Reviving the spirit of Qawwali

Karachi
A Qawwali night organised by the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) to mark the month of Ramazan, on Saturday night, left the audiences spellbound with some highly professional renditions.
The most unusual aspect of the programme was that a majority of the audience were from the unorthodox segment of society, yet were entranced by the performance and were simply enraptured by the performance.
The show got going with the famous Qawwali, Allah Hoo, performed by the students of Napa; the vocalists included Nadir Abbas, Ahsan Shabbir and Ayaz Lakhani, with Waqas Gulab and Sagar Veljee at the Tabla, and Shahid at the Dholak.
Their performance extended almost into 45 minutes but their gusto did not wither and their voices seemed to be ever-fresh, showing no signs of wilting.
The Qawwali starts with what in philosophical terms could be called the beginning of time. It starts off with the juncture of the universe when it was just one big void, no heavenly bodies and manifestations that we see today all around us. It is the divine saga of creation and God’s handiwork right up to the present day. It was highly inspirational.
This was followed by a series of performances by renowned Qawwals Ayaz Fareed and Abu Muhammad, and chorus.
Among the many they presented was a Rajasthani one, “Padharo Mero Des”. They sang till a little past three and were just lost in the rendition of the Qawwalis which spoke of the glory of The Almighty.
How the performers had won the hearts of the audience could be gauged from the way they were going up to them and presenting gifts in cash for their masterly performance.
The guests were later treated to a sumptuous Sehri.