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Malika
Pukhraj was born to Gulzar Begum and Abdullah Khan in a small village close to
Jammu called Hamirpur Sidhar. The village was located very picturesquely upon
the banks of the Akhund River. From the very start Malika was exposed to a
disciplined and strict regimen and she began training as a three-year-old with
Ustaad Ali Baksh Kasuriya, the father of Ustaad Baray Ghulam Ali. At the age of
five years, she left for Delhi to learn music and dance (nirth bhahu) with
famous musicians like Ustaad Momin Khan, Ustaad Mollah Bukhsh Talwandi and
Ustaad Ashiq Ali.
The turning point in her
career came when she returned to Jammu as a nine year old to attend the taj
poshee (crowning ceremony) of the Maharajah Hari Singh. Her fame had travelled
before her and the Maharajah having received intimation of her talent employed
her at his court. At the age of 9, Malika became a gazetted officer, for she
earned over Rs. 500 a month as her stipend. The many years that she spent at the
Maharajah's court allowed her to excel, for she performed at the darbar on a
regular basis, mostly rendering classical music, that is, thumris and dadras and
sometimes ghazals and geets. During her sojourn at the court, she performed in
front of innumerable members of the sub-continent's princely ranks, including
the Maharajah of Patiala
At the age
of 17, she left the employment at the Maharajah's court and took many decisive
steps in her personal life. She married Syed Shabbir Hussain, who was a well
respected literary figure in his own right, particularly in the field of Urdu
short stories. It was during this period, that Malika matured as an artist, both
due to her exposure as Shah sahib's wife, through whom she met well known poets
like Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Hafeez Jallandhri and through her regular performance
on All India Radio. Radio at this stage was critical for popularizing music and
Malika rendered many thumris, dadras and ghazals during this period. It was her
ghazals that won her acclaim and she began to develop a regular fan club.
Malika's style of music became very popular especially her ghazals, since her
Urdu pronunciation was extremely good.
Malika had been taught Urdu
by a Principal of a local college during her stay in Delhi. Her Urdu teacher was
particularly fond of her and would often ask her to sing "naats" to him.
However, as a child she did not appreciate his rigorous teaching and would often
wish him ill. Little did she realize at this stage what an important role that
would later play in making her a super star. Based on the success of her ghazals,
she practically stopped singing dadras and thumris at this stage and along with
her contemporary Begum Akhtar, brought ghazal into the main fold of
sub-continental music.
Web Links:
http://www.malikapukhraj.com/index.html
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