New Delhi, July 23: Political gestures too, at times, pull one's heart strings. Ustad Bismillah Khan will bear testimony to that. Moved by the sensitive response of the top political leaders who came forward to help him out of the crisis the shehnai maestro found himself in recently, Ustad Bismillah Khan has expressed his desire to perform exclusively for members of Parliament. His request has been honoured and arrangements are being made for a performance at the Balayogi Auditorium on August 7.
It is learnt that the Ustad offered to perform free of charge to return the favour of the political leaders during his illness. In addition to assistance from different quarters, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Congress president Sonia Gandhi had given him Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1 lakh respectively. The Bharat Ratna is one of the living legends in the world of music, was not only ill but also in deep financial crisis. The maestro, who is a great soccer fan and spends most of his time watching international football matches these days, is said to have told the leaders that he would love to perform for them before he breathes his last. Sources revealed that Congress leader Shivraj Patil made a proposal to handsomely compensate the Ustad for his performance and other leaders promptly agreed. The show will be exclusively for MPs and their spouses. When Mr Pramod Mahajan was the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, he had planned to hold cultural functions at regular intervals. But this did not materialise after his exit from the ministry. Now members hope that the shehnai magic on August 7 will cast a spell on the new minister Sushma Swaraj too and the parliamentary premises will have regular dose of something other than politics.