Mir Mukhtiyar Ali and Mir Abdul Jabbar – trailblazers in reinvigorating sufiyana qalam singing of north- west Bikaner

During Holi this time, Abdul Jabbar and Razak Ali from Pugal visited us. Passionate involvement of enthusiastic students and motivating teachers of NID Film Club and SID, CEPT welcomed them with organizing small mehfils, where the Mirs enthralled the audience with their music.

We were graced by the Holi pyre at the Paldi village. The aura of the pure flames melted the accumulated rust on the pelt, vulnerable as we humans are to the corrosive impact of time. The colours of the desert (Rohi rang) permeated within our inner soul. As morning descended over the Sabarmati river, caressing its dark waters with the sublime illumination of the first rays from the rising sun, the true meaning of ideal of Fuqr-a-fannah (annihilation of the ego) as medium to an enlightened path to gnosis (knowledge) came to light.

Mir Mukhtiyar Ali and Mir Abdul Jabbar have been trailblazers in the arid desert landscape of Pugal. Despite economic hardships they took to rediscovering their tradition of singing sufiyana qalam, firming it up and singing it to the outside world. For most of the outside world Pugal had been arid backwaters where nothing grows and the devouring landscape is a stalking ground of drought and drudgery. With remarkable ingenuity these musicians have belied this paradox of aridity and creativity. They have shown that soul stirring music so relevant to the contemporary world plagued with xenophobic conflict, unbridled consumerism, social stress and ecological devastation of habitats of the poor, is nurtured in the sprawling horizons and start lit skies of the arid Thar. For them many of these live performances have been occasions to interact with audience who they feel knows about their music and the Sufi poetry they sing.

Mir Mukhtiyar Ali has been mesmerizing audiences not only all over Rajasthan but in the Indian metros of Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Mysore and many countries abroad. Taking Mir gayaki from the interiors of the Thar to new heights, he has emerged as the best exponent of his tradition and has established new standards for the young Mir singers. Mir Mukhtiyar is one of the star Sufi singers in the Kabir project of Shabnam Virmani of the Srishti Design School at Bangalore. Recently Mukhtiyar was telling of his live performance in Malwa, in the land of the famous Kabir singer Prahlad Singh Tiapniya, attended by thousands of audience. He was happy that SPICMACAY was giving him an opportunity to demonstrate Mir gayaki in different places in India.

Mir Abdul Jabbar is a versatile musician who sings along with his ecstatic playing of tabla, and is a deft player of the alogoza as well. He accompanied Mukthiyar during their intital journey of disseminating their Mir gayaki. For the past some time, Abdul Jabbar has taken to grooming young Mir singers, embellishing their singing with the nuanced intricacies of tabla beats and expositions about the sufiyana qalam of mystics like Bulleh Shah, Shah Hussian, Sultan Bahu, Khwaja Ghulam Farid. In addition to this he has been talking to old listeners and singers of the Pugal region to understand the deep message of wisdom, love, peace and dignity of all life inherent in the teachings of these Sufi mystics.

Photo Credits: Bibhas Das, Swasti Singh

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Mesmerizing Mir