Pankaj Udhas' wife and daughters on his Padma Bhushan honour: It was a bittersweet feeling, we wish he was with us
Late singer Pankaj Udhas was honoured posthumously with the Padma Bhushan — India's third-highest civilian award — for his contribution to the field of art. His wife, Farida Udhas, who accepted the honour from President Droupadi Murmu on Monday (April 28) evening, tells us, 'I received the award on his behalf. It was a bittersweet feeling. I felt so proud of him, but at the same time, missed him at every moment.'
The Ghazal maestro's daughters – Nayaab Udhas and Reva Udhas – also attended the ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in Delhi. Nayaab, his elder daughter, says, 'It was the proudest day of our lives. Dad took ghazal to the masses and as his daughters, Reva and I felt so proud when he was conferred with the Padma Bhushan. Everyone we met reiterated the same feeling. Meeting President Droupadi Murmu ji and our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji was heartwarming. They spoke so highly of dad and shared anecdotes of their memories of him. The fact that they spared the time to meet every winner and their families individually spoke volumes about how much they value art and its contributors.'
Reva, his younger daughter, 'felt his presence' at every moment. She tells us, 'We missed dad so much and wished he was there to receive it himself. It was an emotional moment for us, but we tried to stay strong. We feel proud that he was ours and we belonged to him.'
The singer, who had hits such as Chitthi Aai Hai (Naam; 1993) and Chandi Jaisa Rang Hai Tera, died on February 26, 2024, at the age of 72. A master of the ghazal genre, he began his rise to fame in the early 1980s with the album Aahat, which quickly became a sensation among music lovers.
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