Malkauns on shehnai, played by Ustad Bismillah Khan, is the usual anthem of North Indian weddings. Bollywood uses snatches of that raga to give a tone of truth to nuptials in film plots. Sougata Roy ...

My enduring memory of Bismillah Khan is of a sunny winter morning on the terrace outside his roof-top room in Benaras. He sat cross-legged on a charpoy soaking up the sun, with a half smile playing on ...