Colonial
Connection
By Shoaib Hashmi
When they first came
upon the scene, they billed themselves ‘The
Colonial Cousins’. A pair of rather striking
looking young men, with a very distinct and attractive
style of singing. One hasn’t kept track of
the combination, but one of them, Hariharan, has
been in evidence with an occasional number on one
of the channels; and now it has come full circle
with an offering called ‘Lahore Ke Rang, Hari
Ke Sang’.
Hariharan it seems came all the way to Lahore to
record the contents of a CD of the name, and is
also scheduled to make a personal appearance, and
one presumes one or more live concerts, to introduce
the music. The cover flaunts Lahore’s most
colorful offering ‘Basant’, which is
really a very Lahori ‘feeling’ and cannot
be captured in a picture because it consists mostly
of noise. And the byline says, ‘Hariharan
sings the music of Lahore’.
Actually it opens with a piece by Amir Khusrau arranged
by Wazir Afzal. Khusrau was a Delhi denizen and
Lashore is mentioned a few times in his poetry,
and, as ‘Lahanoor’ in connection with
him; but he is also the original Renaissance Man,
a few centuries before the Renaissance, and a man
not only of transcendental genius but of such great
charm that it comes through even today in his poetry
and music, and we Lahoris will take him as our own
anytime. The number is a well-known lyric in his
musical style and proves once again what we have
known for centuries -- Khusrau can do no wrong!
The next one is Bulleh Shah and he too was not from
Lahore, but Kasur is near enough, and what is more
the connection goes deeper because Bulleh Shah’s
own Murshid, Shah Inayat still rests in peace on
our Queens Road. This one too is arranged by Wazir
Afzal whose forte seems to be to highlight all the
nostalgia and romance which straddles the thin line
between the folk and the classical in our music.
That makes for a clever combination because Hariharan’s
own style, and the quality of his voice are excellent
vehicles for such an endeavor.
That is obvious from the two pieces arranged, perhaps
also composed by Hariharan himself. One is a ghazal
by Hasrat Mohani which is typical of him because
it ranks of the second echelon of Urdu poetry, and
it is composed and arranged in the style which is
perhaps custom made for it -- the very romantic
style popularized by Jagjit and by Pankaj, and which
sits easy with Hari too. In the same genre is a
Nasir Kazmi ghazal, arranged by Nazar Hussain, and
this too is typical of the unusual and striking
style of Nasir, and the familiar musical style of
Nazar Hussain.
There is a traditional composition arranged by Qadir
Shaggan, and I was about to cite it as completing
the spectrum from Delhi to Lahore and from the folk
and ghazal to the heavyweight -- after all Qadir
Shaggan is of the line of Ustaad Ghulam Hussain
Shaggan, and so scion of the Gwalior Gharana of
classical music, long accepted as the ‘Senior’
Gharana in our musical tradition. Until I realized
that Gwalior is some way from Lahore too!
But all this quibbling is just to keep you amused,
and the record straight about the ‘Music of
Lahore’; we Lahoris are a big hearted people
and have been ever ready to celebrate as our very
own, people we like and who may not have been Lahori
dyed in the wool -- both Iqbal and Faiz were born
in Sialkot, and let the Sialkotis dispute our ownership!
The CD brings together many strands and styles which
is most welcome. And if all that is required to
give it a coherent identity is the name of Lahore,
as I said we are a big hearted people. And if it
is a chance to include a colonial of local origin,
who probably makes a home somewhere else, that is
doubly welcome!
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