Daily Times

In 1991, when Madam Ji was still alive, and the world was a better place, Vanessa Redgrave invited her to perform at a fundraising event to benefit Children of the Middle East, held at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Lionel Richie, Bob Geldof, Madonna, Boy George, and Duran Duran were amongst the performers at the star-studded event, which was attended, amongst many others, by thespian Sir John Gielgud, Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter, and Oscar Award-winning actor Dame Peggy Ashcroft.

There was no shortage of stars on that balmy night of April 28, but none shone brighter than Noor Jehan.

With her dearly loved son, Akbar Rizvi, by her side, Noor Jehan performed her famous song, “Aawaaz De Kahan Hai” from the 1946 Mehboob Khan film ‘Anmol Ghadi’, to a standing ovation. Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ustad Sultan Khan, Ustad Zakir Hussain and a number of master musicians performed with her on the magical night.

There was no shortage of stars on that balmy night of April 28, but none shone brighter than Noor Jehan

Vanessa Redgrave later invited Noor Jehan for dinner at her London home the following evening, and prepared dinner for the songstress, together with daughters, Natasha and Joely Richardson. Not to be outdone, Noor Jehan joined in the cooking and prepared aalu ki bhujia and bhuni hui murghi for the small set of guests who spent the better part of the evening discussing Madam Ji’s recipes for preparing potatoes and chicken. The rest of the time was spent discussing Noor Jehan’s music.

Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma fondly remembers another meeting with Noor Jehan in London, her favourite city, both for visiting and for shopping, a year, or so, earlier. Noor Jehan had been invited by poet Zehrah Nigah and her husband Majid Ali, for dinner at their Knightsbridge flat. Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ustad Sultan Khan, Ustad Shaukat Hussain Khan, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and Mehdi Hassan were amongst the guests at the soirée. Once dinner was done, everyone expected the many master musicians to perform. Noor Jehan wanted to go first. She insisted that since she was the youngest musician present, she should be allowed to perform before others, in accordance with the canons of Hindustani sangeet. As always, she got her way.

Noor Jehan started with a long and expansive alaap in raag Pilu and, a good hour later, moved to the thumri “Gori Tore Naina Kaajar Bin Kaaray” in the same raag and in taal Deepchandi. Instead of having a tabla player accompany her, Noor Jehan played the 14 beat theka on the dining table herself.

“We were all in a trance by the time she reached the antara, Kaaha Ko Kajra Daray Gori,” recalls Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma. “A few of us were in tears, actually. She sang for well over two hours. Her thumri was followed by a period of stunned silence. None of us wanted to perform at that time. The mood in the room was ethereal. We wanted it to last. We wanted to savour it. No one performed after Noor Jehan, that night. That was the right thing to have done.”

The writer writes about culture, history and arts and is based in Dallas, US. He tweets at @allyadnan and can be reached at allyadnan@outlook.com

Published in Daily Times, August 20^th 2017.