Google on Wednesday dropped a special Doodle in honour of the late shehnai maestro and Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan on his 102nd birth anniversary.
Born on 21 March 1916, Ustad Bismillah Khan is often credited with popularising shehnai in India. He was conferred with India’s highest civilian honours, Bharat Ratna. The music maestro had also been awarded with other three civilian honours, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri- a rare feat by any Indian.
He died on 21 August 2006 in Varanasi. His children include Zamin Hussain, Nazim Hussain, Nayyar Hussain, Kazim Hussain, Mehtab Hussain and also an adopted daughter, Soma Ghosh.
In December 2016, five of Ustad Bismillah Khan’s shehnais, four of which were made of silver, had gone missing from his son Kazim Hussain’s home in Varanasi. Later, Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force had arrested Nazare Hussain, one of Bismillah Khan’s grandsons, local jeweller Shanker Seth and his son Sujit Seth.
Google’s landing page has become quite popular in paying tribute to the legends of yesteryear.