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A
child prodigy:
Master Madan
‘Yun
naa reh reh kar hamein tarsaaiye’ and
‘Hairat se tak rahaa hei jahane
wafa mujhe’ these two
ghazals of Master Madan
recorded at the tender age of eight years, on a 78 rpm gramophone
record is a priceless collection of yesteryears’ immortal music. Anyone with even a passing interest in music
is familiar with these two Sagar Nizami’s ghazals, sung by the
extraordinary child prodigy- Master Madan, who died at an age of just less
than fifteen. These two ghazals have certainly retained the
magic even after a gap of more than sixty five years, which is evident
from a collection of ten CDs released by HMV by the title- ‘Ghazal Ka
Safar’. This collection includes these two ghazals of Master Madan,
along with recordings of majority of eminent ghazal singers of the
previous century. The collection was edited by Jagjit Singh, the famous
singer. Till the end of previous century, just these
two songs of Master Madan were available. However, after strenuous efforts
by some ardent music collectors, we could trace six
more of his fabulous renderings. Thus, making available collection of his perfectly
modulated songs to eight. A few lines about the life of the celebrity.
Master Madan was born on 26 December, 1927, in an orthodox Sikh family in
a village of Punjab called- ‘Khankhana’, built and named by Abdul
Rahim Khankhana in Jallandhar District.
Abdul Rahim Khankhana was one of the nauratans
(courtiers) of Emperor Akbar. Besides a warrior, an eminent Hindi
& Arabic poet-philosopher, he was popularly known as ‘Rahim’. Master Madan’s father Sardar Amar Singh was
in the service with Education Department and his mother Puran Devi
was a religious lady. She too died young
in the year 1942 The child prodigy started singing at the
tender age of three and quickly became a craze all over India. His
astonishingly mature voice left a deep impression on the listeners in
general and devout Sikhs in particular. Listen to his captivating
rendition- ‘Chetna hei to chet ley’
a hymn (sahabad) of Guru Teg Bahadur Saheb-
which is a classic example of his excellent understanding of
thought and feel of whatever he sang. Shanti
Devi, his elder sister had revealed that- he always carried a portrait of
Guru Nanak wrapped in silk, a rosary and a ‘gutka’ (abridged holy
Granth) where ever he went. He gave his first public performance at the
age of three and a half years at Dharampur Sanitorium (Himachal Pradesh)
where he enthralled the audience by singing in dhrupad
style of Indian classical music. According to Shanti Devi; the
listeners were spell-bound with his command over laykaari
and surtaal (rhyme and
rhythm). The
young lad concluded the recital
with a devotional composition ‘Hey sharda naman karoon’ in raag
mishr kafi. The
critics hailed it as the beginning of a fabulous era. After the conclusion of this captivating
recital, he was bestowed with a gold ring, a shawl and a gold medal. His
first successful performance made him a celebrity. There was a grand news
coverage in the print media. Some of such paper clippings are still
available with Ravinder Kaur, the niece (bother’s daughter) of Master
Madan at Butail Building, Shimla. Overnight, the identity of the genius spread
like fire all over the music
fraternity of the country. After his grand success, he commenced
giving performances along with his elder brother Master Mohan. Every where
he was in demand. Though, posters portrayed the photographs of both the
brothers, there used to be a special mention
of mesmerizing singing of Master Madan. The maestro commenced his training in music at the age of
seven years, under the able guidance of Pt Amar Nath, a great musician and
elder brother of composer duo- Husnalal Bhagatram. He had composed music
for film ‘Mirza Saheban’, wherein Noorjehan sang some of her
captivating numbers. The two ghazals referred
to above were also composed by Pt Amar Nath. Master Madan’s elder brother Master Mohan, who was in Shimla,
also used to sing and played violin. This was the time when the legendry
singer K.L. Saigal too was in Shimla. Very often, Saigal used to bring his
harmonium to their home- ‘Butail Building’ Lower Bazar, Shimla- for
his singing and his brother played violin.. In 1940 Mahatma Gandhi visited Shimla and very few people
turned up at his meeting, as most of them had gone to a concert of Master
Madan. The singing sensation was a particular favourite of the rulers
of Indian states, who conferred many medals on him, which he invariably
wore at his recitations. He was always in demand for his singing. Thereby
his family was thrilled, as he used to bring lot of money and valuable
presents. But, this took its toll. In view of excessive strain under
which the young boy lived and performed, his health began to suffer. He
would complain of exhaustion and low fewer. Sadly, he was not properly
taken care of and provided adequate medical attention. When at a later
stage, he was taken for an examination, he was found to be beyond
recovery. The diagnosis was a slow poison that had affected his vital
organs. The genius with his immortal voice died in Shimla on 5 June, 1942
several months short of his 15th birthday. He was cremated
wearing all his medals. There had been many rumours about the cause of his death. One
such gossip went that at one time when he was performing at Ambala, a
local singing girl had invited him to her Kotha
and gave him a doctored paan (betel
leaf). Another said that at Radio Station Delhi, he was given mercury in
his drink by a jealous performer. Yet another was that in Calcutta, after
his sensational concert at which he sang a thumri- Bintee suno meri, someone gave him a slow-acting poison in his
drink. It was noticed in retrospect that he never recovered his voice
after that particular performance. .
However, the fact is that it was the greed of the family or
envy of the rivals that killed the child-prodigy- Master Madan, leaving
behind recordings of just eight classic classicals:
Bagaan wich peengan paiyaan (Punjabi)
Raavi de parle kandey (Punjabi) Yun naa reh reh kar hamein tarsaaiye (Urdu Ghazal)
Heirat se tak rahaa hei jahane wafaa mujhe (Urdu
Ghazal)
Goree goree baiyaan (Thumri) Mori bintee mano kanha re (Thumri)
Man ki man hi maan rahi (Gurbani)
Chetnaa hei to chet le (Gurbani) One
is remembered of a couplet from Abdul Rahim ‘Khankana’:
“Rahiman ochhey naran
soun, bair bhalo na priti; “Rahim
let not a petty man be your friend or foe;
Satish
Chopra,
BA/26B Ashok Vihar-I, Delhi-110052 #011-27134229/20316429 |
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