so called?

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Answer: The term celluloid world refers to the film world because celluloid is a name for
film used in shooting movies. Because of its use in making films, this term came to stand for
movies in general.
(b) What did Bismillah Khan do in the celluloid world?
Answer: Bismillah Khan provided music for two films.
(c) Which two characteristics of the film world did he dislike?
Answer: He disliked the artificiality and glamour of the film world.
(d) What do you leam about his character from this incident?
Answer: It indicates that truthfulness and simplicity were two significant traits of Bismillah
Khan’s character.
Question 9.
A student of his once wanted him to head a shehnai school in the U.S.A., and the student
promised to recreate the atmosphere of Benaras by replicating the temples there.
(a) Why did Bismillah Khan’s student want of him?
Answer: Bismillah Khan’s student wanted him to shift to USA and head a shehnai school
there.
(b) What did he promise to do?
Answer: He promised to recreate the atmosphere of Benaras in the USA by building similar
temples as the ones in Benaras there.
(c) What was Bismillah Khan’s reply?
Answer: Bismillah Khan refused to accept the offer as he did not wish to leave the Ganga.
(d) What do you leam about him from this?
Answer: It reveals that Bismillah Khan was a true patriot, who passionately loved the Ganga
and never wanted to live away from it.
Short Answers
Question 1. Why did Aurangzeb ban the playing of the pungi?
Answer: Aurangzeb banned the playing of musical instrument pungi because it had a loud,
shrill, and unpleasant sound. He prohibited its play in the royal court.
Question 2. Why did the pungi become a generic name for “reeded noisemakers”?
Answer: The pungi was made from a reed and it produced noisy, unpleasant sounds. It
became a generic name for “reeded noisemakers”.
Question 3. How is a shehnai different from a pungi?
Answer: Shehnai has a better tonal quality than pungi. It is a natural hollow stem pipe with
holes on its body and is longer and broader than the pungi. When some of the holes are closed
and opened while it is played on, soft and melodious sounds are produced instead of the loud,
jarring sound of a pungi. Thus, shehnai is, in a way, an improvement upon the pungi.
Question 4. How was the pungi revived?
Answer: After Aurangzeb had banned the playing of the pungi in the royal residence, a
barber who belonged to a family of professional musicians revived it by taking a wider and
longer hollow stem and making seven holes in it. The opening and closing of these holes in
the improved pungi produced soft and sweet sounds.
Question 5. How did the improved and modified pungi get its new name?

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Answer: It is believed that the barber (nai) who improved the pungi, played his improved
and modified instrument in the chamber of the emperor {shah). From the combination of the
two words shah and nai, the new instrument got is new name shehnai.
Question 6. Where was the shehnai played traditionally? Why?
Answer: The music of the shehnai was melodious and soft. It was made a part of the naubat
or or traditional ensemble of nine instruments found at royal courts. Soon, it came to be
believed that it was auspicious. Therefore, it came to be played in the holy temples and on
the happy auspicious occasions of weddings.
Question 7. Although the shehnai was played in temples and at weddings. How did Bismillah
Khan change this?
Answer: The shehnai was traditionally played in royal courts, temples and weddings. Ustaad
Bismillah Khan, an undisputed shehnai maestro, brought the instrument onto the classical
stage by adding new raagas and modifying old ones.
Question 8. Where and how did Bismillah Khan begin his career in music?
Answer: Bismillah Khan began his career in music at the age of five by singing the Bhojpuri
Chaita in the Bihariji temple regularly in his native town Dumraon in Bihar. At the end of the
song the local Maharaja would give him a big laddu weighing 1.25 kg as a prize.
Question 9. How did Bismillah Khan inherit music from his paternal and maternal
ancestors?
Answer: Bismillah Khan hailed from a family of musicians in Bihar. His paternal grandfather
Rasool Bux Khan was a shehnai player in the royal court of the king of Bhojpur. His father
Paigambar Bux and many paternal and maternal uncles were also shehnai vaadaks. In fact,
Bismillah Khan was apprenticed with his maternal uncle Ali Bux to learn how to play the
shehnai.
Question 10. Write a short note on Ali Bux.
Answer: Ali Bux was the maternal uncle of Bismillah Khan. He was a great shehnai player
and was employed to play the shehnai in the Vishnu temple of Benaras. In fact, at a very
young age Bismillah was apprenticed to his uncle. Bismillah Khan started accompanying him
and got lessons in playing the shehnai from him. The young boy would sit for hours listening
to his uncle and later practise throughout the day. As such he and may be regarded as his
mentor and trainer.
Question 11. What significance did the Ganga have in Bismillah Khan’s life?
Answer: The young Bismillah Khan often sat on the banks of the Ganga to practice his music
there in solitude. The flowing waters of Ganga inspired him to improvise and invent raagas
which were earlier considered beyond the range of the shehnai. In fact, when much later, his
student invited him to head a shehnai school in the USA, Khansaab asked him if he would be
able to transport River Ganga as well, implying thereby that he could not live without the
Ganga.
Question 12. When and how did Bismillah Khan get his big break?
Answer: Bismillah Khan got his big break in 1938. All India Radio opened in Lucknow and
Bismillah Khan played shehnai on radio. He soon became an often-heard player on radio. He

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became the first Indian to greet the nation with his shehnai from the Red Fort on 15 August,
1947.
Question 13. Where did Bismillah Khan play the shehnai on 15 August 1947? Why was the
event historic?
Answer: On 15 August 1947, Bismillah Khan played the Raag Kaafi on his shehnai from the
Red Fort prior to the speech of Pandit Nehru. The event was historical because it was on the
occasion of the declaration of India’s Independence from British Rule. On that day, Bismillah
Khan was the first Indian to greet the nation and he poured his heart out while playing the
melodious raaga on his shehnai.
Question 14. What honours and awards were bestowed upon Ustad Bismillah Khan in
foreign countries?
Answer: His first trip abroad was to Afghanistan where King Zahir Shah, taken in by the
maestro, gifted him priceless Persian carpets and other souvenirs. In fact, an auditorium in
Teheran was named after him —Tahar Mosiquee Ustaad Bismillah Khan. The King of
Afghanistan was also fascinated with Bismillah’s music. He was the first Indian to be invited
to perform at the prestigious Lincoln Centre Hall in the United States of America. He also took
part in the World Exposition in Montreal, in the Cannes Art Festival and in the Osaka Trade
Fair.
Question 15. How did the film director Vijay Bhatt honour Bismillah Khan?
Answer: The film director, Vijay Bhatt, once heard the shehnai recital of Bismillah Khan in a
festival. He was so fascinated by the performance that he decided to name his next film after
the instrument and called it Gunj Uthi Shehnai. The film also had a song that was composed
by Bismillah Khan.
Question 16. Why did Bismillah Khan leave the glamour of the film world and return to
Benaras? What does this tell you about him?
Answer: Bismillah Khan returned to Benares after providing music for two films – Vijay
Bhatt’s Gunj Uthi Shehnai and Vikram Srinivas’s Kannada venture, Sanadhi Apanna. This was
because he disliked the artificiality and glamour of the film world. He said, “I just can’t come
to terms with the artificiality and glamour of the film world.” This incident indicates that
truthfulness and simplicity of Bismillah Khan’s character.
Question 17. How did India honour and reward the great musician, Bismillah Khan?
Answer: India honoured Bismillah Khan by conferring on him the greatest national awards
– the Padmashri, the Padma Bhushan, and the Padma Vibhushan. He was also awarded the
Bharat Ratna in 2001, the highest civilian award in India.
Question 18. What advice did Bismillah Khan give Indian youth?
Answer: Bismillah Khan had a great regard for Indian music and the rich heritage of
Hindustani music. He wanted that children must not cut off their bond from this grand
tradition which was fascinating even for the people of the west. He advised Indians to teach
their children music, as it was Hindustan’s richest tradition.
Question 19. What offer did Bismillah Khan’s student make to him? What was his reply?
Answer: Bismillah Khan’s student, who himself was settled in the USA, wanted that the great
maestro to head a shehnai school in the UAS. He promised that he would create the ambience

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of Benaras by erecting the temples like those in India. Bismillah Khan refused the proposition
because he would not live away from Hindustan, specifically, from Benaras, the River Ganga
and Dumraon.
Question 20. How does Bismillah Khan embody India’s rich cultural and secular tradition?
Answer: Indian culture has always displayed a liberal attitude to all communities and
religions. The society and its cultural heritage is a blend of various religious and ethnic
groups. Bismillah Khan’s life perfectly represents this blend. Although he was a devout
muslim, he began his singing career by singing Chiaf in Bihariji temple and practicing shehnai
in Vishnu temple and Mangala Maiya temple of Varanasi. He practised the shehnai on the
banks of the Ganga and played it in the Kashi Vishwanath temple every morning.
Question 21. Find at least two instances in the text which tell you that Bismillah Khan loves
India and Benaras.
Answer: The first instance is when he turned down his student’s offer to start a shehnai
school in USA. The second instance is when Khansaab was asked by Shekhar Gupta about
moving to Pakistan during the partition, he said that he would never leave Benaras.
Long Answer Type Questions
Question 1:“There is always a teacher to bring out the latent potential of a pupil/’ Justify
with reference to the role played by Ron Forbes and Ustad Faiyaz Khan in the lives of
Evelyn Glennie and Bismillah Khan. (100 words) (Board Term 1,2013,K2G41GGH)
Answer:
Teachers craft us to become better individuals both personally and professionally. Ron
Forbes understood Evelyn’s passion for music. He taught Evelyn the nuances of hearing
music not through her ears but through her body. He taught her to feel the vibrations in her
hands and parts of legs to get the pitch. So, he crafted her to be more musical and confident.
Bismillah Khan’s teacher and mentor was his maternal uncle Ali Bux. Bismillah used to be
transfixed when Ali Bux used to play Shehnai. As a child, Bismillah used to accompany his
material uncle to Vishnu Temple of Benares where Ali Bux was employed to play Shehnai.
Bismillah picked up the finer nuances of Shehnai and practiced for hours on the banks of
river Ganga. He attained perfection only because of his uncle and mentor.
Question 2: Give a brief character sketch of Ustad Bismillah Khan. (Board Term 1,2012,
ELI-040)
Answer:
Ustad Bismillah Khan was a Shehnai master of great national and international fame. He was
a great musician. Ali Bux, his maternal unde perfected him in music. Shehnai was brought to
the classical stage by Ustad Bismillah Khan. He practiced for hours and worked very hard to
attain perfection. It was his melodious music that made him the first Indian to greet tire
independent India. Ustad Bismillah Khan created many new rags. He was given many awards
and he even received the “Bharat Ratna”. He was a true patriot who declined many offers to
settle aborad. He was a true artist but a simple man. He had great regard for Hindustani
Classical Music.

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