Bismillah Khan

Quotes

• The applause that I get from children when I sing the bhajan Raghupati Raghav Rajaram gives me the greatest fulfillment
  • Said in 2004 while performing at a cultural programme in New Delhi to mark Gandhi Jayanti.
• Music has no caste. I have received love and affection all over the world. The government has given me all the four highest civilian awards in the past five decades

On his death

• A true symbol of our composite culture, Khan Sahib, through his mellifluous rendering of the shehnai, showed us that while God may manifest himself in many forms, piety finds its true expression through music.

Ustad Bismillah Khan Sahib was a great son of India.

-Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, on Death of Ustad on 21st August 2006

• As far as the shehnai is concerned no one will be able to bring out of it the magic of music the way Bismillah Khan had. None had been able to before he came, there will be none, now that he has gone.

- Gautam Ghose, Filmmaker, who made a documentry on Ustad Bismillah Khan