Reparation of the heart
By Munizeh Zuberi
Music, song, dance, ecstacy and trance are an intrinsic aid to religious devotion. Born out of ecstatic love and ardour, sufi music transcends sects and nationalities and has become widespread in many parts of the Islamic world. Since the arrival of sufi saints in the subcontinent, sufi music has deeply entranched itself in our culture.
However, in the past couple of decades or so, despite the media boom, it has not been given the kind of mass promotion it so rightly deserves — until recently. Six years ago, the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop (RPTW) started the International Mystic Sufi Music Festival where national and international performers were invited to participate with an aim of promoting sufi music nationally as well as internationally. In collaboration with the Government of Sindh, the group brought a bigger festival to Karachi this year, with over 350 local and intermany more international performers participating in the event.
Spread over five days, the curtainraiser of the festival on May 3 began with a exalting performace by Shah Jo Fakir singing a kafi by Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. Their serene music was followed by Ghonga and Mithu Sain’s enticing and heart-thumping dhool beats on which three dancers whirled around with infectitious vigour while periodically chanting “mast qalandar, jhoolay lal”. The group, which plays every thursday at Shah Jamal, Lahore along with the famous Papu Sain, had the entire audience hipnotised and when their performace of no more than 10 minutes ended, left everyone asking for more. Gonga Sain, who is both deaf and mute, has risen to international fame as a master percussionist and has carved a reputation for himself as one of the country’s most spectacular performers.
Next to perform was the Irani group Bedat with Mohammad Motamedi as the lead singer rendering characteristically melodious farsi tunes. Roza Yazdani played the daf along with Hossein Rezaeenia while Sina Jahan Abadi was on the kamanche.
Wahab Shah and Shabnam Tavakol, mesmerised the audience with their contemporary whirling dance performance titled ‘Sufi ka Dil’. According to them their dance ‘signifies the centre of the universe with layers of cloth representing the absorption of everything that comes in its path’
Sheema Kirmani accompanied by her students, two male and two female, was up next. It was a combination of classical and mystic dance on Hazrat Amir Khusrau’s Aaj Rang Hai. Even though Kirmani and her group had not been listed in the programme, the performance was a welcome addition. The same score had been performed at the Arts Council in Karachi only a few days before.
Next to follow was the accalaimed folks singer from Lahore, Sain Zahoor who won the BBC World Music Award last year. Playing the Ek Tara and accompanied by four other musicians, he rendered Baba Bulleh Shah’s Allah Hu in a 10-minute long captivating performance.
The second international performers of the day was the Syrian band Cham Group of Sufi and Andalucian Tradition. Formed in 1998 and comprising eight members on as many instruments, the group has done a lot of work towards animating sufi music. The sama performance began with the group sitting in a semi-circle with two dervesh dancers sitting on either end. The lead singer began by a beautiful recital of a few verses of the Holy Quran which was followed by durood. In between, the two dervashes started whirling majestically, completely tranced in the sublime music. Watching them whirl gave the audience a feeling of indefineable serenity who could not get enough of them.
Much to the delight of the audience, the following performance was extraordinary to say the least. The duo from Australia, Wahab Shah and Shabnam Tavakol, mesmerised the audience with their contemporary whirling dance performance titled Sufi ka Dil. The pair clad in flowing skirts; Wahab in green and Shabnam in red, danced to perpetual drumrolls. According to them their dance “signifies the centre of the universe with layers of cloth representing the absorption of everything that comes in its path”. Really the most astounding performance of the evening.
They were followed by the Senegalese group Mafatihul Bichri. They rendered a tranquil and melodious kassaide written by Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba who is the founder of the Mouride sufi order in Senegal. A spectator rightly described their performace as “most different”.
Representing Sindh was sufi musician Raza Allan Fakir, son for the late maestro Allan Fakir. His performance was a trip down memory lane as he sang both the Sindhi and Urdu versions of the popular Humma Humma to which the audience merrily sang along.
It was midnight when the renouned Pushto folk singer Zarsanga took the stage. Her deep voice and blaring music rejuvinated the audience. Even though each performance was more delightful and enchanting than the other, it being a weeknight, I had to leave with at least half a dozen performances still to go.
For the opening night, the audience turnout was very good. Except for the initial hitches and the media corps making a nuisance of themselves, the show was organised smoothly. Almost all of the sufi mystic practises of dhikr, hadhra, qawwali, sama and khalwa were represented and as one left the venue, there was a feeling of purity and contentment.
link:
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Event Review: International Mystic Sufi Music Festival
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