EXCLUSIVE | Ustad Amjad Ali Khan: 'I was six years old when my parents pushed me on the stage'

Ayaan Ali Bangash is the son of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and performs on stage with his younger brother Amaan Ali Bangash and his father too. In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, he and Ustad Ji spoke about performing at the Three Generations One Nation concert and much more. Edited excerpts from the interview Ayaan Ali Bangash When you prepare for a show like this, what’s the reference point? It’s been very unusual for me to process this moment because I never saw this coming so soon in my life. The lockdown was a silver lining because music has been our way of life and not just a profession. I don’t know if kids picked it up organically, we just pushed the Sarod towards them and I was thrilled when that happened. I was putting 5-6 hours a day with both these children and the results seemed very fruitful, my father was very thrilled with their progress. During the lockdown, it was my father’s birthday and I thought they could play a track for the occasion with all the protocols. It was quite a journey and they just continued and the prospects of playing together came to my mind. We are on a five-city tour, we are done with Kolkata, Delhi, and Bangalore. We can’t wait to perform in Mumbai because this has been such a big part of my journey and my family’s journey so we are so looking forward. I’m always tensed when I’m on stage with them as a parent. They are quite confident about being on stage, and they have a long journey. How is the response to a classics function? I’m sure it’s not a massy kind of a thing. It’s a very niche function. The main charm of this art form is that nothing is completely planned. The moment you sit on stage, it’s all about the vibration you get and the ethos of its audience. The color and the flavor is very different when you perform in different cities, all over the world. The vibration here in the U.S is so beautiful. This was always a very niche kind of an art form. Prior to concert halls, we had private gatherings, the art form is now at its peak. Thanks to all the legends that they have made this art form so accessible. All the gatherings these days at different venues do sellout. The craft doesn’t have limitations, especially in Maharashtra which we don’t have to worry about. Our lives used to change with one recording. Today, people are getting so much content so easily available. Audiences keep changing every decade and today, they are extremely open to reinvention, they are extremely relaxed. Ustad Amjad Ali Khan then arrives for a conversation with Firstpost Ustad Ji, please describe the feeling of three generations performing together. [caption id=“attachment_12241732” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Ustad Amjad Ali Khan[/caption] It’s a great feeling. This kind of occasion and situation, I only feel grateful to god. You can’t promote musicians, they are made with the blessings of God. All the classical musicians, every one is encouraging their children to become musicians. I still remember Dohar performed with us for the first time on the 9th of September and my grandchild asked me when our next concert is. In this line, one has to wait, and everyone is dealing with mobiles and computers, so the younger generation is getting things readymade. We could listen to music only on radio. Indian people take time to acknowledge any musician, be it Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Ravi Shankar , or Ustad Bismillah Khan . Today, people are listening to Justin Bieber and Michael Jackson. The other day, we were doing face time from the U.S. and they showed me a video and I asked if this was Justin Bieber, to which they quipped it was BTS. During the lockdown, my children never said no to practice. Schools should identify creativity as every child has some creative instinct or the other. With the sound of music, you connect yourself to god. There’s struggle but one has to work hard. Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is being nurtured by all the regions of India. I was six years old when my parents pushed me on the stage, it’s an educational process how to face the audience. Craft has become accessible and at the same time, music is going digital. How do you see this change? The most important thing, the greatest tragedy of our craft is, classical musicians begin their journey but lose track of their time. I was always careful when to end a performance, and if you’re given to perform only for five minutes, you need to have a sense of proportion. It’s my advice to young musicians that they should be very precise in their performance. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.