City-based NGO Sarhad has published a compilation of two rare Kashmiri songs sung by legendary singer Asha Bhosle half-a-century ago.
The CD was released to mark her 83 birthday at a function here on Wednesday by journalist-anchor Sudhir Gadgil in the presence of veteran Kashmiri writer Pran Kishore Kaul.
The emotive, highly lyrical songs were recorded by Ms. Bhosle for Radio Kashmir in the summer of 1966 and were based on the poetry of two 19 century Kashmiri poets – Rasul Mir and Shamas Faqir. The latter was the most celebrated Sufi poet of the valley at the time.
Both poets were emblematic of the Romantic Movement in poetry in vogue in the Valley during the mid-1850s.
“Excitement was palpable in the air when we learnt that Ashaji had come to visit the Valley during that momentous summer of 1966. We in Radio Kashmir, Srinagar, craved to interview her and, if possible, motivate her to sing a Kashmiri song too,” reminisced Mr. Kaul.
While the singer readily acquiesced to the interview, the mention of recording a song left her in a state of trepidation as she had never heard the Kashmiri language spoken except by boatmen, Mr. Kaul recalled.
“After a little cajoling, she finally agreed and a popular song of Rasul Mir, Lalas vantai chus sawal , was selected for the occasion. Ashaji asked the person in charge of the music section, Qaiser Qalander, to dictate the text which she transcribed in Marathi. She then listened to the tune a few times after which she gave us the date and time when she would come to the studio for recording,” Mr. Kaul said.
Quick learnerHe remarked that everybody was amazed and impressed at the veteran singer’s quick grasp of the phonetics of Kashmiri words in just a few rehearsals.
“The song was recorded in no time, with absolute perfection and needless to say, it became a super hit and touched the heart of every Kashmiri. After the recording, she nobly requested that her pay be distributed amongst the instrumentalists,” Mr. Kaul recalled.
The second song, Ha aeshka tchooro rashka , based on the poetry of Shamas Faqir became even more popular than the earlier one.
“As a Kashmiri, I bow before her. She has emotionally united Maharashtra with Kashmir forever. These two songs are as popular now as they were fifty years back,” said Mr. Kaul.
“These songs are not available anywhere in the market. Two years ago, while in Kashmir during flood relief work, I salvaged them from the archives of Radio Kashmir with the help of G. R. Akhoon and republished them in the form of a CD,” Sanjay Nahar, founder-president of Sarhad. Khwaja Sayyad of Sarhad Music presented the CD to Ms. Bhosle in Mumbai.
