Maestro who became a cultural icon with an unmatched legacy

Ustad Rashid Khan, 55, who died in Kolkata on Tuesday after a prolonged illness, enthralled millions of listeners for over three decades.

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Like the other maestro, Sachin Tendulkar, connoisseurs of Hindustani classical music saw him grow from a teenage prodigy into one of its master practitioners right before their eyes.

He was the scion of the fabled Rampur-Sahaswan gharana, known for its languorous style of essaying a "bandish" in middle-slow tempo, and was the great-grandson of Inayat Hussain Khan. His talent was spotted early and he began his training under the tutelage of his maternal uncle Ustad Nisar Hussain Khan, who was one of the leading gurus of the prestigious Sangeet Research Academy (SRA) in Kolkata.

"Rashid bhai was all of six when he first stepped into the sprawling two-acre SRA campus," recalls Omkar Dadarkar, noted vocalist and a leading SRA teacher. The toddler was put through the paces by a team of gurus among whom were Pandit KG Ginde, Pandit Gyan Prakash Ghosh and Pandit Kumar Mukherjee. Vijay Kichlu, the moving spirit behind SRA, remained an abiding influence on him.