Ustad Vilayat Khan (1928 – 2004) is one of the greatest Sitarists who ever lived. He blazed a new trail in the field of gayaki baaj which is now being emulated by one and all. He belongs to the Imdad Khani Gharana from North India. He was the son of Ustad Inayat Khan Sahib and grandson of Ustad Imdad Khan Sahib. He set very high standards of performance and recordings for himself and adhered to them until the end. He rejected and refused the official awards that came his way because lesser artists than himself had already been awarded those titles much earlier. Those who listened to him and are his ardent followers know however that his personality and his artistic achievements will outlast official titles. His art transcends the ages.
This poem of mine titled Vilayat Khan is a tribute to his great genius. I sent him this poem a few years before he died. When I met him for the first time a couple of years before his death, he told me that he had made a poster of the poem and framed and hung it in his living room in New Jersey. I felt greatly honoured by this.
Click the link below to read the poem
UrduPlatform.com 