A lilting memory of Khayyam

Raju Korti

This is what I wrote briefly about the legendary Khayyam who released my book on the late Mohammed Rafi when I met him at his Santacruz residence five years back. Although a little rhetorical, it still bears repetition:
"Of two Mohammeds, both Mountains! Didn't matter who went to who but meet they did to create a geyser of warm melodies from the early fifties to the late seventies. Mohammed Zahoor Hashmi, better known to music aficionados as Khayyam, formally released my book on the legendary Mohammed Rafi at his residence. The face of the music maestro, on the threshold of 90s, lit up with a bright smile on seeing the book and by his own admission, his mind took a quick odyssey to those eventful decades when music was at its pristine best. How Rafi's robust vocals negotiated the Pahadi strains of Khayyam's music is no revelation, yet the magic reinvents each time you hear the two complementing each other as only they could . The last of the Moguls of this music era accepted a copy with the same simplicity that Rafi also epitomized in his four-decade career. There couldn't have been anything more apt than to get a simple, unassuming legend to speak about another. An austere and no-frills release is what I aspired for."     

With the Composer of Composers: Khayyam

As the news of Khayyam's passing sunk in, a spool of memories rolled by. I was a taken aback when Khayyam opened the door himself, clad in a pyjamas and a crumpled shirt. The cynical smile on his face didn't bother me in the least for, his face was made that way. I could see he was struggling to stand so I helped him inside. A brief "hmm" was his response when he saw the book. "Ab baat karne laayak kuch hai kya, humne jo karna tha so kar diya" (Is there anything left to talk? I did what I could in my career). Having had to make some effort to get through to him, I wasn't going to let him escape so easily.
That was the time Khayyam had made himself incommunicado, not answering any of the calls made to him on his landline and mobile. He had lapsed into depression because of the untimely demise of his son and from which, he never ever recovered. So it required some convincing to make him talk to me but he opened up when he felt he was being asked the right questions. The first one took him by complete surprise the way I asked it to him bluntly.
"You were as good as any, at times even better, than many of your contemporaries. Why didn't you get commercial success?" I asked him. "I never ran after big banners. I rejected outright most of the films I got since I wasn't cut out to deal with trash. So if I was broke and kept struggling then it was because I didn't have the appetite to make music for rubbish. Since you want me to release your book, let me tell you, I made my first commercial hit with Rafi in 1950 "Akele me wo ghabraate to honge." (Beewi). Three years later, I had Talat vocalizing for Yusuf (Dilip Kumar) in Shaam-e-gham ki qasam (Footpath). And if I didn't have any work then, it was because of my own obstinate stand that I needed films with sensible and strong themes."
The glimpse of Khayyam's composing brilliance came through first in Lala Rukh (Rafi's Hai kali kali ke lab par) and then in Raj Kapoor's Phir Subah Hogi where the brilliant Sahir's lyrical affluence was a huge challenge. "I took it head on. The film and its music won critical acclaim but the struggle continued. Shola Aur Shabnam (1961) changed all that. Today, Rafi's "Jaane kya dhoondti rehti hai.." is considered as among all time classics, but god knows how many sittings I had with Rafisaab to get the song right. That plus the duet with Lata "Jeet hi lenge baazi hum tum.." really hit chart-busters." Although not in the same league as the other giants of his era, Khayyam never made his singers lose sight of the fact that it was his song and it had to be sung the way only he wanted it, come Rafi, come Lata.
He then went on to make quality music with Barood, Shagoon, Mohobbat Isko Kehtey Hain, Chambal Ki Qasam and Shankar Hussain. Here I am deliberately avoiding the constitutency which has never thought of Khayyam beyond the likes of Bazaar, Razia Sultan, Trishul and Kabhie Kabhie.
Since the spotlight was on Rafi, Khayyam recalled how the latter had started inviting the composer to his house regularly over lavish meals. "Intrigued why Rafisaab was inviting me over on and off, I asked him "Rafisaab kya baat hai, itne lazeez khaane aap mujhe khila rahe hain?. Shy to a fault, Rafi would just stop short of saying something. Then one day, he couldn't contain himself any more. "Khayyamsaab mere liye kuch aisi dhune banaiye jo mere liye yaadgar ban jaaye." the composer was taken aback at this unexpected request. " I told him: Rafisaab, paisa, naam, shohrat kya nahi hai aap ke paas. Ab mai aap ko isse zyada aur kya de sakta hoon? But he refused to budge. Then I told him, I had a string of devotional songs in mind and I could use his voice if he was ready. He just jumped at the offer but I told him point blank: Look, these are not film songs and the first thing I will want is you to forget you are Rafi and sing it exactly the way I want it. You will have to change the tone, timber and metier of your voice and give me your undivided attention to be prepared to forgo the heaps of songs that would come his way in those days. He agreed without condition.
I must admit he gave all his might to those songs. They still bring tears to my eyes. Rafi was huge and it was amazing how he lent himself to the compulsive yearnings in those songs. You may hear "Paon paroon tore shyam, Tere bharose he Nandlala and Shyam se nehaa lagaaye" over and over again and yet will not be able to imagine the kind of effort and dedication he put into those songs." His wife Jagjit Kaur heard these pieces of nostalgia and kept nodding.

Rafi and Khayyam: From the latter's album.

What was initially agreed upon as an hour's meet, lasted three hours but by then he looked very tired and politely excused himself. Most of what was discussed else apart is irrelevant here.
He promised to get back to me after reading the book. When he didn't respond after a long time, I called him. His response was pretty much the same: Hum ne jo karna tha wo kar diya aur Rafisaab ne jo karna tha wo kar diya. Mai nahi samajhta bolne ke liye kuch bacha hai."

What next in the Kashmir theater?

Raju Korti

I have been following closely the international ferment ever since the Indian government abrogated Article 370 and 35 A of the Constitution scrapping the special status granted to Kashmir. For the world of me I have still not been able to figure out what is the tangible outcome of these steps beyond the stated position of the Indian Government on Kashmir. True, the government has done something which has always remained in the realms of a fiercely debated political issue and the ground reality, as of now, has not ramified into anything major. However,  given the perennial volatility in the state, it always is a distinct possibility that state and non-state players from across the border could make this moment of hush lapse into the bloody chaos the Valley is used to.
Watching India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and repeatedly saying that the "matter relating to Article 370 remains an entirely India's internal matter with no scope for external ramifications," Syed Akbaruddin sounded articulate and refreshingly different from the otherwise banal-speak most diplomats resort to. Somehow, he reminded me of James Baker, former US Secretary of State minus his subtle wit. The one significant observation Akbaruddin made at the UN was the opinion of China was not the opinion of the world and to that extent, he effectively blanked out another attempt at internationalizing the issue. To his credit, he didn't do badly at all looking to the United Nations Security Council's marked reluctance on Beijing's push to get the world body hold a closed door meeting on the issue. There is little doubt that New Delhi has done its home work well and has virtually slammed doors on any external mediation in Kashmir but then if Pakistan's past record is anything to go by -- including that on the historic Shimla Agreement of 1972 -- any hopes of a peaceful settlement are tenuous. Akbaruddin, did well to present that New Delhi was prepared to go the extra mile by reconstructing the Agreement in tune with the changed situation in Kashmir. As of now, the posturing of majority UNSC members that there should not be any outcome issued after the closed door deliberations on Kashmir has forced China's hand into making a statement in its individual capacity. In effect, that is a tacit admission that status quo persists in Kashmir. As for Pakistan customarily raising the issue in UN has been without any traction and doesn't look like it will have any in near future.
I am sure Delhi will not even bother to think about the Chinese perception that the Constitutional amendment by India has changed the status quo by India. Akbaruddin couldn't have been more pre-emptive when he said he would present Delhi's national position too "if national statements try to masquerade as the will of the international community" in an obvious reference to China and Kashmir. The diplomatic master-stroke here was how could a Constitutional matter become a threat to peace and security as claimed by Pakistan. A federal arrangement cannot and does not have any implications beyond the country's borders. Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi asking Security Council to revoke the special status to Jammu and Kashmir didn't cut any ice as it had to.
In the midst of this regulation debate even the government's worst detractors back home have not said anything about that the amendment was a clever beginning to alter the demographics of the new union territory. My apprehension is it could be only a matter of time before this turns out a cause for bigger debate within the country than outside it. My personal take is one is entitled to his opinions but not facts.
When President Richard Nixon had appointed Daniel Patrick Moynihan as US Ambassador to India, the latter -- who followed a neoconservative American foreign policy -- had infamously remarked that South-East Asia was the most dangerous place in the world. I remember him having said something to the effect fact sometime in 1975 that Pakistan in future would be over-run by army generals who would demand Kashmir back with nuclear weapons.
Had Moynihan been alive today, he would have smirked behind his thick-rimmed spectacles for that small piece of prophecy.