Khalid Hasan has, in his column, informed us that “this is K.L. Saigal’s centenary year, but not in Pakistan.” He regards this indifference to Saigal on our part as “a commentary on our boorishness and insincerity.”
Of course this is regrettable. But I must say that this was not so in the years gone by. At least in Lahore we had among us a sensitive soul in deep devotion to Saigal. Every year, at the approach of the month of January, I received a postcard informing me about the death anniversary of the celebrated singer:
The ceremony will be held at my gharib khana. I will have the honour to entertain you with rare songs of Saigal Anjahani. In the end, kheer will be served to the guests.
Yours,
Alauddin Mazhar
What a fine man and a devoted soul Alauddin Mazhar was, a true ashiq of Saigal.
I knew him from the days when he worked as a salesman at the bookshop of Maktab-i-Jadeed. I never missed the ceremony he arranged so devotedly at his house situated in a narrow alley of Mazang. The alley on that occasion appeared to stir with a new kind of jubilation. And as I stepped in the sitting room, to my pleasant surprise I found myself in a gallery of portraits. Kanan Devi, Jamuna, Lila Desai, Pankaj Malik, Pahari Saniyal, K.C. Day, to be brief all these artists were there. Amidst them in the centre was placed a large portrait of Saigal with a garland of roses round it. Nearby, on a table, was placed a gramophone with a bhompu fixed in it, the brand so popular in pre-Partition years, but now condemned of being outdated. But Alauddin was not going to part with it. The worn-out instrument evoked in him memories of times when Saigal was still alive.
“You know, I am from Jallundar and have been a neighbour of Saigal. Next to our house was the house where Saigal was brought up,” he pointed out to a discoloured tea-pot placed on a stand. “You see the tea-pot? It belonged to Saigal. Tea was served to Saigal from this very tea-pot.”
“But in the case of Saigal,” I interceded, “a wine cup is more relevant than a tea-pot or a tea-cup.”
Alauddin was deaf as he did not hear or pretended not to have heard what I said. After all, he was a devout Muslim and could hardly believe that his hero was addicted to drinking. He was content to believe that Saigal was fond of tea and that his favourite sweet dish was kheer. That was the reason why on the occasion of his death anniversary, he served kheer along with tea to his guests.
Alauddin had with him a big file stuffed with cuttings from newspapers and film journals. They were articles and reviews written about Saigal and the pictures he had worked in. He had, in fact, taken care to collect all what had been written about Saigal. Even writings where Saigal had been cursorily referred to had not escaped his notice.
Another file was a collection of the pictures of Saigal in different poses and in different roles as he had appeared in films. Saigal, in every role that he had ever played, seemed preserved in that collection.
But far more precious was his collection of gramophone records containing the film songs of Saigal. He claimed to have in his collection each and every song Saigal had sung during his lifetime. He further claimed to have in his collection some rare songs of Saigal which no gramophone company or film company of India can claim to have in its possession. He told me that HMV had planned to preserve all what Saigal had sung during his lifetime. “For a certain song which was not available anywhere in India, they approached me. I have that song in my collection. But I did not want to part with it,” he said once.
With these kinds of Saigal collections, Alauddin’s little house gave the impression of being a miniature Saigal museum. Everything here appeared Saigal-oriented. On the day of the death anniversary, the house was decorated in a special way. All his Saigal collections were put on display. Alauddin, like a true devout, paid homage to the great singer by garlanding his portrait and alighting candles in a ritualistic way. Then the age-old gramophone came into play. All the gramophone records which were on display this evening were now to be played one by one. It was going to be a long session and the selected listeners were expected to sit quietly, listening to Saigal and feeling his presence on the occasion.
Alauddin had with him a list of selected few, who according to him, had the developed taste to appreciate Saigal. One year, I saw Hafeez Jallundri attending this ceremony and paying compliments to the celebrated singer.
In fact, Alauddin was the maternal nephew of Hafeez Sahib. On the request of his nephew, he graced the occasion as a chief guest and paid glowing tributes to the singer in his own way.
Khalid Hasan has, in his column, informed us that “this is K.L. Saigal’s centenary year, but not in Pakistan.” He regards this indifference to Saigal on our part as “a commentary on our boorishness and insincerity.”
