kolkata approximately 100 audio cassettes with rare recordings of classes taken by swara samrat ustad ali akbar khan in america are in urgent need of digitisation and restoration on the ninth death anniversary of the legendary musician on monday his immediate family in kolkata is hoping that the state government will come to the rescue if a museum on him is set up in the city they are willing to share these recordings along with other valuables including his books photos and padma bhushan certificatekhan who has been the guru of asha bhonsle rd burman pt brij bhushan kabra vidushi sisirkana dhar chowdhury and has scored the music for merchantivorys the householder satyajit rays devi ritwik ghataks ajantrik tapan sinhas khudito pasan and chetan anands aandhiya has been one of the pioneers to propagate indian classical music in the west as a token of respect for him lata mangeshkar didnt charge a remuneration when he sang the title song har kahin pe shaadmani for aandhiyan incidentally khan was the first indian musician to record an lp album of indian classical music in the united states and to play sarod on american television he had received five grammy nominations in 1997 he was given the national endowment for the arts prestigious national heritage fellowship this is the united states highest honour in the field of traditional artsincidentally most of his treasure trove is preserved at the ali akbar college of music in california or at his maihar residence the ranikuthi residence has some valuables including this rare cassette collection over the last twothree decades they were in the custody of his daughter ameena perera before her demise in 2016 perera would listen and play them for her students they were not played after her demise and need digitisation its not possible for an individual to professionally treat these tapes with the latest technology to ensure longtime preservation i hope the state government offers professional expertise to preserve them properly said pereras daughter raki sree eleperumaon monday she pulled out the drawers that are stacked with her mothers collection of her grandfathers recordings of bandishes as well as orchestra pieces in 1967 the government had bestowed the legend with the padma bhushan in 1989 he was awarded the padma vibhushan the padma bhushan certificate is framed and hangs on one of the walls of house at the far end of the drawing room is a bust of the legend sculpted by noted artist sarbari roy chowdhury my mother used to treasure this bust it bears a striking resemblance with my grandfather that apart there are scrolls medals photos and portraits of my grandfather and great grandfather currently the ranikuthi residence cant host a museum if the government sets up a museum im willing to share my archive so that they are accessible to the new generation of musicians she saidmeanwhile the maestros son ustad aashish khan is also keen that a museum comes up in the city my father had a strong