The wealthy, smoky incense of loban (aromatic resin) wafting out of Sufi shrines of Delhi is contemporary in Rekha Bhardwaj’s recollections at the same time as her composition of Amir Khusrau’s kalam Aaj Rang Hai unfolds in her head.
Fighting a viral an infection to seek out her attribute timbre earlier than her efficiency on the upcoming Sufi Heritage Festival this weekend at Sunder Nursery, the singer says whereas rising up in Delhi, bowing earlier than a Sufi shrine was a standard follow even when one had by no means entered one. “Listening to Garm Hava’s qawwali, Maula Salim Chisthi still makes me cry, and memories of listening to Shankar-Shambhu and Habib Painter on Doordarshan fill me with wonder.”
However, it was the “silence and sukoon (inner calm)” of the hours spent at Mata Sundari Gurdwara with a childhood buddy after lessons on the close by authorities college that ready her for the journey into Sufi thought. “When I look back, I find the patra (vessel) was ready but brimmed over with Ishqa Ishqa, years later.” A course on Sufi Darvish threshold on the Osho Commune opened her to the concept of zikr and made her aware of Rumi and Hafiz.
Rekha Bhardwaj
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“Sufi thought prepares you to walk the path where you connect with your inner self. You start working on your negative emotions and celebrating your goodness. Gradually, you realise how ego manipulates you and come out of the mode of blaming others. When I learnt to take responsibility for my actions, it made me feel lighter.” It is mirrored in her work as properly. “I can’t fake an emotion and sing only what resonates with me.”
A murid (disciple) of Hazrat Inayat Khan, Rekha will revisit components of the album that made her a family identify and current her model of Khusrau’s different well-liked composition Ae Ri Sakhi More Piya Ghar Aaye, which grew to become a rage within the voice of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Rekha, who has imbued it with raga Saraswati and Durga says the qaul of a feminine is completely different though the concept of the soul is genderless in Sufi idiom.
Like Rekha, pageant director Yasmin Kidwai grew up celebrating the inclusive ethos of Phoolwalon Ki Sair and remembers how the entire metropolis involves rejoice spring at Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s dargah. She says the annual pageant seeks to fill the cultural vacuum created in Delhi due to the pandemic. “Apart from being the political capital, Delhi needs to be the country’s cultural epicentre and, I feel, the syncretic culture and language of the city are best reflected in the ethos of Sufism.”
Describing the pageant as an ode to the native traditions in addition to a salute to the worldwide enchantment of Sufism, Yasmin says the programming captures the expansiveness and freedom of expression that’s inherent in Sufi thought. “Kabir Cafe brings in the bhakti aspect of the shared heritage that celebrates the oneness of the Almighty. There is a curated performance by Priya Malik on female Sufi saints and the special place that women hold in Sufi spaces. There are art installations curated by Dhoomimal Art Gallery and modern interpretations like caricatures in calligraphy and toy heads of Amir Khusrau, and, of course, the culinary tradition of the Nizamuddin Basti.”
Dhruv Sangari
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Noted vocalist and Sufi scholar Dhruv Sangari says folks are inclined to applicable Sufi custom, however not many work to protect it. “The festival’s idea of reviving Sufi heritage resonated with me. When people think of reviving history, they mostly think of architecture. They don’t look at living heritage, which includes music.”
Talking about the worldwide enchantment of Qawwali, Sangari says it’s seen because the Jazz of the East by Western musicologists. “Like Jazz, Qawwali allows improvisation and transcends rules where complex arrangements sound deceptively simple. “Its attractive rhythmic form combined with clapping is engineered to strike a chord with the soul.” There is not any hurt in going for the favored, however Sangari insists one ought to “pick the popular from within the tradition.” As spring remains to be within the air, he guarantees to recite raga Bahar in Khusrovi khayal and take a look at Delhi’s style with a few not-so-well-liked compositions of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and a manqabat.
The Nizami Bandhu qawwals
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Chand Nizami of the famed Nizami Bandu, who’ve stored the standard Qawwali alive for 19 generations, additionally sees the pageant as a chance to uphold the sanctity of the Sufiyana Kalam. “What makes Qawwali charming yet challenging is that there is no restraint of ragas in Qawwali. We can move from Malkauns to Darbari to Bhimpalasi…. Music is prayer in this country, and our work is like a bouquet where you will get Khusrau’s kalam as well as Meera’s bhajan.” He primes us for his interpretation of Chhap Tilak Sab Chheni Mose Naina Milaike the place his nephews have added a stanza of a movie music. “I don’t like it, but if we have the discerning in the audience, we also have to handhold the youngsters who come looking for their beloved eyes in the prayer to the divine.”
Having labored for the redevelopment and conservation of the Nizamuddin space in her capability as a municipal councilor, Yasmin says she is not any caretaker of purity however is aware of not falling for the “Bollywoodisation and gift-wrapping” of Sufi heritage. “More than an evening of music and dance, it is an experience, and I hope the festival’s message resounds far longer than the claps of one night.”
(At Sunder Nursery, Opposite Humayun’s Tomb, Sundar Nagar; March 8 and 9; 2pm to 10pm)
Published – March 06, 2025 09:31 pm IST
