Sufi qawwali is a melting pot of Islam-Hindu culture; the supreme integration of spiritualism. Though the Indian version adopts much of the Hindu imagery, even the chaste Islam Sufism points to the Upanishadic tenet of the ‘Unseen’ beyond and the ‘Seen’ within. This intangible concept gets qualified and quantified in imagery which is expressed in a sufi kalam – “Darasal ek hai mera khudha, tera bhagwan”. If one were to go to a qawwali with this view in mind, one would experience the elation that this genre is designed to bestow. The well-known Warsi brothers, Nasir and Nazir, with their delectable theme, gave the audience just this ecstatic joy.
The repertoire was a judicious mix of Amir Khusro, Kabir and such others whose kalaam is perceptively secular, romantic like the ‘Madhura bhakti’. The kalaam on “Har mey Hark ko dekha, dekha….har mera hai har ki moorath” where the term ‘har’ denotes everyone as well as Hari, the lord, or “yeh hai sookhi lakdi; sookha chamda, sookhe taar…” are replete with an underlying connotation that has to be gleaned by reading (rather hearing) between the lines! The intermixing of bol taan and akaar taan added a touch of classicality to the qawwali. The tonal variations alternating between the duo and other singers, propped by rhythmic clapping, spiralled the tempo where the lines got sorted out with varying stresses on the refrain, investing it with myriad meanings. Be it the chant of ‘Ali peer, Ali peer,’ or ‘Khwaja merey khwaja…’ or the typically Sufi thought through the ‘sookhi lakdi…’ song, which indicates the emptiness/dead of the tabla made of dead leather (sookha chamda) , the harmonium, fashioned out of dead wood (sookhi lakdi) and sookhe taar (dry tone), the songs tugged the heart strings. No music, however, re-mixed can elicit a bliss like the Qawwali, sung to profound tones. All-time favourites like ‘naina milake…’, ‘Woh mujhmey samaaya, woh tujh mey samaaya,’ elicited enthusiastic response from the listeners. The briefing about each qawwali and the emotive rendition was a treat of sorts to all Sufi music aficionados.
This was preceded by a percussion fusion by Pranshu Chaturlal accompanied by guitar and harmonium. He played a few pieces using both the tabla and the drums alternately, with bol. While the tabla was able to spell out the bhol, the drums weren’t articulate.
Aptly titled ‘Ibadat’, the event was an in-memoriam to the slain soldiers of our country, organised by Shrutiyaan.