Twitter
Advertisement

One call from Lahore got Gundechas misty eyed

The internationally-acclaimed Dhrupad exponents secretly trained a Pakistani blind girl for four years.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin
BHOPAL: Music, as they say, does not have any boundaries. Recently when the internationally acclaimed Dhrupad exponents Gundecha brothers got a call from one of their protégés, their eyes turned wet.
 
There was every reason to be emotional, for the caller was someone special. The call was from Lahore and the caller, a blind girl, had rigorously learnt dhrupad lessons from the three Gundecha brothers while quietly staying with them for four years in Bhopal.
 
Aliya Rasheed called to inform them that she had actually started teaching the Hindustani classical style gayaki of Dhrupad at the National Centre of Arts, Lahore. "In many years we had not had as heartening a news as that," Ramakant Gundecha told DNA.
 
The 24-year old Aliya, daughter of a taxi owner in Dubai, left Bhopal just a few months ago after completing the difficult four-year course in dhrupad singing. But she is still in touch with the family and keeps them posted about her progress back home.
 
She had stayed with the traditional Jain family of the Gundechas, ate strictly vegetarian food cooked by the singers' wives and mother and mastered dhrupad.
 
The Gundecha brothers -- Umakant, Ramakant and Akhilesh -- have already earned a name for themselves in dhrupad. Though the brothers have taught quite a few  foreign students, Aliya Rasheed was indeed special. "It took us a few weeks to decide whether to admit a Pakistani young girl who was blind,'' admit the brothers. "Once our parents consented we picked up the gauntlet."
 
Aliya came to Bhopal in June 2001 and left Bhopal four years later. When she had arrived in Bhopal, the relations between India and Pakistan were anything but cordial (Kargil war was fresh on people's mind) and the Gundechas had to keep it a secret. "Not even the regular visitors to our home had any inkling that a visually challenged girl from Pakistan was staying with us,'' Umakant says. "It was great risk for all of us."
Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement