Mausam aayenge jayenge…hum tumko bhool na payenge - the ghazal legends, Hussain Brothers

By: Sunil Kumar Mishra

Ustad Ahmad Hussain and Mohammed Hussain during a performance (Image Credit - The Hindu)

Mausam aayenge jayenge…hum tumko bhool na payenge (Seasons will come and go but we can never forget you) is a great ghazal by Hussain Brothers (sons of Rajasthan based renowned thumri singer and ghazalkar Ustad Afzal Hussain ). This ghazal is a favoutrite of many ghazal lovers.

The Pink City (Jaipur) in Rajasthan, the city to which Ahmed Hussain and Mohammed Hussain (Hussain Brothers) belong to, have made deep impressions in their compositions.  The city's influence in them is acknowledged by several of their work, like...

 “Musafir hai hum to chale ja rahe hai, bada hi suhana gazal ka safar hai;Pata puchte ho to itna bata dun, hamara thikaana gulabi nagar hai”

The duo started their career in Thumri, by singing as  child artists for All India Radio, Jaipur. Guldasta was their first album, which was released in 1980. It brought a lot of success in the life of these two brothers and made them legends in Indian gazal history. 

Since then, they have released about 50 albums in which Rahnuma, Sarmaya, Veer-Zara, The Golden Moments - "Purkaif Hawayen Hain" The Golden Moments - "Pyar Ka Jazba" The Golden Moments - "Mausam Aayenge - Jaayenge”,Ai-Saba, Tasveer , Pyar Ka Jazba , are few prominent albums.

Their recent album under Saregama label "Khwab Basera" is also a very notable one among the large corpus of popular ghazal performance from Hussain Brothers.

Music cuts across all barriers in case of Hussain Brothers and those who love their music. The bhajans composed by them on Hindu deities for albums like Shraddha , Bhavna, Anupam Vani are very popular.

In an interview with Rajya Sabha TV, Hussain Brothers acknowledge several factors which influenced their style. Almighty Allah, their father and the Mishra family of Jaipur, Sitara Devi, Kalyan Ji and Anand Ji played great role in shaping up the style, they said.

       Shakhsiyat with Ustad Ahmed Hussain & Ustad Mohammed Hussain

Hussain Brothers got lot of accolades for their performance of the qawwali –“Aaya tere der pe diwana”. It attained mass appeal when included in the popular Bollywood movie Veer- Zara in 2004, on the request of Yash Chopra.

Hussain brothers have performed in different countries and have mesmerized people with their music across national boundaries. Fans of their work have even started a Fan Club for them in the US.

The use of slow and high pitch is integral to their distinctive style that made them different from other gazalkars. In the words of Ahamad Husaain; Gazal ko samajh kar gana he gazal ka asli maene hai kyonki; ‘ai gazal tere adeb ki missal kya deta, tu tawaif ke labo par bhi be-adeb na hue’ (It is important to sing ghazls with understanding its real meaning).

Listening to their work, where the mesmeric rendition is enmeshed with the way in which the ghazal  communicate the deep philosophy and the sad reality of life, is the zenith of bliss for any ghalzal over. Like they sing in this ghazal on the journey of life.

“Zindagi ki raah me, aise makam aate rahe

Chod de manjil to manjil ke payam aane lage

Ajnabi mahfil se bhee abto salam aane lage

Zindagi ki raah me, aise makam aane lage”