BIJLI BAI !

''Sahib bahut gazab ka rahin pirogram!'' Ajudhia started talking very animatedly after returning from the mujra of Bijli Bai.

He had been to the mujra of this great mujra artist and had returned after more than ten hours.


He was sweating profusely. Still he was very elated having been able to attend the mujra of this great artist.

''Kya zordar pirogram rahin sahib,..Phatte chak deen sahib hamar Bijli Bai.''

I was smiling and egging him on to get more tidbits of the mujra...
He had gone early in the evening and had returned in the wee hours of the morning
wearing gajras of jasmine flowers and sweet perfume of sweat.

Bijli Bai is a great artist and sings 'thumris' and 'Dadras' with a stuccato voice. Whenever she comes for a mujra to our town, people flock to listen to her in drones and are obliged to listen to her. All the work in offices and factories comes to a grinding halt. Such is the magic of her voice.

Another great thing about her is that she doesn't allow any lighting to be done for her mujras. She says that as per traditions all shayari and mujras should be done in the light of candles, or 'shamas' and not in neon lights.

Whenever she performs, people throw money in bundles of five hundreds and thousands. Even the people like Ajudhia throw money in hundreds and tenners.

She is the richest mujra performer of our country. Even Tatas and Birlas are no match to her. She is also very canny in concealing her wealth from the taxation officials. Even the taxation officials feel honoured for a single glance from her.

All the collections from the mujras are shown as gifts from the people who love her.

She visits our town almost everyday and performs at regular intervals and even at odd hours depending upon her mood. People keep waiting for hours for her mujra to start and hoping that her mood shall soon be right.

Long live our Bijli Bai....

--)(--
'Bijli Bai' is an imaginary character and it is only a piece of fiction.
All the rights of the image are with its rightful owners.