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Setar player Firoz Khan

He wonders if this musical instrument is fading away

NOVERA DEEPITA
AS I entered the house, the sweet tingling sound of setar had a soothing effect, like the gentle breeze on a hot and humid day. Firoz Khan was concentrating on his daily rewaz. His wife welcomed me warmly and we waited a while till he finished. As we stepped inside Firoz Khan stood up with a smile and put his setar aside. With a cup of tea we started our informal talk.
'Who was your first guru?' I asked. Firoz Khan said, 'I started to learn setar from my only guru Late LakshmiKanto Dey when I was only ten. It has been 32 years since then that I am playing setar.' He feels comfortable in playing in any media. He plays for audiocassettes, TV, radio and film from 1988 and performs solo recitals on stage. He plays for the background music for Bangladesh Television. Now he is working as a staff artiste for the Bangladesh Betar. The title music of the news of BTV is composed by Firoz Khan.
According to Firoz, 'It is difficult to earn a living through playing setar only. The style of music has changed a lot. Now-a-days setar is not used widely in the modern songs and the use of setar is gradually fading away. Now the western based music widely known as band music has taken the place where setar was played in the interludes and preludes previously. The inclination of listeners is towards band music and they are least interested in classical music.'
Firoz said that setar is a difficult instrument to play and if anybody wants to learn it he or she must give enough time to master it. He said, ' At least eight to ten hours should be spared daily for rewaz. These days time is a big factor for the learners who are not patient enough.'
The uncle of Firoz Khan is the talented setar player Khurshid Khan and he got his inspiration from him. Firoz's parents wanted
to make him a professional player and this is how he stepped in this profession. His wife used to play setar as well. But she quit because of her engagement in household works. Firoz doesn't want his sons
used to offer scholarships for very few learners but that also was ineffective. He said, 'The modern bands of our country get enough exposure as well as sponsorship for their stage performance. But if we
to become professional setar players. But he inspires them to play setar as a passion.
Firoz said with a sigh that there is very little scope for learning setar in our country. The government
want to stage a performance there is lack of fund, sponsorship and government patronisation. The atmosphere has to be created by the civil society.'
'There is music faculty in the
universities but separate faculty on musical instrument is not there.' Firoz grieved, 'It is very unfortunate that if I die there will be very few players left to carry on with our traditional instruments. I wish the prominent and affluent people to make an institute for the children who will learn setar and other deshi musical instrument which have a rich background.'
According to Firoz Khan there is very little recognition of the instrument players in Bangladesh in contrast to neighbouring countries like India or Pakistan. He said, 'It is a matter of shame that whenever any Indian artiste comes here and performs on stage they are paid handsomely and the audience is happy with whatever they perform. But they don't realise that each of these artistes are not of equal standard.'
'It was in 1984 when the SAARC summit was held here,' recalled Firoz, 'eleven artistes played an orchestra. I was the leader of the team and our playing was widely praised by the audience.' The senior artiste Khurshid Khan was also there. This is a fond memory of Firoz Khan.
Matiul Haque Khan and Yasin Khan are some of the other talented and popular setar players. 'They are established and well known in their own fields and they play in different media as well.'
In 1978 Firoz Khan received the first prize in the instrumental section of the competition of the Shishu Academy. He also got medal and certificate in the district level conference.
He traveled to many countries in cultural tours like Holland, England, Germany, Switzerland, France, Australia, India and other countries.
It is the dream of Firoz Khan that one day there will be a good number of children who will learning setar and will make the nation proud by popularizing what is our very own.