Naushad ........stood by the classical tradition

Naushad  Ali  will be remembered as the man who, throughout his career ,unflinchingly stood by the music he believed in-Indian classical  and folk. In the very early years it was easy enough ,when he had several like minded cotemporaries. But decades later ,when melody and poetry were thrown away with yesterday’s left 0vers  and many of the veterans desperately tried to change with the times ,Naushad refused to swerve from his stand. He quit and the film industry lost for all practical purposes The music director who had given ir such classical scores as Rattan,Baiju Bawra and Mughal-e-Azam .

  A lover of music from childhood for which sin ,he had to face his father’s wrath and leave home.Naushad moved solely on the strength of his talent, from pavements to the palaces of Mumbai.But he never for got his roots nor his culture and its folk and classical manifestations.Helped by the exquisite poetry of Shakeel,Naushad produced melodies which had the Indian musical tradition s their essence. His almost high-handed dismissal of Western influences and his over emphasis on classical music won him many critics who found his stand un reasonable. But to day in the era of A.R.Rahman and others does it really sem so?May be Naushad might have known better than his critics.