Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan - A Dream I Lived Alone

He has a positive attitude towards life and always wants to teach and share his knowledge. He rarely wants anything in return, which is the one great thing that I have learnt from himA.R. Rahman

The one thing I find amazing and highly admirable in Ustadji is his patience and his capacity to give unconditional love to his students. He works very hard with every student and is genuinely desirous of imparting his knowledge to each one of themWaheeda Rehman

What can I say about such a big artiste? Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan is a very big voice. He is an institution; he is a tradition. He is the Hindustan we seek these days. Hindustan, or for that matter any country, is not in its buildings, its walls, its mountains or its grasslands; it is in its manners, its culture and its art [...] it is with the artistes of the country. I salute Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan with full belief, faith and respect. He is the one sun who has shown so many the light of the stars. And we are fans of those stars who are his fans, which means that our relationship with him has transcended generations. I pray that he continues to shower his blessings on all of us and continues to spread his knowledge and music foreverJaved Akhtar

The one discipline that he always insists on is regular riyaz. He says, Always do riyaz. Whatever you learn, practise it [...] If you just learn a song, it will stay in your head for some days and then you will forget it. Unless that song settles in your throat, your voice will not support itHariharan

Whenever Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khans name is mentioned, a sense of peace envelops my heart and soul. A flash of light sparks in my mind. Khan sahib has dedicated his entire life to music. Not only has he set a benchmark of knowledge, he has also enlightened many students like me by blessing us. I am grateful to god that I was able to meet such a fine human being and learn music from himSonu Nigam

I always tell everyone that guruji not only teaches music, but also how to live ones life. He teaches you how to treat each other with respect, the importance of relationships and how to handle them. He teaches you how to be a good human beingShaan

Khan sahib is like a father to me. I have learnt singing by listening to him on the radio and the television. For me, he is my school of music and will always stay so. Whoever he has trained have established themselves very well and made a name for themselvesAnup Jalota

I call him my chacha [uncle]. My father was a very good friend of Ustadji and regarded him as an elder brother. I am delighted to have had the opportunity of knowing such a pure, talented and good man. When people receive blessings from their gurus, it can change the course of their lives forever. Ustadji is one such guruLalit Sen

He is known more through his disciples than by himselfRoop Kumar Rathod

Not many, or very few, people know him the way I do. Besides learning music from him, I have learnt so much more that I can safely say that if it had not been for him, I would not have been in Mumbai today. Long ago when I had just landed in the city without any income or a roof over my head, Ustadji helped me outnot only did he get me a job but also helped me in many other ways. Thanks to him I could sustain and establish myself. Whatever I am today is only because of him. For me, he is no less than god himselfAbhijeet Bhattacharya

Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan:

To my father, Ustad Waris Hussain Khan sahib, and my gurus, Ustad Fida Hussain Khan sahib and Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan sahib. Also, with gratitude to all those who have helped me and been a part of my journey.

Namrata Gupta Khan:

To my entire Khan and Gupta families.

Award, Art and the Artiste

O n 20 March 2018, I was one among the many invitees to the Padma Awards ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, home of the President of our country. I travelled there with my wife Amina, daughter-in-law Namrata, my sons Murtuza, Qadir, Rabbani and Hasan, and my grandsons Faiz and Aamir.

I waited, as did the other guests and invitees, for the names to be announced. Music composer Ilaiyaraaja, at the announcement of his name, walked across the red carpeted path with a swift and self-assured dignity to receive the Padma Vibhushan, one among three people this year to have been selected, the other two being renowned scholar, author and philosopher P. Parameswaran, and me, a classical musician and composer. Upon the announcement of my name, I walked the short distance across the floor to reach President Ram Nath Kovind and received the award from him on behalf of the music that, by the grace of God, chose me. Conscious of the many eyes, the camera lenses and the flashes of light that are a part of every event today, the President and I greeted each other with a Namaste and a handshake. He pinned a medallion to my chest. I held out my hands as he handed me the sanad, the award certificate, and we turned to face the cameras for a moment, standing still, holding that award between us, a courtesy to the photographers; those seconds of stillness. This was at the Civil Investiture Ceremony of the Padma Awards, and I am now a Padma Vibhushan awardee.

The years pass swiftly. I have been to Rashtrapati Bhavan twice beforetwenty-seven years ago, in 1991, for receiving the Padma Shri, and twelve years ago, in 2006, for receiving the Padma Bhushan. An interesting titbitRashtrapati Bhavan was formally inaugurated in 1931, and that is the year I was born. Of course, when I was born, I certainly had no consciousness of the possibility that sixty years into the future, I would be called upon to meet the then President of India, Shri Venkataraman, and receive the Padma Shri. Or that at the age of seventy-five, I would meet yet another President of India, A.P.J. Kalam, and receive the Padma Bhushan.

In fact, I was a child who began to speak quite late. I have no memory of this, but it is well-known family history that my parents, who come from an illustrious line of classical music composers, singers and teachers, were very apprehensive when I, their son, had not said a word till the age of two! I think that perhaps we are all constantly under construction. As the weeks and months turn into years and decades, we build and re-build, and we do this in our own way, at a uniquely individual pace. Not that this thought could allay the anxiety of my parents. I belonged to a family that followed the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana of Hindustani classical music. It was only natural that I carried on the family tradition and enrich the legacy of my ancestors.

My father, Ustad Waris Hussain Khan, was the grandson of Ustad Qutubuddin Khan, and the son-in-law of the famous vocalist Ustad Inayat Hussain Khan. Ustad Qutubuddin Khan sahib, celebrated