This is a guest post by our dear friend Mr Asim Hussain, Doft forget to check his website at http:nusratfatehalikhan.cu.cc

Touching Moments :- (1) Nusrat Saab discusses about his walid, and they all listen to his qawwali. (Some catching moments were lost due to camera focusing, Camera slowly focuses on Nusrat saabs while he is listening to his dad. And this changes/ hides the expression that might have caught on if nusrat saab’s was unaware of camera focusing.) (2) Nusrat saab explaining Khayal, Dhrupad (Dhurpad as he calls) and sargam gayaki to the Brook, And brook goes oh yeah its like do, le, ri…() . Then nusrat saab trying to explain that some sur can be sthayi and some can be improvised (like komal, ati komal) by singing (this is what i interpreted).. (3) When Nusrat saab, Rahat’s dad and rahat are doing riyaz. And rahat is making mistake. (4) I love Dildar Hussain. He accompanies Nusrat saab in almost every concert.

If NFAK was the thunder that entranced the world, Farrukh was the rain of melody that followed..

“Nusrat is now the symbol of the family name and its tradition. He is the prestige that has been brought to our house. His popularity and the respect he commands has immortalized our family. Nusrat is a living legend.I think of only one thing, That may Allah reward him more and more with greater honour.  Honours such as have not been received by any other artiste. We consider his honour to be ours and his unprecedented popularity to be our own. Our hearts beat for each other, we feel each other’s pain and pleasure. We may have different names and bodies but our hearts beat as one.”

These were the words of Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan when he was asked about NFAK’s unimaginable success. Farrukh was the driving soul of the party , A man with a great voice with varying texture, a prodigy of music and the greatest Harmonium player of his era , he even composed many of NFAK songs, though Nusrat always tried to credit him as the “Music Director of Ensemble”  he never took any credit… the pious soul was happy with what he had, and was forever thankful to god for being NFAK’s Brother. Farrukh was a great classical singer too, it he did many solo Jugalbandis with NFAK . He frequently used to beautify NFAK’s improvisations with his “Textured Alaap” .. very often Nusrat used to praise him in between song by nodding his head or sometimes even saying “Subhaan Allah” . He very easily used to cover the mistakes of other party members and was great at tune transitions.

Have you ever tried any of NFAK Ghazals… When it came to Ghazals NFAK thunderous voice used to become honey-soft , Sargam Improvisations used to become murkiyan ( A murki is cluster of notes that sounds like a short, subtle taan ), Repetitions of Phrases by Ensemble was replaced by NFAK’s solo repetitions full of Adayagi( Elite way of Expressing) and intense hand movements were now just limited to eyes and facial expressions… ( Though NFAK sometimes induced Sargams in Ghazals too… Cross-blending as he always did..)

Getting Off Music for some time now, lets me tell you more about NFAK’s likes, the second most particular one this time.

If there was anything else NFAK was ever known for other than Music and nature, it was his appetite. He never used to eat before and during the performances which lasted 5-10 hours. You will be amazed to know that once he ate 70 kebabs in one go after a performance. NFAK was quiet weak when it came to compromising with unfamiliar food, so during his World Tours (which continued for months), he used to face a lot of problems. Once during his Germany visit, he literally lived on fruits for a few days. Another incident happened in Japan where he couldn’t eat Japanese rice and organizers finally had to arrange food from a Indian family living there.

It is no argument  that the World’s Music would have been a lot poorer if Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was not born. Since early days of his introduction to Western ears he was hailed as one of the greatest voices and greatest singer ever. What follows is an everlasting list speaking the man’s impact on music and World.

1. 100 Minorities who changed the World: ……..by Sacred-Bridge Click Here To See Entire List