streamuf.blogg.se

He was wearing lungi and kurta and had just finished his riyaaz.

I went to his place at the stipulated time. It was indeed a divinely resonant voice that left behind the echoes long after the spoken words faded into the ether. But this was a different voice which reminded me of a line - Meri aawaaz ka teer, jaayega dil ko bhi cheer - from Mohammad Rafi’s song Sun le tu dil ki sada from film Tere Ghar Ke Saamne (1963). I’ve heard many colloquial and musical voices in my life and have been smitten by the tonal quality of those otherworldly voices. “ Ji, aap Mehdi Hassan se mukhatib hain” (Yes. An amazing baritone wafted through the phone to enter my consciousness. A day before the scheduled interview, I called him up. Mehdi Hassan was in Rawalpindi at that time and was working on an album of ghazals with the poet Ahmad Faraz.

He arranged my meeting with the maestro and mailed me his address and contact number.