New Delhi: Madhurani left Ayodhya at the age of 11 and since then she has not gone back to her ancestral home.
“Log badal gaye hain, apne nahi rahe aur phir ab mahaul bhi badal gaya hai,” she said in an interview to News 18.com right after being honoured with Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 2017 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, by President Ramnath Kovind.
Having acquired education till Class X at Ayodhya’s Maharaja Public school, Madhurani, with a Rajputana background, was honed by the ustads of Kirana and Patiala Gharana.
Music was introduced to her by Baburam, her uncle and disciple of Ahmed Jan Thirakwa Khan, the legendary Indian tabla player.
“Had he been alive today he would have been 100 years old, my tryst with music started under him as he was with Thirakwa. After I left Ayodhya I was nurtured by the great people from Kirana and Patiala gharana,” said the singer, also called Mallika-e-Ghazal.
Considering herself fortunate for being mentored by the greats in Hindustani music history, Madhurani remembered the influence legendary vocalists Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Ustad Amir Khan had on her.
She said she was grateful to the teachings of Ustad Fayyaz Ahmed Khan and Ustad Niaz Ahmed Khan of the Kirana Gharana and Abdul Rehman Khan of the Patiala Gharana.
“After I lost the guidance of Ustad Fayyaz Ahmed Khan, I found Abdul Rehman Khan to take my interest in music forward. That’s where I found the prasad of Saraswati,” said the singer, born in 1944, April 25.
Once she left Ayodhya, she learnt music in Delhi and stayed in Okhla locality, and took up government assignments in radio and traveled across the country till she landed in Mumbai.
Her hometown, Ayodhya, has been making headlines due to the Ramjanambhoomi agitation and ever since BJP’s Kairana MP Hukum Singh raised the bogey of Hindu exodus ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections in 2017 presenting a sad picture of communal harmony in the country.
“I was not there in Ayodhya when the agitation happened and can’t say much about it. However, all I know is that people have changed. We need to understand this is a new generation that needs to earn its bread and butter,” said Madhurani, adding, “Common people have different priorities like education of children and jobs…”
Quoting a couplet that she had read years ago, the vocalist said, “I would like to sum everything up with one couplet - ek roti ki zaroorat, rozi ki talash, in dono ne milkar Sarkar ko ghar se beghar kar diya,” (Common people need jobs and bread, the two together have dethroned many governments).
People know her for her voice in the film ‘Alaap’ directed by the well-known music director Jaidev. Dilip Kumar has presented her album ‘Intezar’. She had two shagirds – the famous Chhaya Ganguly who sang for the film Gaman and Penaz Masani also called ‘Shehzadi Tarunnam’. One can find enough information on the web about her disciples but there is no Wikipedia page on her. “She has never craved for publicity – she is an artistes’ artiste, or fankaaron ke fankaar,” said Masani who was introduced to Madhurani by Jaidev.
Humbled by the honour Madhurani signed off saying, “For me, people from all religions are the same – whether you are a Hindu or Muslims, we need to have good teachings and grow in good company. There is god everywhere, there is no one place for him.”
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