NEW DELHI: His music soared above borders.

Mehdi Hassan, arguably the greatest

ghazal singer, assed a!ay at a "arachi hosital on Wednesday, ravaged by #ailing lungs
and a host o# other ailments, leaving music lovers in both India and $a%istan !ith a dee
sense o# loss o# a shared heritage. He !as &'.
(inger Lata Mangesh%ar had described his richly)te*tured voice loaded !ith meaning and
melody as +the voice o# god.+ ,n Wednesday, a t!eet said, +It seems gods have ta%en a
sudden li%ing to ghazals.+ -oming a#ter .ag/it (ingh0s death last year, it !asn0t surrising
that Hassan0s demise had triggered the thought.
+It0s a setbac% to ghazal gayi%i 1singing2. He !as a school o# singing. .ust li%e Dili)3a/)
Dev in#luenced a generation o# actors, similarly Mehdi Hassan0s style in#luenced most
ghazal singers,+ says 4rdu oet Nida 5azli. +Hassan globalised ghazal. He used verses
!ritten by oets #rom both sides o# the border. He even brought out an album o# ghazals
!ritten by 6anesh 7ihari +8arz+ #rom 4ttar $radesh.+
7himsen .oshi !as a great admirer o# the ghazal maestro. 8he #eeling !as mutual. ,nce
!hen .oshi arrived at a Hassan concert in $une, the latter got o## the stage and !armly
embraced him. Hassan then roceeded to sing one o# .oshi0s #avourites, +9indagi mein to
sabhi yaar %iya %arte hain.+ 7orn in :;<=, Mehdi Hassan belonged to Luna village in
3a/asthan0s .hun/hunu district. It is said his ancestors !ere once court singers o# >mer
!ho later migrated to the (he%ha!ati region. Later they started er#orming in the courts
o# the Mand!a nobles. 8he #amily migrated to $a%istan during $artition. It is said he also
!or%ed in a bicycle sho and as a car mechanic in his youth. >ccounts di##er as to !ho
really groomed Hassan into a re#ined singer ) his #ather >zim "han or uncle Ismail "han,
the latter a student #rom 7hat%hande -ollege, Luc%no!. Hassan mastered a !ide range o#
vocal styles: dhruad, %hayal, thumri and dadra. He started out as a classical singer on
3adio $a%istan in "arachi but soon s!itched to ghazals.
(inger 7huinder remembers Hassan not only as a great singer o# ghazals but also o#
$a%istani #ilm songs. +His rendition !as re#ined, the style soul#ul, and his diction
immaculate. 4n%i aa!az mein taiyaari 1mature2 bhi thi aur thahrav 1stillness2 bhi ,+ he
says.Hassan valued the raise he received #rom Indians. He once said, +.o ha?
$a%istanion %o meri ghazlon e hai, !ohi Hindustaniyon %o bhi hai. 4nhone mu/he %um
yaar nahi diya.+In <@@:, Hassan su##ered a aralytic stro%e. When $rime Minister >tal
7ehari Aa/ayee !rote him a letter raying #or his seedy recovery, he e*ressed his
desire to visit his ancestral village. More recently, he had lanned to meet Lata
Mangesh%ar, Dili "umar and >mitabh 7achchan ) a desire that remained un#ul#iled. In
the last #e! years, a lung in#ection had robbed him o# his voice. 5azli says, +I sa! him at
"arachi last year !here I had gone to attend a mushaira. He couldn0t sea% or !al%. He
silently !atched the rogramme.+ Hassan married t!ice and is survived by :' children:
nine sons and #ive daughters.
SUPER SIX GHAZALS
:. 3an/ish hi sahi 1$oet, >hmed 5araz2
<. $atta atta boota boota 1Mir 8a?i Mir2
B. 9indagi mein to sabhi 1Cateel (hi#ai2
'. 6ulon mein rang bhare 15aiz >hmed 5aiz2
D. De%hto dil %e /aan se uthta hai 1Mir 8a?i Mir2
E. >b%e hum bichhde to %h!abon mein mile 1>hmed 5araz2