Question on Pt. Ghulam Qadir
Sanjeev Ramabhadran
Mehdi Hassan has often mentioned his older brother, Pt. Ghulam Qadir as
both a mentor as well as a composer (many of MH's hits have Pt. Ghulam
Qadir as the music director). I am assuming that here, as usual, Pt.
translates to "Pandit" - all PC-isms and lectures on "why it shouldn't
matter" aside, the "Pandit" appellation is unusual among Muslims - any
idea how this came about?
Just curious,
Sanjeev
Kizzy
In a gist, since brothers Ghulam Qadir Khan and Mehdi Hassan spent
their early years in Jaipur/Rajasthan and learnt sangeet from Jaipur
Gharana, he is addressed as "Pandit Ghulam Qadir Khan".
Kizzy
P.S.: For reference, a brief history of Mehdi Hassan is appended below:
http://sonymusicindia.com/artist/artist.asp?albumid=3466&cookie%5Ftest=1
Mehhdi Hasan was born in a little-known town called Luna in Rajasthan,
some 107 miles from Jaipur. Mehdi had no problems inheriting the art of
music as it ran in his family. He belonged to family that had produced
fifteen generations of musicians making him the 'solva pusht'
(sixteenth generation) of artists, with an ancestry that could boast of
'Darbari Ustads' who performed in the courts of several Maharajahs
of Indore, Patna, Chhatarpur and Mysore. His father, Azim Khan, was an
exceptional exponent of the Indian Classical Music in his time and was
in the service of the Maharaja of Jaipur. Not surprisingly, it was Azim
Khan who initially tutored Mehdi Hassan in Classical Music. He was only
six years old at that time. Hassan rapidly mastered a range of styles
of vocal music including Dhrupad, Khayal, Thumri and Dadra under the
specialist training of his father. Later on Hassan was taken under the
wings of his uncle Ismail Khan, who had attended the Bhatkhande college
in Lucknow. Mehdi Hassan owes most of his knowledge of classical music
to his Ismail Khan. Mehdi Hassan was also greatly influenced by Ghulam
Qadir, his elder brother whom he fondly called `panditji`. Ghulam Qadir
played an extremely important role in Mehdi Hassan`s career. He
composed most of Hassan`s ghazals, including `Gulon mein rang bharay
baad-i-naubahar chalay` which was recorded in Lahore in 1959 and became
an instant hit. Mehdi Hassan held his first public performance at the
behest of the Maharaja of Baroda when he was only eight years old, and
has since then produced nearly 25,000 records, rendering nearly all
forms of vocalism including classical, thumri, film music and of course
the ghazal that he is most widely reputed for. He began his
professional career as a radio artist of classical music for Radio
Karachi in 1952 and later on switched over to Ghazal Gayeki. Soon
enough, Mehdi Hassan became the Sultan of Ghazal Gayeki . Residing in
Pakistan, Mehdi Hassan has recieved worldwide acclaim for his
innovations made to the ghazal style. His greatest strengths have been
his deep, sonorous voice and superb vocal control while rendering
challenging raga-based compositions. Mehdi`s magnificent, magical,
masterpieces have refused to age with the passage of time. Some of his
most memorable pieces are 'ranjish hi sahi', 'baat karni mujhe
mushkil', 'ghazab kiya tere wade pe' and 'gulon mein rang
bhare'. Since his training was based on a dependable classical music
background, he has the ability to inter-twine his Gayeki in highly
specialized ragas and still manage to make his renditions popular among
all sections of Ghazal lovers. Mehdi Hassan is undoubtedly one of the
most renowned ghazal singers in the world today, and his career is used
as a benchmark along which many young artistes model their own.