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Mon, 15/03/2010 - 01:30
Submitted by Reena Daruwalla on Mon, 18/01/2010 - 08:55
Mehdi HassanMy memories of Ghazal Maestro Mehdi Hassan’s live performances when I was teenager and a student studying vocal Indian classical music in Pune are indelible. I remember raptly listening to his rich baritone rendering one after another classic, most of which I already knew by heart. I remember his marvelous renditions as he enriched each of his ghazals with more vocal embellishments and impromptu variations. I also remember the bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label that graced the stage along with him, whose levels continued to diminish as the evening of song progressed but that is just an irrelevant detail.
The reason that has recalled to mind irresistibly the voice of arguably one of the best male ghazal singers we have ever known (I said male because Begum Akhtar has undisputed pride of place in the ghazal world according to me), is the recent Times of India initiative Aman ki Aasha which is bridge building exercise between the two nations of India and Pakistan. The following lines by Gulzar touch the heart and recall to mind that beautifully rendered ghazal Abke hum bichchde the lyrics of which Gulzar has cleverly interwoven into the lines of the poem:
Aakhon ko Visa nahi lagta
Sapno ki sarhad hoti nahi,
Band Aakhon se roz main sarhad paar chala jataa hoon milne Mehdi Hassan se.
Sunta hoon unki awaz to chot lagi hai,
Ab kehte hai sookh gaye hai phool kitabon mein,
Yaar Faraz bhi bichchad gayen hai,
Shayad woh mile kabhi khwabon mein
Both Gulzar and Mehdi Hassan are examples of the ironic dichotomy that represents the Indian and Pakistani nations and their people. Gulzar was born in undivided India in Dina, what is now the Jhelum District of Pakistan. Mehdi Hassan on the other hand was born 1927, before partition on the Indian side of the dividing line in the village of Luna in what is now the Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan. Each now lives on the other side of the border from where they were born. Each underlines the fact that people on both sides of the border are essentially the same; we look alike, we speak alike, we eat alike; we share the same taste in music and films.
If Bollywood is the Indian export that the Pakistanis probably enjoy the most, it is Pakistani musicians that we Indians love the most. Whether it is Mehdi Hassan or the other great Ghazal Maestro Ghulam Ali, whether it is the marvelous Qawwals of the tradition of Abida Parveena and the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan whose legacy is now carried forward ably by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan his nephew, or whether it is more modern singers such as Atif Aslam (who Mahesh Bhat memorably got to sing for his film Zeher), Ali Zafar, Ali Azmat (of Junoon fame) and the talented group Strings. It is these talented individuals that will, in the end do more for Indo-Pak peace than our politicians will ever do, perhaps?
Mehdi HassanMy memories of Ghazal Maestro Mehdi Hassan’s live performances when I was teenager and a student studying vocal Indian classical music in Pune are indelible. I remember raptly listening to his rich baritone rendering one after another classic, most of which I already knew by heart. I remember his marvelous renditions as he enriched each of his ghazals with more vocal embellishments and impromptu variations. I also remember the bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label that graced the stage along with him, whose levels continued to diminish as the evening of song progressed but that is just an irrelevant detail. The reason that has recalled to mind irresistibly the voice of arguably one of the best male ghazal singers we have ever known (I said male because Begum Akhtar has undisputed pride of place in the ghazal world according to me), is the recent Times of India initiative Aman ki Aasha which is bridge building exercise between the two nations of India and Pakistan. The following lines by Gulzar touch the heart and recall to mind that beautifully rendered ghazal Abke hum bichchde the lyrics of which Gulzar has cleverly interwoven into the lines of the poem:
Aakhon ko Visa nahi lagta
Sapno ki sarhad hoti nahi,
Band Aakhon se roz main sarhad paar chala jataa hoon milne Mehdi Hassan se.
Sunta hoon unki awaz to chot lagi hai,
Ab kehte hai sookh gaye hai phool kitabon mein,
Yaar Faraz bhi bichchad gayen hai,
Shayad woh mile kabhi khwabon mein
Both Gulzar and Mehdi Hassan are examples of the ironic dichotomy that represents the Indian and Pakistani nations and their people. Gulzar was born in undivided India in Dina, what is now the Jhelum District of Pakistan. Mehdi Hassan on the other hand was born 1927, before partition on the Indian side of the dividing line in the village of Luna in what is now the Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan. Each now lives on the other side of the border from where they were born. Each underlines the fact that people on both sides of the border are essentially the same; we look alike, we speak alike, we eat alike; we share the same taste in music and films.
If Bollywood is the Indian export that the Pakistanis probably enjoy the most, it is Pakistani musicians that we Indians love the most. Whether it is Mehdi Hassan or the other great Ghazal Maestro Ghulam Ali, whether it is the marvelous Qawwals of the tradition of Abida Parveena and the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan whose legacy is now carried forward ably by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan his nephew, or whether it is more modern singers such as Atif Aslam (who Mahesh Bhat memorably got to sing for his film Zeher), Ali Zafar, Ali Azmat (of Junoon fame) and the talented group Strings. It is these talented individuals that will, in the end do more for Indo-Pak peace than our politicians will ever do, perhaps?
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