Waris Shah, synonymous with the poignant ‘Heer’, the traditional folk of Punjab, is among the most widely sung poets of South Asia. The immortal masterpiece of Waris Shah titled ‘Heer Waris Shah’ or the romance of Heer Ranjha has become an integral part of the cultural memory of the people of Punjab. In addition to writing about this love legend, he is also credited for its soul-stirring melodic composition.
To celebrate 250 years of “Heer Waris Shah”, the India Habitat Centre focused its annual Lok Sangeet Sammelan this year on the love legend of Heer Ranjha and brought together the richness of some of the traditional folk melodies and their more recent urban interpretations featuring ‘Garden of Desire’ by ‘Chaar Yaar’ led by Madan Gopal Singh on the inaugural day and popular singers Jasbir Jassi and Rabbi Shergill on the second/concluding evening.
The soulful rendering of ‘Garden Of Desire’ by the ‘Chaar Yaar’, comprising the creative composer/vocalist Madan Gopal Singh, the ace guitarist and banjo player Deepak Castelino, sarod player Pritam Ghoshal and Amjad Khan on percussions, received standing ovation. Jasbir Jassi, who is also a trained classical singer, took the two-day festival to its climax with his tuneful renditions of Heer.
Rabbi Shergill regaled the audience with his latest film hits, forgetting the fact that it was a folk music festival and he was supposed to present the traditional pathos filled ‘Heer Waris Shah’.
Ibtida
Meanwhile, the Saurang Parampara Music Society of Moradabad Gharana and Guru Pradeep Shankar Academy of Promoting & Performing Arts jointly presented ‘Ibtida’, a two-day festival at the same venue. The inaugural evening proudly showcased ‘Silsila’/ Heritage of Moradabad and Ajrada Gharanas with jugalbandi of father and son at the Amaltas Sabhagar.
The inaugural evening ‘Silsila’ or heritage opened with sarangi jugalbandi between Ustad Ghulam Sabir Khan of the Moradabad Gharana and his gifted son and disciple Murad Ali Khan accompanied on tabla by Athar Hussain Khan. They played a melodious Alap and three compositions in raga Bihag moving gradually from Vilambit (slow) to Madhya Laya (medium tempo) and Drut Teental respectively. The mukhada of Vilambit Gat coming to ‘Sam’ via Dhaivat and Gandhar had an old world charm. Both the Ustad and Shagird inspired each other to come out with fresh improvisations. They concluded with thumri in Mishra Khamaj roaming through the beautiful pathways of ragas like Kaushik Dhwani and Tilak Kamod. On public demand, they also had to play “O nirmohi….” Dadra in Pahadi. Athar ably accompanied them on tabla especially during the Laggi sequence.
Ustad Hashmat Ali Khan of Ajrada Gharana played tabla with his son Akram Khan and grandson Zargham Khan, manifesting the typical nuances and repertoire of his famed gharana. Both Ustad Hashmat Ali Khan and Akram are renowned tabla players; hence the audience had witnessed their virtuosity earlier but young Zargham received the loudest applause. Akram introduced music lovers to a particular ‘qayeda’ of Ustad Habibuddin Khan in Teentala which he normally does not play due to the respect for the great Ustad. Zargham also wanted to try his hands on it and impressed the audience with the clarity of bols and his admirable sense of rhythm. All three of them played the choicest of qayeda, rela, paltas, fard and gat. Zaki Khan provided perfect lehra for the tabla trio.
The next evening, devoted to contemporary music and dance, opened with ‘Jashn-e-Raqs’ composed by Murad Ali Khan, who also played sarangi and sang the Sufi Kalams for Mahua Shankar’s Kathak performance. The compositions were melodious and Mahua had choreographed them with full involvement but the words of the lyrics were drowned in the loud noise of percussions. The festival concluded with “World Ethnic Music Ensemble” where Indian and Western music shared the stage featuring young talents from home and abroad. The first piece ‘Seeking You’ opened with the melodious shades of Kirwani on Sitar sitar by Fateh Ali Khan followed by Violin violin by Sultan Masud, Mandolin mandolin by Siraj Khan before Ravi Daniel started the Rhythmic rhythmic wamping on Guitar guitar joined by Fakhruddin Ghaffari on Darbuka darbuka and other percussions and Gyan Singh on tabla. The brilliant ensemble regaled the audience with a number of compositions from folk to contemporary music.
