"But what tongue shall tell the glory of it, the perpetual strength of it, and sublimity of its lonely desolation! And who shall paint the splendor of its light."
Khwaja Ghulam Farid, in praise of the desert (Rohi)
In their efforts to reinvigorate their tradition of sufiyayna qalam singing, the Mir musicians from Pugal, north west Bikaner have been reviving the pastoral splendor of the qalam of Khwaja Ghulam Farid (1841A.D. – 1901 A.D.), the great desert fakeer.
Khwaja Ghulam Farid one of the most popular Sufi poets in Siraiki language was born in 1845 A.D. at Kot Mithan, in a family of Arab settlers who had come along with the Arab forces. Also known as Farid Chachran from the place where he was born in Bahawulpur state he is one of the important Sufis of the Chishti silsila of Fariduddin Shakar Ganj. He is said to have spent many years in the blazing deserts between Bahawalpur and Pugal. The mediations of the intimate relation between men, their livestock and nature was so evocatively described by Ghulam Farid whose compositions are rich in imageries borrowed from the daily lives of the pastoralists of the north west Bikaner region.
Mirs have been known for their passionate and intimate renderings of the sufiyana qalam of Sufi mystics of
the north-west Indian subcontinent. The qalam of Baba Sheikh Farid, Sain Bulleh Shah, Hazrat Shah Hussain, Hazrat Sultan Bahu, Ali Haider and Khwaja Ghulam Farid are intrinsic part of the repertoire of this musical tradition. In particular compositions of Khwaja Ghulam Farid form the kernel of this tradition of the Mirs. These are mostly sung in Siriaki, a dialect of West Punjab having strong affinity with Sindhi and Punjabi. In addition to this soul stirring singing, the Mirs are deft players of been (a kind of bagpipe) and algoza (a double barrel wind instrument) whose reverberating and lilting melodies form part of the ethereal music of the Mirs, setting the mood for mehfis that steadily unfold in the majestic serenity of vast horizons and star lit desert nights. In addition to this, the Mirs have been musicians of the common people par excellence, serving as a medium of devotion, harbinger of peace, hope, love through their ecstatic performances of bhajans and vanis of Meera, Kabir, Gorakhnath, Baba Ramdev, Achalram and others that form part of the versatile repertoire of many among the Mirs.
For communities whose lives revolved around mobility on trade routes, trails of car
avans and free ranging pastoralism with its seasonal routes of transhumance, the compositions of Ghulam Farid borrowing from the symbols of everyday life of the pastoralists had an immense appeal. These compositions, while reaffirming the intimate ties communities had with nature, articulated the deep veneration they had for it. Many of the compositions by Farid are passionate descriptions of the bounties of the desert, an otherwise barren tract that comes to life with little rains. Like one of his most famous qalam Kaldi Jungle Vich is a pastoral romance par excellence that passionately describes how In the spring season the grasslands in the desert have come to life, the ponds are full to their brims with water and the vegetation, flocks of sheep and cattle are out in the grasslands and a lot of migratory birds have come to enjoy the bounties the desert offers.
Khwaja Ghulam Farid chooses rustic metaphors from life of the desert like praising pilu (a wild berry) or the rich desert grasses, the different shapes and colors of clouds, the mushrooming of temporary encampments on the chains of sand dunes after rains, the brightness of a rainbow, the rhythmic lilting sound of the bells of cattle marching in the vast sprawling grasslands, the teeming variety of birds, snakes, insects, vivid descriptions of dexterous pastoral women milking cows and their tough routines to debate the metaphysics of life and death. Farid is at his best when he draws on the imageries of everyday struggles of survival of common people in the harsh desert, like the qalam toba khata de pakdiya tadu sindhari da manu udaas hai builds on travails of people suffering from severe water crisis pleading to be blessed with a pond. Not only does the qalam resonates with the feelings of people it also has a graphic description of the place that would be chosen for such a (natural catchment of clayey soil...with no bushes and grasses) where water would freely flow from all the four directions.
The incidents of Farid’s life are well remembered and recounted by the pastoralists of the region. Like one of the significant ones are those surrounding his marriage. Ghulam Farid is said to have married a lady by the name of Hotan Laad, who was the daughter of one Lalu Laad. Pathane Khan of Adoori further elaborates on the significance and meaning of this bridal symbolism in qalam of Ghulam Farid.
“…Hotan was the daughter of Lal laad and Ghulan Farid was in love with her it… was true love…and wanted to marry her. Worldly love (duniaavi ishq) was so important and that was the way to true love for the God (Ishq hakiki).
The central idea of every qalam of Khwaja Farid is one, and that is love. He regards beauty as a mirror from which rays are reflected which lead to God. Khwaja Farid was also a connoisseur of music and his home was a haven for leading musicians. A believer in the philosophy of Wahdat-al- Wajood (Unity of Being), he believed that music was a significant means of achieving divine unity .
Photo Credits: Vikram Channa, Sunil Rakecha, Bibhas das
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