NOTE MAKING (Passage – 1) 3.

1 Read the passage given below and answer the questions

that follow: Residents of the Bhirung Raut Ki Gali, where Ustad Bishmillah Khan was born
on March 21, 1916, were in shock. His cousin, 94-year -old Mohd Idrish Khan had tears in
his eyes. Shubhan Khan, the care-taker of Bismillah’s land, recalled : “Whenever in
Dumaraon, he would give rupees two to the boys and rupees five to the girls of the locality”.
He was very keen to play shehnai again in the local Bihariji’s Temple where he had started
playing shehnai with his father, Bachai Khan, at the age of six. His original name was
Quamaruddin and became Bishmillah only after he became famous as a shehnai player in
Varanasi. His father Bachai Khan was the official shehnai player of Keshav Prasad Singh,
the Maharaja of the erstwhile Dumaraon estate, Bismillah used to accompany him.

For Bishmillah Khan, the connection to music began at a very early age. By his teens, he
had already become a master of the shehnai. On the day India gained freedom, Bismillah
Khan, then a sprightly 31 year-old, had the rare honour of playing from Red Fort. But
Bishmillah Khan won’t just be remembered for elevating the shehnai from an instrument
heard only in weddings and naubatkhanas to one that was appreciated in concert halls
across the world. His life was a testimony to the plurality that is India. A practicing
Muslim, he would take a daily dip in the Ganga in his younger days after a bout of kusti in
Benia Baga Akhada. Every morning, Bishmillah Khan would do riyaaz at the Balaji temple
on the banks of the river. Even during his final hours in a Varanasi hospital, music didn’t
desert Bishmillah Khan. A few hours before he passed away early on Monday, the shehnai
wizard hummed a thumri to show that he was feeling better. This was typical of a man for
whom life revolved around music. Throughout his life he abided by the principle that all
religions are one. What marked Bishmillah Khan was his simplicity and disregard for the
riches that come with musical fame. Till the very end, he used a cycle rickshaw to travel
around Varanasi. But the pressure of providing for some 60 family members took its toll
during his later years.

ENGLISH XII 24

2.1 On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes using headings and sub-
headings. Use recognizable abbreviations where necessary. (05 marks)

2.2 Make a summary of the above passage in not more than 80 words using the notes made
and also suggest a suitable title. (03marks)

Answer 2.1.

BISMILLAH KHAN – A LEGEND

1. Shocked at demise

1.1 cousin I. Khan in tears

1.2 caretaker of Dumaraon recalls

1.2.1 gave Rs 2 to boys

1.2.2 Rs 5 to girls

2. His initial life

2.1 org. name Quamaruddin

2.2 played shehnai with father at temp

. 2.3 got famous as Bismillah at Varanasi.

3. Music was family heritage

3.1 father: Dumarao’s court poet

3.2 played Shehnai from 6 yrs.

3.3 played Shehnai at Red Fort in 1947, age 31

4. Daily schedule in Vns.

4.1 took dip in Ganga

4.2 riyaz at Balaji Temp.

4.3 Hummed thumri before his last breath.

5. Bismillah believed in secularism

5.1 all religions are one

5.2 believed in plurality of life

5.3 pract. Islam ENGLISH XII 25

Abbreviations used Rs – rupees

Org. – original

Temp. – temple

Fml. – family

Mem. – member

Pract. – Practised
2.2 SUMMARY BISMILLAH KHAN – A LEGEND Ustad Bismillah Khan was born and
brought up at Dumaraon. He started learning music at a very early age. He used to play
shehnai with his father at the temple at Varanasi. He even accompanied his father who
was a court poet at Dumaraon. He got the honour of playing shehnai at Red Fort on the
occasion of Independence. He believed in secularism and believed that all religions are one.
Music was his soul. He breathed his last at Varanasi, but he played thumri before that on
his death bed.
I remember my childhood as being generally
happy and can recall experiencing some of the
most carefree times of my life. But I can also
remember, even more vividly, moments of
being deeply frightened. As a child, I was truly
-terrified of the dark and getting lost. These
fears were very real and caused me some
extremely uncomfortable moments.
Maybe it was the strange way things looked and
sounded in my familiar room at night that scared
me so much. There was never total darkness, but
a street light or passing car lights made clothes
hung over a chair take on the shape of an
unknown beast. Out of the corner of my eye, I
saw curtains move when there was no breeze. A
tiny creak in the floor would sound a hundred
times louder than in the daylight and my
imagination would take over, creating burglars
and monsters. Darkness always made me feel
helpless. My heart would pound and I would lie
very still so that ‘the enemy’ wouldn’t discover
me.</li>
<li>Another childhood fear of mine was that I
would get lost, especially on the way home from
school. Every morning, I got on the school bus
right near my home—that was no problem.
After school, though, when all the buses were
lined up along the curve, I was terrified that I
would get on the wrong one and be taken to
some unfamiliar neighbourhood. I would scan
the bus for the faces of my friends, make sure
that the bus driver was the same one that had
been there in the morning, and even then ask the
others over and over again to be sure I was in
the right bus. On school or family trips to an
amusement park or a museum, I wouldn’t let the
leaders out of my sight. And of course, I was
never very adventurous when it came to taking
walks or hikes because I would go only where I
was sure I would never get lost.</li>
<li>Perhaps, one of the worst fears I had as a
child was that of not being liked or accepted by
others. First of all, I was quite shy. Secondly, I
worried constantly about my looks, thinking
people wouldn’t like me because I was too fat or
wore braces. I tried to wear ‘the right clothes’
and had intense arguments with my mother over
the importance of wearing flats instead of
saddled shoes to school. Being popular was very
important to me then and the fear of not being
liked was a powerful one.</li>
<li>One of the processes of evolving from a
child to an adult is being able to recognise and
overcome our fears. I have learnt that darkness
does not have to take on a life of its own, that
others can help me when I am lost and that
friendliness and sincerity will<br />
encourage people to like me. Understanding the
things that scared us as children helps to cope
with our lives as adults

Title: Memories of Childhood

Summary:

My childhood moment was the happiest and carefree moment.

Darkness scared me with its shadows, moving of curtains,
and creaking sounds. It made me quite helpless and I used
to lie still with a pounding heart. I had the fear of
getting lost while on way from home to school. Before
getting in school bus, I scanned it for friendly faces. I
had the fear of being disliked by others. During the
course of evolution from a child to an adult, I realised
those things that scared me as a child. I was always
expecting help from others.