Mehdi Hasan had hardly stepped out of his teens when Partition happened and the family moved to Pakistan. The early years were full of hardships, he had to take up a job as a mechanic, initially repairing bicycles and then assembling tractor engines. However, he did not give up his riyaz, a practice that stood him in good stead when he was auditioned for Radio Pakistan in the fifties. The rest, as they say, is history.

The Man and his Music, has been a big seller and is being bought not only by music enthusiasts but also by others to give as a gift to Mehdi Hasan innumerable fans, both in and outside the subcontinent. Came the sixties and Mehdi Hasan earned a big name for himself as a versatile vocalist.