At the Maestros of Raag event, held at LUMS this week that featured Farida Khanum alongside modern master Ali Sethi, the legendary singer spoke about the state of today’s music.
“No introduction can do her justice,” is what Bilal Tanweer, the host, an author and faculty member at LUMS said about Farida Khanum at her Maestros of Raag night. Instead an interview clip from the famed singer’s heyday, a 1974 interview with Zia Mohyuddin, was played where she sang and as that screen was lifted, she was brought out on a wheelchair.
In that moment she seemed frail and weak but moments later, when handed the mic one realized that her light could not be dimmed because she had a voice that could hold the audience’s attention as one would imagine it to. It was an emotional start to the night and one that set the tone for what was to come.
“No one is singing the way they used to. One doesn’t have the courage to go looking for the people we used to learn from in case they aren’t there anymore. We don’t know where they are,” Farida Khanum said. “Song has become halka and there’s a marked difference in the kind of music out there. People with knowledge have left making music and there is no milaap of sur. In fact, there is no memorable ghazal that’s come out this year.”
Ali Sethi, who sat next to Khanum pointed out that even in the clip from the seventies, they were discussing that song isn’t the same anymore and now in 2018, the same is being pondered over. What could be the reason for the steady decline in her opinion?
Farida Khanum talked about the days when as a child she was not very fond of singing. She did however get great teachers who transferred their knowledge to her in the best way possible. “There was no concept of having it come easy and we dedicated all our time to learning modulations, pitch, breathing and perfecting the craft. We would have to give the same test every day and experienced the struggle to make it right. Now it’s about making the song as fast as possible and getting your payment for it. There is so much to the song - the sur, shayer ka dard, the singer’s delivery but one can’t feel any of that in today’s music.”
An audience member also pointed out that the reason it needs to be revived is because the new generation doesn’t understand Urdu or care for it as those before us. A big part of understanding ghazals is to know the language well and to be able to interpret it with your own experiences and understand the many dimensions of it.
What can one do to bring this back? “Bring together like minded people and sit together and ponder over the craft and keep it alive,” Khanum explained. She then sang ‘Na Ganvao Navak-e-Neem’ and demonstrated the ups and downs of a ghazal. Where there is power, softness, accession, surrender – that would be how it is taught right and what one can learn with classical singers.
Sethi has had a long time affinity for Farida Khanum’s voice and method of delivering ghazals. Recalling how he first became enamored with her, he shared, “15 years ago, I saw Monsoon Wedding in which there’s a scene with a car in the rain and an accompanying song called ‘Aaj Jaanay Ki Zid Na Karo’. The way the song was presented, its complexities, simplicity, intellect and beauty - every elision and level of the song. It felt like time and space became blurred and it’s the closest you come to with a spiritual experience of music,” he said.
When he had the chance to meet her he told her he would like to learn it as well and now visits her weekly. “It’s very important to have a community of sensitivity, musicians and listeners to make music,” he shared. And as it were, the hall was packed with the music lovers who wanted to listen to the maestro and learn about the art of raag.
– Photos by Faizan Ahmad
