Ustad Rashid Khan (1968-2024) obituary: Who'll sing Yaman, Marwa, Janasammohini, Thumri now?

Hindustani classical music legend Ustad Rashid Khan (July 1, 1968 - January 9, 2024), passed away on Tuesday owing to prostrate cancer.

July 1, 1968 - January 9, 2024, a musical chapter ends.

It is said that when Bhimsen Joshi heard the young lad from Kolkata sing, he wiped tears of joy from his eyes and said, ‘I was worried about the future of classical music, but now that I have heard this boy sing, I am happy.’

The news of his passing due to prostate cancer has hit his legions of fans hard. Now listening to his rendition of Marwa: ‘Piya more na naa aeye’ is painting the evening sky with virah ras (separation) that becomes so real when you realise his body will be placed at Kolkata’s Rabindra Sadan for darshan before his funeral tomorrow, January 10, 2024.

The great grandson of Ustad Inayat Hussain Khan, the court singer of Rampur and the founder of the Rampur-Sahaswan Gharana, Ustad Rashid Khan was born into music. His paternal grand-uncle was his guru and put little Rashid Khan (he was only four when he began to learn music) through a strict sadhana. It is said that Rashid Khan’s mastery over the taan came from practising not just the scales, but singing just one note for hours together. It was not until he was 18 years old that he truly began to enjoy the music.

As he begins to sing Guru bin gyan, I realise that we can trace his ancestry to the one and only Tansen (he was the 31st generation of singers). You don’t know what you like more, his bol taans (where you sing the notes) or his alaap better. You are secretly glad that your phone quietly made bootleg recordings at the Savai Gandharva festival in Pune and at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) in Mumbai (one of his last appearances, I think). At every performance, he would bring so much kindness and humour in his explanations, it filled the auditorium with smiles and applause. I remember him apologising for his simple kurta pyjama at the Grand Theatre at NMACC and then admitting, I would be more worried about designer clothing (which the organisers had suggested) than my swar, so you have to deal with just me. And even though we were in the nosebleed seats, I wanted to say, “Your renditions make us close our eyes, so who cares about clothes!”

If you are a student of Indian classical music, you will begin your study with Yaman. I hated practising ‘Ni-re-ga-ni-re-sa’ and the single raga for two years. Realising that one was just moderately talented, one gracefully exited and became a ‘kaansen’, or one who appreciates music. But each time his name was mentioned at the NCPA Masters series, one made a beeline for the tickets, falling in love with the strength of his voice and the mind-blowing taranas (very differently rendered). Unlike many masters of this art, Ustad Rashid Khan did not limit his art to just performances alone. He created millions of new fans by singing in the movies. Each time you watch Shah Rukh Khan step out on his journey of discovery in My Name Is Khan (2010) and you hear ‘Allah hi rahem’ or the wildly popular ‘Aaoge jab tum o saajna’ from Jab We Met (2007), it is hard to control tears from trickling down as your heart aches about a romance gone wrong, you know it is the voice of Rashid Khan that is making you feel that way.

What can you now say about the awards and accolades he won? I am sure the young lad from Kolkata whose rendition of Ustad Sultan Khan's Albela Sajan Aayo Re (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, 1999) became a favourite of all Gram artists and Indian Idol contestants, deserved to be honoured with the Padma Shri, Sangeet Natak Academy Award, Maha Sangeet Samman, Global Indian Music Award as much as the Mirchi Music award.

His passing makes one feel gratitude for the music he has left behind. If you seek, you will hear Ustad Rashid Khan sing Kabir, Krishna bhajans and even Shabad. He made music truly free and sang the way he did because he had, they say, Saraswati ka aashirwad. As I lament his passing, I know tomorrow morning is going to be difficult and yet beautiful with his voice singing Ahir Bhairav.