The Organic brew; pakistan, photography, qawwali, poetry & a general acerbic sentiment.

Khushk taar o khushk chob o khushk post
Az koja mi ayad in awaaz e dost
Nai ze taar o nai ze chob o nai ze post
Khud bakhud mi ayad in awaaz e dost

Singing strings, vibrant wood, throbbing drums
Whence comes the voice of the Beloved?
Not from strings, not from wood, nor from drum
Of Himself comes the voice of the Beloved

Thanks to Mufti for finally tracking this down and contributing.

Album - Day,Night,Dawn,Dusk
Ye Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hai
Duration 18:43 mins

saaqii ki har nigaah pe bal khaa ke pee gayaa
laharoN se khelataa huaa lahraa ke pee gayaa

( I drank in awe of every glance of the cup-bearer
I drank playfully while playing with waves of joy )

ai rahmat-e-tamaam meri har khata muaaf
main intehaa-e-shauq mein ghabraa ke pee gaya

( O all-merciful !! please forgive all my wrong-doings
I drank confounded of the extreme desire )

peetaa beghair izn ye kab thii meri majaal
dar-pardaa chashm-e-yaar kii shah paa ke pee gayaa

( I do not dare to drink without permission
but the patronage of concealed eyes of my beloved made me drink )

zaahid ye merii shokhi-e-rindaana dekhnaa
rahmat ko baaton baaton mein bahlaa ke pee gayaa

( O abstinent !! look at the mischievousness of my drinking
I drank after I befriended forgiveness )

(more…)

[Source: http://www.sighs.com/oog/cat_pakistan.html#000503]

I say, check out that man in the extreme right corner with his mouth wide open..

I am surprised to learn that i have never posted anything to the organic brew about one of my all time favourite qawwalis - Khabarum raseed imshaab by Amir Khusrau sung (on many a occasions) by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. One of these recordings (unplaced unfortunately) should certainly rank as Nusrat’s better renditions - the falsetto is amazing and the rythm mesmerising. I’ve since heard many other qawwals try, but none do the poem quite as much justice as Nusrat’s emphatic and soulful qawwali.
Amir Khursrau is particularly poigant - for those who drop by this little outpost, i’ve expounded on the underlying themes oft enough, and this is in a simila vein. I can’t read this without playing back in my mind the emphasis Nusrat places on the last lines - Balabam raseed jaanam fabiya ki zindah maanam strains, over and over, saturated with emotion.. i’m getting carried away, but if i find it hard to describe qawwali in words - then this sublime rendition in raga kedar doubly so.

Speaking of raga kedar, here is a miniature that uses the raga as a central theme:

source: www.dovesong.com

Named after Lord Shiva, the hoary Raga Kedar occupies a pride of place in the Hindustani pantheon and is much loved in the ranks of both the laity and the connoisseur. Its structure reveals a kaleidoscopic panorama of complex melodic gestures, conduct and richness of character. Seldom are the core values of Indian Ragadari music united under one roof as they are in Kedar.

See http://www.sawf.org/newedit/edit05152000/musicarts.asp for more - including an extensive list of examples.

Interestingly, the haughty article above also links to a reocrding of Kedar by Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, in fact, during the qawwali Nusrat brings attention to a a change his father executed in the rendition.

Khabaram raseed imshab ki nigaar khuahi aamad;
Sar-e man fidaa-e raah-e ki sawaar khuahi aamad.
Ham-e aahwan-e sehra sar-e khud nihada bar kaf;
Ba-umeed aanki rozi bashikaar khuahi aamad.
Kashishi ki ishq daarad naguzaradat badinsaa;
Ba-janazah gar nayai ba-mazaar khuahi aamad.
Balabam raseed jaanam fabiya ki zindah maanam;
Pas azan ki man na-maanam bacha kar khuahi aaamad.
(In Persian script)

Tonight there came a news that you, oh beloved, would come –
Be my head sacrificed to the road along which you will come riding!
All the gazelles of the desert have put their heads on their hands
In the hope that one day you will come to hunt them….
The attraction of love won’t leave you unmoved;
Should you not come to my funeral,
you’ll definitely come to my grave.
My soul has come on my lips (e.g. I am on the point of expiring);
Come so that I may remain alive -
After I am no longer – for what purpose will you come?

(Translation Annmarie Schimmel)

Source: www.alif-india.com

He whirls slowly but unsteadily at first-like a pirouetting dervish intoxicated with the very rhythm that moves him-in concert with the rising and falling intonations. At once harmonious and cacophonous, the overpowering music builds, as the man moves faster, while the credence seemingly accommodates, impossibly in sync.

The heady mixture of music and sanctity is mesmerising. And as the rhythms reach their crescendo, the rapidly twirling blur now collapses to a heap on the floor, fulfilled in a haze of man, music and mysticism.

From Bhajans to gospel choirs, that music moves the spirit is a notion steeped in the very foundations of the human consciousness.

Though fictionalised, these are events that have unfolded where a soulful, gritty and undiluted ancient mystical musical art is practised-anywhere where Qawwali is still sung from the heart.

With its distinctive chorus, Qawwali is instantly recognizable. But its much less commonly explored. If not an enigma, then the qawwali is still a flavour on the fringes of the mainstream interest.

Here in Pakistan, the last bastion of the authentic Qawwali, we still have much to appreciate and celebrate in an art simultaneously at its evolutionary zenith and its twilight. (more…)

just heard fareed ayaz & co live.

wow.

“Just as in Portugal, where any young female fado singer has to contend with being compared to Amalia Rodrigues, so it is in Pakistan and North India for male exponents of qawwali, a local form of Sufi praise song which induces a trance-like state in the listener. Such singers are inevitably likened to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the undisputed king of qawwali.”

Anyone familiar with Faiz Ali Faiz? This is the first time I’ve come across him.

Jeff Buckley. Qawwali legend (see this post).

Jeff Buckley: A Wished-for Song is an exhibition of photographs printed by Merri Cyr for the singer’s funeral at St Ann’s Church in Brookly, New York in 1997. See the Guardian for more pictures.

For those who have only heard the jhankar-disco version of the song, the original qawwali is heart-breakingly sublime. What fewer still would be aware of is that the original poetry is by our much admired and revered Bulleh Shah.
I quote the poetry from http://www.geocities.com/karachiiterulez/piyaghar.html (which you should check out if you are interested in their large selection of qawwali translations and transliterations.)
Translation after the jump.

Aoo Ni Sayyo Ral Deyo Ni Wadhai
Men War Paaya Sona Maahi

Gharyaal Deyo Nikalni, Mera Piya Ghar Aaya
Oo Laalni Mera Piya Ghar Aaya

Piya Ghar Aaya, Sanu Allah Milaya
Hun Hoya Fazl Kamaalni Mera Piya Ghar Aaya

Aaaa… (Sufi Chanting)
Hun Hoya Fazl Kamaalni Mera Piya Ghar Aaya
Oo Laalni Mera Piya Ghar Aaya

Ajj Taan Roz Mubaarak Chaddeya Mahi Mere Vedde Vaddeya
Aaaa… (Sufi Chanting)
Oo Laalni Mera Piya Ghar Aaya
Oo Laalni Mera Piya Ghar Aaya

Shakar Wanda Peer Manawa Mera Mahi Mere Vaddeya Kure
Aaa… (Sufi Chanting)
Oo Laalni Mera Piya Ghar Aaya
Oo Laalni Mera Piya Ghar Aaya

Ghari Ghari Ghariyal Bajaave, Raen Wasl Di Piya Ghataawe
Mere Munn Di Baat Na Paave, Hathon Ja Sutto Ghariyal Ni
Mera Piya Ghar Aaya Laalni, Mera Piya Ghar Laalni Hoo
Mera Piya Ghar Aaya Laalni, Mera Piya Ghar Laalni Hoo

Anhad Vaaja Vaje Suhaana, Mutarib Sughara Taan Taraana
Bhull Gaya Ay Namaaz Dogaana, Madh Piyaala Dain Kalaal Ni
Oo Laalni Mera Piya Ghar Aaya
Oo Laalni Mera Piya Ghar Aaya

Bulla Shah Di Sej Piyaari, Ni Men Taaran Haarey Taari
Allah Milaya Hun Aayi Vaari, Hun Vicharan Hoya Nuhaal Ni
Mera Piya Ghar Aaya, Oo Laalni Mera Piya Ghar Aaya
Oo Laalni Mera Piya Ghar Aayang

(more…)

ye daulat bhi le lo, ye shohrat bhi le lo
chahe mujh se le lo wo meri jawaai
magar mujh ko lauta do bachpan ka saawan
wo kaghaz ki kashti, wo baarish ka paani

[an excerpt from one of jagjit singh’s most popular songs, not sure who the writer is]

it’s very “nice” in a tearful sort of way, but what’s all this nostalgia about anyway? sometimes i think we’re a nostalgia-obsessed, backward looking (as opposed to backward) people…

now this (mohammad iqbal courtesy of nusrat fateh ali khan) is more like it:

dhayaar e ishq mein apna maqaam peida kar
naya zamaana, naye subh o shaam peida kar

bit off-topic, but i particularly like the next couplet:

khuda agar dil e fitrat shanaas de tujh ko
saqoot e laala o gul se kalaam peida kar

i think this really encapsulates what great photography is all about. JNS, what do you say we make this the tagline for our soon-to-come all-new (and record-breakingly-hyphenated) cool desi photography site?

Ghar nari ganwaarii chaahe so kahe
Main Nijam se naina milaa, aaii re

Khusrao rain suhag kii sojagi pii ke sang
Tan mora, man piihuu kaa, so domo ek hii rang

Sohanii suurat mohanii muurat hirday biich samaa, aaii re
Khusrao Nijam ke bal bal jaaie anmol cheri bita, aaii re

Let the housewife say what she will,
I stole a glance from the eyes of Nizam.

Khusrao! It is the blissful wedding night; I awake with my love.
The body mine, the heart my lover’s, and both coloured in the same hue.

His darling face and his charming form I have hidden in the depths of my heart.
Let Khusrao perish at the feet of Nizam, I have just sold him a priceless maid (Khusrao himself)

Original transliteration and translation by: Editied by JNS

Mo se bol na bol, meri sun ya na sun
Mein to tohe naa chhoruungii ai sanvare

(more…)

Punjabi in the urdu/arabic script (more…)

Dil miiravad zi dastam
saahib dilaan khudaaraa
Dardaa ki raaz-e pinhaan
khwaahad shud aashkaaraa

(more…)

Following is an article by Jeff Buckley on Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. As you can probably garner from it, Jeff was a bit of a Nusrat fanatic-but he was also a musician in his own right, and was apparently very close to releasing his own album. He tragically died before he could complete this project though a recording of a live function at ’sin-e’ was released posthumously. It was from these recordings that the current posting derives its name, for in it Jeff professed ‘I listen to him [Nusrat] everyday- he’s my Elvis’. He went on to do a rendition of ‘Yeh jo halka halka suroor hai’, which was-if nothing else-rather unique.
-
The first time I heard the voice of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was in Harlem, 1990. My roommate and I stood there, blasting it in his room. We were all awash in the thick undulating tide of dark punjabi tabla rhythyms, spiked with synchronized handclaps booming from above and below in hard, perfect time. (more…)