And, hope for Sarangi as Ustad Khan gets support

The story of Ustad Faiaz Khan in City Express (December 12, 2012 --  Let Ustad's Sarangi spring magic soon), seems to have touched the hearts of musicians and music lovers of Bangalore. Reacting to the CE report, founder of Ananya GML Cultural Academy, Dr R V Raghavendra said that like-minded musicians in Bangalore are being approached for  a beneficiary programme for Ustad.

“We were all aware of the accident and Ustad's state of affairs. We were planning to help him. Your report furthered our cause and many people came to know about him. We approached the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (BVB) with the idea and they readily agreed to help Ustad by providing a hall free of cost,” Dr Raghavendra said.

He said that the Academy has finalsied a concert by Sarod maestro Pandit Rajeev Taranath at Khincha auditorium, in BVB. “We are finalising the event now. It will mostly be  on December 21 at 6 pm. We will help Ustad through our scheme Ananya Arogya Dhara,” Dr Raghavendra said.

While the Ustad seems to be keen on beginning his Gurukul sessions, his close aides and doctors wanted him to take rest and not miss his physiotherapy sessions. “The artiste will require physiotherapy treatment for the next six months and other medical support to heal his injuries. Pandit Rajeev Taranath has agreed to render the concert costless. In addition, the maestro has taken care of Ustad's hospital expenses. Ustad's younger son is a disciple of Pandit Taranath,” Dr Raghavendra said.  He said those who are keen to help Ustad can also directly approach sarang artiste.

Dr H N Suresh, BVB director said that the music and art lovers of Bangalore should come forward and support Ustad's cause. “He is a great artiste and a gift to India. Since we are committed to support any such cause, we have decided to lend a helping hand to Ananya Academy,” Dr Suresh said.