Today is Begum Akhtar’s 103rd birthday. Born on October 7, 1914, she was a renowned Indian singer of Ghazal, Dadra, and Thumri genres of Hindustani classical music. She went on to receive the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for vocal music, and was also awarded Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan (posthumously) by the Indian Government. She is regarded as one of the most veteran and revered Ghazal singers in India and has thus been given the monicker, ‘of Mallika-e-Ghazal. Well, on the occasion of this auspicious day, Google has kept her as the doodle of the day.
Her journey in the world of music began in a salon in Lucknow as a young teenager – put up by her mother Mushtari bai, also a tawaif and soon within a short span of time, she became an artiste to reckon with. She became so famous for her musical prowess that only the distinguished were allowed entry to her mehfils. At a tender age, she dabbled with many creative career options right from acting in theatre in the 1920s in Kolkata, (mostly as a villain) to having a short stint in films as a songstress and an actor. She later on went in for a socially accepted life, when she tied the knot with barrister Ishtiaq Ahmed Abbasi, following which she went onto become the Mallika-e-Ghazal we all know her as, today.
During her last concert in Ahmedabad she raised the pitch of her voice as she felt that her singing had not been as good as she had wanted it to be and she felt unwell. The additional demand and stress that she put herself under resulted in her falling ill and was rushed to the hospital.
She died on 30 October 1974 in the arms of Nilam Gamadia, her friend, who invited her to Ahmedabad, which has become her final performance.
Her tomb was built in a mango orchard within her home, ‘Pasanda Bagh’ in Thakurganj area, of Lucknow. She was buried alongside her mother, Mushtari Sahiba. However, over the years, much of the garden of lost to the growing city, and the tomb fell into disrepair.The marble graves enclosed in a red brick enclosure, were restored in 2012, along with their pietra dura style marble inlay.Attempts are on to convert her home built in 1936 in China bazaar, Lucknow into a museum.
Amongst her disciples include Shanti Hiranand, who later herself received Padma Shri and wrote, a biography Begum Akhtar: The Story of My Ammi (2005). Art critic S. Kalidas directed a documentary on her titled Hai Akhtari.
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