Faiyaz Khan - Personal Life

Personal Life

Considered a Neo-classicist by some scholars of Indian classical music, Faiyaz Khan was known for his broadmindedness, kindness, humility and sudden fits of temper that cooled almost instantaneously. Simple at heart, he cared little for the gifts and rewards ("inam") that was showered upon him in almost every place he performed. His associate and relative and lifelong companion Ghulam Rasul accounts an incident in the 1930s when a thousand rupee currency note was found tucked in the pocket of his sherwani (a long, collared and buttoned outer outfit) when it came home after being washed, cleansed, dried and ironed by the washerman. When asked by Rasul, the Ustad retorted in utter innocence - "How do I know that who is giving me what and how am I to know that a single currency note can be worth more than a hundred rupees?" In another incident which took place at Unaon, near Kanpur, a few years later; when the Ustad came to know that his patron was expending beyond his means to host the concert of the Ustad to celebrate the sacred thread ceremony of his son, Faiyaz Khan accepted only the fare for his return journey and blessed the child with a gold ring purchased from the local goldsmith during his afternoon stroll the day before.

Failing health due to a bout of typhoid in 1945 followed by tuberculosis restricted him to lower his pitch to "B" and "B Flat" though in his prime, he always sang in "C Sharp" and "C". The available recordings of the Ustad are almost entirely from his later years. By the time he died (on 5 November 1950 at Baroda), he had earned the reputation of being one of the greatest and most influential vocalists of the century.