It was in late 1960s that I visited Karachi. Mushtaq Hashmi was already employed as programmes producer at Radio Pakistan there. We recorded folk songs with Transcription Service of Radio Pakistan. I remember Ustad Allah Ditta playing tabla and Ustad Nathu Khan, sarangi in our songs.
I could never imagine that such great maestros were accompanying us youngsters. They were not only great artists but were men of big hearts. Lately when I heard that Ustad Nathu Khan had been awarded the President of Pakistan’s greatest Civil Award posthumously, I was thrilled. Ustad Nathu Khan had expired at a relatively young age in 1971. He was born in Amritsar in 1920. One of his sons Mujahid Hussain is a renowned music composer. A large number of other sarangi players in the past in the subcontinent and Nepal can be listed also but their present number is getting less each day passing due to many reasons.
Before proceeding ahead, we must know what does the word sarangi mean. The word sarangi is a combination of two words ‘seh’ and ‘rangi’ combined as sarangi. It is deciphered that the term seh-rangi represents the three melody strings. However the most common folk etymology is that sarangi is derived from ‘sol rang’ indicating its adaptability to many styles of vocal music, its flexible tune ability producing a large variety of tonal colours coupled with emotional touch. Its tone is closer to human vocals. That is why the great music maestro Khawaja Khurshid Anwar used to make Ustad Nazim Ali Khan memorise his songs before moving on to the singers. In classical raag rendering, sarangi is used in extensive alap in increasing intensity and several compositions in Bilampat and Durrat portion variations, the latter also called bandish.
Among youngsters, Israr Nabi Bukhsh, Zohaib Hassan and Khawer are doing their best. Allah Rakha was born in Muzaffar, a village in Sialkot District of Punjab, in 1932 but moved to Amritsar, British India, receiving tutelage from his father Ustad Lal Din. Later, he became the student of three renowned sarangi players, Ustad Ahmadi Khan, Ustad Allah Diya and Ustad Nathu Khan.
Ustad Nathu Khan learnt the intricacies of sarangi playing from his uncle Feroze Din and other seniors in his family. His father was namely Baba Balle who was a Tabla player. Nathu Khan also became disciple of Ahmadi Khan from Delhi and Maula Bukhsh of Talwandi Gharana. His first great performance was in Kalyar Shariff in India where he played Raag Shudh Sarang. So powerful was his performance that barring Ustad Hussain Bukhsh Amritsari, all other participants backed out. Ustad Nathu Khan is believed to be an expert in dealing with rhythm, playing most difficult phrases with ease. He was the one introduced the art of going Solo with this instrument. Previously the trend was to play sarangi only with the classical vocalists. He did not leave doing that as he accompanied Bare Ghulam Ali Khan, Malika-e-Mausiqi Roshan Ara Begum, Ustad Nazakat Ali Khan-Ustad Salamat Ali Khan duo and Ustad Umeed Ali Khan in their performances. Ustad Salamat used to call Ustad Nathu a ‘camera’ as the latter would be an exact copy of the vocalists.
ZA Bukahri had brought Ustad Nathu Khan from All India Radio to radio Pakistan, Karachi. He carved a permanent presence there. Even if he was not performing there, he was found in the lawns of Radio’s building. He also worked at PTV Karachi and a documentary was also recorded on his skills and life. Unfortunately not many recordings were preserved in the State Media. Umar Qureshi gave job to Ustad Nathu Khan in Pakistan International Airlines Academy where he developed musical recitals, many of which used to be played during PIA flights. The group gave memorable performance in Geneva also.
As far as style of Ustad Nathu Khan’s Sarangi playing is concerned, he being a darwesh as a human being brought that sensitivity in his performances also. He could raise the tone higher or lower by the change of pressure on his fingers. His bowing patterns had variety. His left hand fingers could produce ‘gammak’, jumps and ‘ghassas’ easily. He used to give vocal touch through tunefulness from the left hand and from the bow from the right hand. Such great musicians are rarely born!