There’s a satin like feel to her voice and her renditions appear to be so much a part of her being that the same aura exudes in her persona too. Sonam Kalra doesn’t have a distinct voice, something you might not have heard before. But it is the way she modulates and the way she blends the western and eastern influences of religion and faith into a soothing number that lends her music a meditative quality. It exudes a smooth lyrical tone that transports the audience into a rather unknown realm of the mystical world.
Her Sufi Gospel Project melts the traditional western gospels into Indian classical sounds and fuses Indian spiritual texts with the elements of western poetry to create a sound of universal faith. It was no different when she performed at the India Habitat Centre recently for “Dhai Akshar Prem Ka”, a programme organised to challenge hatred and violence through music.
“I first conceived this Project when I was asked to sing Gospel music to commemorate the birth centenary of the Sufi Hazrat Inayat Khan at the Inayat Khan Dargah in Delhi. I had sung Gospel in churches and at other music venues but for the Urz of Inayat Khan, I wanted to create a sound that blended the faiths. I belong to the Sikh religion and am often asked why I sing Gospel. My answer is always the same; because God has no religion”, she says.
Edited excerpts:
What is your understanding of Sufi…what does it mean to you?
Sufism to me, means an acceptance of all humanity as equal and a respect for other faiths and choices. It is the search for truth. And through the music that I create with The Sufi Gospel Project, I am searching for my truth, my relationship with God and through this music I learn more about that relationship with God and my fellow beings. Sufism to me, is not a religion but a way of life. The sufi is one who is a lover of truth, who by means of love and devotion moves towards the truth, towards the union with the beloved.
Today almost everyone is into singing Sufi. Do you think people really have an understanding of Sufi music?
I don't know if they do, but then again I’m not going to judge. It does seem to be bandied about quite a lot and I suppose it’s become some sort of a trend - and whilst, adding the word Sufi to a song doesn’t make it a Sufi song. But you could look at it positively and see that it is creating awareness.
What are the challenges of blending prayers, poetry and spiritual texts into one whole to form a single number?
A lot of research and thought goes into every piece I create and even after a piece is created, we keep allowing it to change and evolve, add layers to it, tweak it, so it’s an ongoing and organic process.
Sufi poets (other than the ones you’ve already made part of your work) whose work you are planning to include in your project...
The list is endless...Baba Fareed, Hazrat Shah Biyaz, Sultan Bahu.
Does language pose a problem? You flow very easily from English to Hindi. Do you ever feel any restrictions there?
I’ve always loved languages so I enjoy singing in different languages. I don’t find it hard to sing in other languages. I’ve sung in French, Persian, Urdu, Punjabi, English, Hindi, Braj, Arabic and I hope to keep adding to the list.
Do you also write love poems…other poet’s whose love poems you like to read or adapt for your compositions?
I do write poetry but most of it is personal and hides in my computer. I have added my own verses to a lot of our songs and more recently written some songs which I've composed and these should be out this year. I love the works of so many poets, Rumi, Hazrat Shah Niyaz, Emily Dickinson, Pablo Neruda, Faiz Ahmed Faiz....
Tell us about your Partition Project….
“Stories of Separation” from the Partition Project are very close to my heart. My mother’s family was from Rawalpindi and my father’s from Sargoda. Even though I did not have to live through the pain of partition myself, I have always been moved to tears when talking about it – perhaps it lies embedded in the memory of my DNA.
It has been almost 70 years since Partition and I now want to explore this through music. Many of the stories we have heard from our grandparents will be lost with the passing of the older generation and they need to be preserved, honoured and serve as lessons for generations to come. I hope that in revisiting these stories through music, we are able to empathise, ponder and realize the way forward. I have been researching the works of poets and writers from both sides for the past year and am have composed pieces for this performance based on their poetry and inspired by their stories.
Using the power of music, the voices of Ali Sardar Jafri, Ustad Daman, Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Amrita Pritam as well as personal accounts of ordinary people who survived this terrible ordeal, have been woven together in a retelling of this holocaust that tore our country apart. The Partition Project is an experiential performance using music, film, design, art, photography. On stage with me will be one of Indian theatres best known actors as well as an ensemble of musicians, all of who are masters at their craft. Also collaborating with me is one of India’s top graphic artists.
You’ve performed at several places. The one place in the world where you’d love to perform and still haven’t?
I’ve been so fortunate to perform at some really amazing venues – the most recent being The Sydney Opera House where we got a standing ovation. In fact, during this particular tour to Australia, we performed at some other iconic venues as well – Melbourne Recital Centre, National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, and in Brisbane. I've also performed in front of the Pyramids in Egypt, at Humayun's Tomb for Muzaffar Ali's Jahan-e-Khusrau in the presence of Sufi legend Abida Parveen and at The Amer Fort in Jaipur when it was reopened for a public performance after close to 100 years. I never imagined I would be singing at any of these places but they magically happened. I would love to perform at the Royal Albert Hall, London – it’s an absolute dream and I hope it comes true someday.
What’s on the anvil?
I'm working on a project to honour Faiz Ahmad Faiz, which I will be performing in Dubai in February. The Partition Project which will showcase in Delhi in August this year. Then new material for The Sufi Gospel Project, three new music videos and new material for Muzaffar Ali's World Sufi Festival which is happening in March end are all on the anvil.
