In the eighties ,when I was posted in a remote
area of the state of Himachal Pradesh, the only source of entertainment and socializing was the periodic get-togethers among
officers and a few local people ,
who relished the company and
reciprocated the hospitality. One of the local people was O.P, a man of taste
and a fairly good singer. Naturally, all would coax him into singing a song or
two to enliven the atmosphere . His pet piece of singing was, Mehdi
Hassan’s “Duniya kisi ke pyar
mein phoolon se kam nahin…..” which
even in his voice held us spell bound. . Later
I bought an audio cassette of Ghazals rendered by Mehdi Hassan , which included
the above ghazal also. Gradually I became an ardent fan of the maestro and learnt the lyrics of many well known
ghazals, like- Patta Patta Boota
Boota Haal Hamara Jaane Hai , Yeh Dhuan Kahan se Uthta Hai , Gulon Mein
Rang Bhare, Muhabbat Karne wale Kam Na Honge… , Ranjish hi sahi, Zindagi mein
to sabhi pyaar kiya karte hain , and many others. The death of the maestro has
caused a void in the music world. Cutting across borders, his was the singing
voice of the subcontinent , where people
loved him, adored him and would always wait to listen to his inimitable voice.
R I P Mehdi Saheb, you were the real Shehanshah of Ghazals !
