“Hum tabe jaim jab Bihar Sarkar bulayee. Jaim ta Shenai jaroor bajaim Bihariji ke mandir mein (I will go to Dumraon only when the Bihar government invites me. And if I go, I will surely play the shehnai at Bihariji temple.” These were the maestro’s words to his friend Rashid of Dumraon after the residents of his native place near Buxar made repeated requests to him to perform there.

Unfortunately, this never happened and the wish remained unfulfilled for the maestro as well as the locals of Dumraon.

The Bihar government virtually ditched him despite his child-like wish to perform at Dumraon. In 1994. the then chief minister of Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav had laid the foundation stone for a town hall on his name here but, the stone was removed by the police within hours of the ceremony as the proposed site was owned by the police department. The plan was to honour the shehnai maestro at this hall’s inauguration. Now the site is a garbage collection point.

Bismillah Khan had always been nostalgic about this place where he was born on March 21, 1916. About six years back, when a family member sold off their paternal house in Dumraon, he was irreconcilable. His eldest son, Mehtab, had then approached the Buxar district administration for help to save his father’s paternal house from being sold off. But his efforts proved futile. “Abba ghar bikne se bare shock mein rehate hain (My father remained under shock after losing his paternal house),” Mehtab had then said.

... contd.