MUSIC: THE NARCISSISM OF RAIS KHAN
Rais Khan was a spellbinder who could enthrall a learned and a lay audience in the same concert. He would fascinate the former with raga yaman and the latter with a Punjabi filmi song like mein te mera dilbar jani which is also yaman! God gifted him with rare hands which were admired even by his maternal uncle Vilayat Khan (also his worst adversary). “Iss kay haath bohat sundar hain par sari kharabi dimagh mein hay! [His hands are very beautiful, the problem is in his mind!],” Vilayat Khan would remark. While playing a trio with Vilayat and his other maternal uncle Imrat Khan, Rais would often play some intricate musical phrases so spontaneously and dexterously that it would stun and perhaps even threaten a giant like Vilayat Khan. The matching response would come only from Vilayat Khan and Imrat Khan’s reply would be limited to playing chikari which was like roaring versus bleating! Vilayat would never forget to bash Imrat for his pathetic performance.
Rais took Vilayat as his competitor but looked down on Imrat Khan. Vilayat’s conundrum was, Imrat would remain a midget if he kept on grooming and promoting Rais. He preferred his brother over his nephew and ditched him. Hence Rais felt betrayed. This set the bad blood between the two that simply deteriorated with time. His argument was, Vilayat stayed in his house for years and learnt from his father Mohammad Khan. Therefore, he had a moral obligation to tutor and promote him. Did Vilayat learn from Mohammad? Shahid Parvez, a leading Indian sitarist and a cousin of Rais says: “When I started playing, people said I was a student of Vilayat Khan. I say that I have learnt from him but he has never taught me.”
Like most musicians Vilayat had a deep sense of insecurity. He would stop teaching if his students showed promise. He stopped training his close friend Kashinath Mukherjee when the latter started making waves. Vilayat would stay, dine and drive with him without giving more lessons. He told Kashinath that his mother had asked him not to train him anymore and instead to focus on Imrat’s education. Kashinath became a disciple of Amir Khan and made a name in sitar-playing.
The musician could have scaled more heights but for a few personality flaws
When Shahid went to learn from uncle Vilayat he was told that his hands were not good for sitar. Shahid did not take it seriously and disproved him by doing things that Vilayat could not do all his life e.g. laikari.
The indigestible truth is, Shahid has surpassed Vilayat with his systematic alap, jor and jhala and complex laikari which is both melodious and mathematical.
If Rais were not a formal disciple of Vilayat, he could have never shared stage with him. Rais should have acted like Kashinath and Shahid but he went on the spree of maligning Vilayat. He started claiming that he was a better sitarist than Vilayat. He was not a disciple of Vilayat but it was the other way round!