As the Centre rolled out a year-long commemoration of the birth centenary year of ghazal queen Begum Akhtar on Tuesday, the lament of her disciples and close confidantes is that Uttar Pradesh – the State where she was born and lies buried – has shown no interest in keeping her legacy alive.

Coins released

The official launch of the birth centenary commemoration with the release of commemorative coins at National Museum here saw another disciple Rita Ganguly enthral the houseful gathering with a rendition of her teacher’s aye mohabbat tere anjaam pe rona aaya…’’

But for recent efforts by individuals to salvage what remains of `Pasanda Bagh’ in Lucknow – where Begum Akhtar was buried in October 1974 – even her grave would have been lost to encroachers. Now, the space around her grave and that of her mother’s has been restored — courtesy a grant from the Department of Archaeology of the Government of India – and this evening resonated with the voice of Shubha Mudgal.

“But not many people will be able to attend Shubha’s musical offering as `Pasanda Bagh’ has shrunk to almost the size of a room where not more than 40 people can be accommodated. Our effort is to have an annual ‘Urs’ on her ‘barsi’ but we need a bigger venue so that the public can participate in larger numbers. But this is not something that the few of us can do on our own,’’ said Salim Kidwai, founder-member of Sadbhavna Trust.

“We maintain the mazaar from our own pocket,’’ Mr. Kidwai said; adding that successive Uttar Pradesh governments ignored efforts to get some local governmental support. “We are hoping that the State Government will at least include her mazaar in the tourism map as people have begun visiting it ever since we redid the place two years ago.”

Website soon

Vocalist Shanti Hiranand – a disciple of Begum Akhtar who along with Mr. Kidwai drove the effort to restore the mazaar — told The Hindu that one of the pressing tasks ahead is the setting up of a website on the ghazal queen who was equally accomplished in the `dadra’ and `thumri’ genres of Hindustani classical music. The website will be set up as part of a project of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts which will also organise a three-city showcase of Begum Akhtar as part of the commemoration.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by Anita Joshua / New Delhi, October 08th, 2014