LAHORE - Keeping the unfortunate tradition of forgetting the national heroes alive, the 12th death anniversary of Shahensha-e-Qawwali Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan largely went unnoticed on Sunday, as no ceremony was organised for remembering and paying tribute to the legend whose music tunes still mesmerise the people across the world. From the very beginning, Nusrats father, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, refused to allow him to join the family profession but Nusrats passion ultimately convinced him to coach him in this art. Nusrat started his musical career as a tabla player and soon he started to sing the most difficult chapter of music, the Qawwali. He used to perform at shrines, weddings ceremonies and fairs. Senior producer PTV and the eminent poet Ayub Khawar says Nusrat was an ideal singer of modern era as he invented modern Qawwali by mixing the classical and pop music. Nusrat was my best friend who always consulted me in his every song. He was very hardworking as I have seen him on keyboard for more than 18 hours a day. He further said when he sung Sajnaan Ray Tery Bin Mora Jiya Naheen Lagay Ray for the first time each one among the audience could feel his voice echoing spirituality. An eminent poet Khalid Ahmad said Nusrat was a brilliant musician who was an institution in classical music. Talking about Nusrats global reach, he says the Japenese call him the Buddha of music while he is still regarded as the voice of paradise by the Americans, adding he had God gifted qualities inspiring his fans with his extra ordinary variety and distinctive voice. The fans of Nusrat endorsed him the status of Shahensha-e-Qawali. He left the world so early at the age of 48 but left behind a legacy, which is an incredible chapter of the music history. A famous film and television singer Humaira Channa said she worked with the great artist in a very friendly atmosphere when they were working together for the film Pal Do Pal. She said it was near impossible to find his replacement for the great maestro who blended eastern and western instruments in way no one had even thought before. Another senior PTV producer pointed to the fact that a large number of Indian classical and pop singers and composers including AR Rehman, film lyricist Javeed Akhtar and Himesh were highly impressed by Nusrat. He said in a very short span of time, Nusrat had composed a large treasure of music. Nusrat reached out to the western audiences through his work with Peter Gabriel on the soundtrack of the Last Temptation of Christ in 1985, his collaborations with Canadian musician Michael Brook and his work with Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie in 1995 on two songs for the Dead Man Walkings soundtrack. Many prominent vocalists today, both in India and Pakistan, get inspiration form the legend and are copying him to sharpen their musical skills as many of Nusrats popular songs, like Meri Tauba Meri Tauba, are being remixed by new talent in India to enhance their skills. A large number of Pakistani singers including Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Naeem Abbas Rufi also imitated him, while the Guinness Book of World Records has also termed Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan as the most spiritual singer of music as he holds the record in Qawwali by presenting more than 125 albums as of 2001.