Sufiyana Qalam, Ibtadayi Baat

Ghulam Mohammad Mir is from Pugal in Bikaner, who has learnt classical music as well for eight years in Bahawalpur, proudly says

“…this is the area of Sufiyayna qalam...this region has been blessed by one of the mort important Sufis, Khwaja Ghulam Farid who has spent considerable time of his life here and composed in the praise of the desert…our singing is different from the Sindh region…it has similarities with the Patiala and Sham Chaurasi Gharana of Punjab, exponents of which have sung immortal sufi qalam. In our tradition the most common ragas are Bhimpalasi, Malkauns and Multani Kafi…”

Expounding further on the tradition the regal old man tells that Ishq (love) was the first thing to be made by Allah when he created Muhammad. He then sang in his sonorous voice the ibtadayi baat (tale of the beginning) as is expressed in a qalam by Ali Haider. It talks of the primordial relationship between Ishq and gana (song) at a time when there was nothing else:

“Jadon Ishq wali bang mele saiya puchan laga kaun imam ha

Na nau kalam na kurshi arash

na zamin te na asmana

na macca mojij te na ganga tirath

na kufr te na Islam ha

Ali Haider mian

Jadon Ishq de hath wich gana jad Ishq he Ishq da Imam ha"

"when I heard the call of love

the beloved asked: what sort of Imam are you!

I said: neither of the earth nor the sky

nor from miraculous places like macca or sacred pilgrimages like ganga

Neither the Kafir, nor the Islam

Ali haider, Oh dear when love sings

I am the Imam of love and love alone"

Hear Ustad Ghulam Mohammad 

Kesariya Balam Aavo ne Padharo Mhare Des

Over the last few decades the quaint and rustic representation of ‘Rajasthani folk music’ has transmuted into a veritable trope of brand ‘Rajasthan’ being represented in different forms and patterns by public and private actors. A handful of musicians from these communities are now regulars on national and international festivals, tours and cultural exchange circuits of different genres of ‘world music’. This has contributed to the much hyped visibility of folk musicians from the Thar desert. The production of culture industry incessantly expands in its all encompassing influence becoming widespread with many Indian and foreign labels fervently producing ‘haunting’, ‘seductive’, ‘melodic’, ‘lilting’, ‘soul stirring’ folk music from the deserts of Thar, Rajasthan.  Latest to join the on going glitter of culture industry are mega live music events amidst sand dunes, recreating the royal heritage, organised in collusion by media syndicates, local tourism lobby and regional elites. The folk musicians are paraded endlessly to adorn the gatherings of culture elite, fairs and festivals in Rajasthan. Folk music interludes are a quintessential feature in tour and travel packages for foreign and domestic tourists. The enticing overtures and soul stirring renditions of these musicians are ceaselessly marketed globally and locally by music industry- tourism complex.

 

Underneath this scintillating and loud sonic extravaganza of folk music lies a sordid story of languishing traditions, pathos and destitution that characterizes lives of majority of these marginal practitioners of culture. Issues of everyday existence, dignified survival and well being of these musician communities continue to escape public discourse with unceasing monotony. The ‘intoxicating headiness’ whipped up by a series of fleeting yet bewitching representations of Rajasthani folk music surreptitiously casts a thick veil over everyday hardships of living contexts of these musician communities and their music traditions. 

And the lilt of the archetypal Padharo Mhare Des goes on...

Sufiyana Qalam on Been

Ustad Nazre Khan is from Pugal, Bikaner in the state of Rajasthan. He is a deft player of been (a kind of bagpipe). He sings as well often accompanying others in a sufiyana qalam.

In one of the mornings in his house in Pugal he played been

Ustad Nusrat Ali Fateh Ali Khan: The Legend Lives on

Sanson ki mala pe simron mein pi ka naam

hear this