The Dilli (or Delhi) gharana of vocalists and instrumentalists may be the oldest school of Hindustani music if the present khalifa (head of the house) Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan is correct. He insists that it is even older than the Gwalior gharana of Dhrupadiyas started by Raja Man Singh Tomar.  Iqbal sahib says Dilli artistes sang Dhruvaur Padh from Ameer Khusro’s time (13th-14th century). But all that is in the past. The present is a trying time for all gharanas of Hindustani vocal and in