Chand and Shadab Nizami in performance
A form for all seasons, Qawwali continues to connect with the fan and the faithful
“Tu yahaan musafir hai, ye sarai faani hai, Chaar roz ki mehmaan teri zindagani hai (You are a traveller in the world and the world is an illusion. Life is a four day play). This is how a qawwali defines life and spreads the universal truth by using music as a medium to reach god. The journey of qawwali over the years has been an interesting amalgamation of tradition and popular. From Sufi shrines to cinema halls, it continues to excite both the faithful and the fan. Be it “Bhar Do Jholi” set to Pritam’s tune in Bajrangi Bhaijaan or the pure Sufi strains at the recently concluded Urdu Heritage Festival in the Capital, qawwali finds an ear without fail.
According to Chand Nizami of the illustrious Nizami bandhu, whose voice is as identifiable as Nizamuddin dargah, when Khwaja Gareeb Nawaz came to India and witnessed great musical traditions he asked murids (disciples) to sing which later got developed as qawwali. “The reason for the use of indigenous language was Tableegh (to spread Islam) in the language which is known to the common man. Later when qawwali became a medium of art and dialogue, more dialects and languages such as Purabi and Punjabi were included.” The flow from one language to another has become a dominant feature of qawwali which originally developed in Persian. “Qawwali performances are being organised at festivals and concerts nowadays but there is a tradition of tours. Since we follow the lunar Islamic calendar, the traditional tours in India are not based on months but on the Urs (death anniversaries of Sufi saints) when a gharana travels to different part of the country where the shrines are located,” adds Nizami.
Across the border Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan brought the form to the world stage and now his nephew Rahat Ali Khan is taking the legacy forward. Earlier this year he performed during the Nobel Prize ceremony where his qawwali provided the perfect backdrop to what Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi stand for.
“There are miles left in spreading the real music of Khan sahab. I am trying my level best to spread his music as well his message of love which his music carries. He was a strict teacher and used to yell at me a lot. I still remember the incident when he was preparing his own composition and when I did not recite as instructed by him, he said in anger ‘Tu Apne kaullo na laya kar’ (do not add by yourself). I think it is only because of his strict training that I have reached this stage,” says Rahat, who was in the Capital recently.
In the past half century, the form of qawwali has changed from a traditional religious piece to an item in a Hindi film to a cool experiment in Coke Studio. In Hindi cinema itself it has changed many colours. From a melancholic “Teri Mehfil Mein Qismat Azma Ke Hum Bhi Dekhenge” (Mughal-e-Azam) to a comic “Humein to Loot Liya Milke Husn Walon Ne” (Ek Hilal) to a pedestrian “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom Sharabi” (5 Rifles), the form has seen many crests and troughs.
“My grandfather and father got numerous offers from film industry to sing for a film but they were against films as according to them it is forbidden to sing a Qawwali for a film but now perceptions have changed. Artists are interested in singing for films for its gets them and the form recognition,” says Nizami, who sang along with A.R. Rahman and Mohit Chauhan in “Kun faya kun” composition in Rockstar.
As for Qawwali going indie, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan gives it to youth’s fascination for electronic music and lack of patience for long hours of riyaaz. “Anyway it helps generate interest for the form in youngsters.” He sees no danger to the pure form. “Zameen nahi badla karti, mausam badalte hain. Qawwali was there for hundreds of year and will be there for hundred more years.”
Something in between…
Indira Nayak, a trained ghazal singer is also performing Sufi music for about 20 years. She brings elements of qawwali like manqabat to her sufiyana mehfil, which is a derivation of mehfil-e-sama, where sufi songs were sung at shrines. Hers is a set-up of an ensemble of artists where she sings kalams of Rumi and Bulle Shah. But unlike traditional qawwali she sings alone and sometimes with a male co singer. She is more concerned about entertaining the audience with sufi music which she presents with the interplay of instruments like darbuka, duff and even violin and drums which depends upon the kind of audience present at the mehfil. As many don’t get the content of Sufi songs, her focus is on rhythm. “A composition has to have soul and it transcends the barrier of language.”
A male bastion?
In the original Mehfil-E-Sama (Sufi concerts) held in medieval times, women were not allowed as most of them were organised at the shrines where women are not permitted. This became the reason why there are no known women qawwals. “Also, the established qawwals do not like to share stage with a woman qawwal as there is a pre-conceived notion in the masses that the art of qawwali is an art associated with the Muslim culture where only a man can sing it,” says Chanchal Bharti, who is among the few women qawwals in the country.
No comments:
Post a Comment