NDLI: Begum Akhtar : Photo Archive - Photograph 16

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Begum Akhtar : Photo Archive - Photograph 16

Content Provider	IGNCA - Begum Akhtar Portal
Owner	Saleem Kidwai
Description	“Of all the personas she donned, the one Akhtar identified with most was that of the unrequited lover in pain.” S. Kalidas shares a beautiful couplet of Ghalib, ‘Ishq se tabiyat ne zeest ka maza paya, dard ki dawa payi, dard-e-ladawa paya’ (Love taught the mind joys of life, gave it medicine for pain, and gave it pain that has no remedy) The melancholy in the voice of Begum Akhtar mirrored the heartbreak and pain she felt constantly. Sheila Dhar, in a conversation with Kalidas, poignantly says, “It was very important for her to be in love and be pained by it. If love didno’t happen she would invent it & if that love didno’t have pain, she would invent that too! She would take the smallest misunderstanding grievously to heart. The slightest injury to her ‘self’ would torment her like a dagger driven deep into her heart. And this imaginary dagger would remain buried in her till she had extracted every iota of painful pleasure from it!” Her association with Ustad Amir Khan, a great exponent of khayal gayaki has been narrated by Sheila Dhar. On receiving the news of his demise in a gathering at a businessman’s house in Mumbai, someone innocuously mentioned what his wife must be going through. Begum Akhtar, present at the gathering, sharply said “Which one?” and burst out laughing. Soon, she left for her hotel and when no news of her arrived for two days, someone went to check on her. On opening the door he met a dishelved and a distraught Begum Akhtar, who had not showered, changed her clothes or eaten in two days. She told Shanti Hiranand that she will not live for too long, and passed away before the year ran out. Love as a condition of life pursued her till the end.
File Format	JPG / JPEG
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Ustad Amir Khan Khayal S. Kalidas Indian Classical Music Thumri Sheila Dhar Vidushi Shanti Hiranand Begum Akhtar Ghazal Mumbai Mirza Ghalib Kalidas
Content Type	Image
Resource Type	Photograph

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