Islamabad
‘Mausikaar’, the trust for preservation and promotion of classical and semi-classical music, arranged a ‘musical evening’ for its members and patrons Wednesday evening. The former ambassador Farhang Salahuddin and Almina Salahuddin, made their abode available for hosting the event and also arranged a sumptuous tea for the guests.
Aafi Bakshi and younger brother, Bilal Bakshi started the evening with the traditional compliment to legendary Hazrat Amir Khusro’s famous rendition, ‘Man Kunto Maula’ as a sign of respect and reverence and then evening grew in momentum.
The Bakshi brothers are the grand sons of famous Bakshi Salamat Qawal and their maternal grandfather was the legendary folk singer, Tufail Niazi. Even more is that they are the nephews of Ustad Ajmal, the leading ‘tabla’ player of the country.
The duo then moved on to sing some famous number of the late qawali legend, Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and also mixed traditional qawali with popular Punjabi folk, which drew the well deserved applause from the elite audience.
Aafi and brother Bilal Bakshi then sang one of their own number, ‘Chalay They Saatyh’, which they have presented in Coke Studio. Because of the lovely music the and popular songs, the evening turned out to be most enjoyable for the select crowd. Prominent among those sitting on the seats as well as on the floor were personalities like the legendary ‘kathakk dancer’ of Pakistan, Ms Indo Mitha, Brigadier (r) Iftikhar Shafi, Amin Kanjahi of ‘Funkada’, Prof Laeeq Babri and the famous female sitarist, Ms Baseerat Raees, the human rights activist Asiya Parveen Mughal, and the Vice-Principal of Joint Staff Public School & College, Chaklala, Zareen Kamran.
While the guests were enjoying the music, the members of ‘Mausikaar’ including the Vice-Presidents Faiza Zafar Iqbal, Ms Shazia, the General Secretary Mehreen Khan, the Director Media Nauman Muhammadzai and others were busy overlooking the arrangements and constantly circulating among the guests, maintaining a close and warm liaison.
Once Aafi and Bilal had finished their planned performance there were a couple of demands from the audience and the duo graciously obliged as they sang the famous ghazal ‘dasht-e-tanhai’ sung by legendary Iqbal Bano and the famous qawali ‘Mayray Rashk-e-Qamar’ by Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
Needless to say that Late Ustad Fateh Ali Khan was badly missed at the function also the absence of the President of Mausikaar, Dr Seema Khan, who had proceeded to London for a while. Earlier, the Senior Vice-President of ‘Mausikaar’, Ms Shazia, introduced the artists to the audience and set the programme rolling.
