Missing the Golden age of Ghazal & Qawwali!

I was watching Zee Sa Re Ga Ma Pa – a Music competition on YouTube when one of the contestant Ranjit Rajwada sang “Chupke Chupke Raat Din” (Ghulam Ali-ji’s Ghazal) and one of the Judge; Shekhar Ravjiani mentioned that now the generation no longer listens to or has interest in Ghazals. And so true it is.

I being a South Indian did not have a lot of exposure to Ghulam Ali-ji’s music, but I did grow up listening to Jagjit-ji/Pankaj-ji and have always loved Ghazals. When I started working and going places, mingling with people from different backgrounds, is when I heard Ghulam Ali-ji’s Chupke Chupke for the first time, which was 7 years back. From then I have always maintained a playlist of Ghazals, Qawwalis or Poems of wonderful people like Ghulam Ali, Aziz Nazan, Jagjit Singh, Talat Mahmood, Gulzar, Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Pankaj Udhas, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Javed Akhtar, Sabri Brothers etc..

They are so meaningful, soulful that you just get immersed in them; immensely peaceful and soothing.

Listen to Aziz Naza-ji’s Qawwali – “Aaj jawaani par itrane wala kal pachtayega , Chadhta Suraj dheere dheere dhalta hai dhal jayega”. The lyrics are so deep that you just really start wondering about Life. So bluntly yet beautifully he has described life in this Qawwali; that honestly you are taken to a completely different world.

Then there are Ghulam Ali-ji’s “Humko kiske ghum ne maara, yeh kahaani fir sahi” Or “Chupke Chupke raat din aansoo bahana yaad hai” Or “Faasle aise bhi hongey yeh kabhi socha na tha” Or Gulzar-ji’s “Mera kuch samaan tumhare pass hai”; these describe the state of a heart-broken in such a simple yet impactful way that you really feel the pain one goes through when they lose their love.

Some of my other favorites are Ghulam Ali-Ji’s “Hungama kyun hai Barpa, thodi si jo pi li hai, Daaka toh nahi daala, chori toh nahi ki hai”, “Kuch din toh baso meri aankhon mein fir khwaab agar ban jao toh kya”; Jagjit-Ji’s “Main Nashe mein Hoon”, “Chitti na koi sandes”, “Jhuki jhuki si nazar”, “Koi Fariyaad dil mein dabi ho jaisi”, “Kiska Chehra ab main dekhun”, “Tum itna jo muskura rahe ho” Or Runa Laila-ji’s “Dama Dam Mast Qalandar”, Or Pankaj-Ji’s  “Chitti aayi hai aayi hai”, “Chandi jaisa rang hai tera”, “Aur Aahista kijiye baatein”, “Thodi thodi piya karo” and so on.

But unfortunately, these days’ kids are not even exposed to this kind of music for them to even choose. In the world of songs like Chikni Chameli, Munni badnaam, Jalebi Bai; the old songs and Ghazals are such a calming escape. The sad part is these days Bollywood is not even including a single track of Qawwali or Ghazal in the movies, so that current generation at least knows what a Qawwali or Ghazal actually mean. In the old movies there used to be one or other song which were a Qawwali or Ghazal, hence our generation has a flair for this music. Like “Yaari hai imaan mera yaar meri zindagi”, “Teri Mehfil mein kismet aazmakar hum bhi dekhengey”, “Chalte Chalte yunhi koi mil gaya tha”, “Hai agar Dushman dushman zamaana gum nahi gum nahi” , “Na toh Karwan ki talaash hai”, “Tumhe Husn Deke Khuda Ne Sitamgar Banaya”, “Humein toh loot kliya milke husn walon ne”, “Chaap Tilak sab chin li re”, “Honton se choo lo tum”, etc…

And who can forget Mirza Ghalib-ji! There was a biographical television drama series written and produced by poet Gulzar which was aired on Doordarshan National in 1988. The lead actor was Naseeruddin Shah who played the role of Mirza Ghalib, the famous classical Urdu and Persian poet from Mughal Empire during British colonial rule. The series featured ghazals sung and composed by Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh. My favorite one is - "Hazaaron Khwahishein aisi ki har khwahish mein dum nikle.."

I wish those days of Ghazals and Qawwali do come back, and these beautiful styles of music don’t die out. Well, until then, let’s enjoy the music left behind by these wonderful singers!

चुपके चुपके रात दिन आंसूं बहाना याद है, हमको अब तलक आशिकी का वो ज़माना याद है!

तुझसे मिलते ही वो कुछ बेबाक हो जाना मेरा, और तेरा दांतों में वो ऊँगली दबाना याद है !! 

चोरी चोरी हमसे तुम आकर मिले थे जिस जगह, मुद्दतें गुज़री पर अब तक वो ठिकाना याद है!!

खिंच लेना वो मेरा परदे का कोना दफ्फतन, और दुप्पटे से तेरा वो मुह छुपाना याद है!!

दोपहर की धुप में मेरे बुलाने के लिए, वो तेरा कोठे पे नंगे पाँव आना याद है!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chupke_Chupke_Raat_Din

[ Below I have just included few lines from Wikipedia about the people included in this blog as reference.

Talat Mahmood [24th February, 1924 -- 9th May, 1998] was a popular Indian playback singer and film actor. A recipient of the Padma Bhushan in 1992, he had a unique style of singing. He was famous for singing Ghazals.

Ustad Ghulam Ali (born 5 December 1940) is a Pakistani Ghazal singer of the Patiala gharana . He is not to be confused with the Indian singer Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (of whom he was a disciple) or Chhote Ghulam Ali, who is another Pakistani singer in the Qual Bachon Gharana.

Jagjit Singh, born Jagmohan Singh (8 February 1941 – 10 October 2011), was a prominent Indian Ghazal singer, songwriter and musician. Known as the "Ghazal King", he gained acclaim together with his wife, another renowned Indian ghazal singer Chitra Singh in the 1970s and 1980s. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the government of India in 2003.

Abdul Aziz Kunji Markar, best known as Aziz Naza (or Nazan) (हिन्दी - अज़ीज़ नाज़ां) (7th May 1938 – 8 October 1992) was particularly remembered for the genre known as Qawwali. He was born in Mumbai in a prominent Malabari (Kerala) muslim family. His hit songs like “Jhoom barabar jhoom sharabi” and “Chadhta sooraj dheere dheere” are sung even today by various artisits. http://www.mtv.com/artists/aziz-nazan-qawwal/biography/

Sampooran Singh Kalra (born 18 August 1934), known popularly by his pen name Gulzar, is an Indian poet, lyricist and film director. Born in Jhelum District in British India, his family moved to India after partition.  He started his career as Lyricist and also wrote poetry, dialogues, and scripts and also directed movies. He was awarded Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in India.

Pankaj Udhas is a Ghazal singer who hails from Gujarat. He started his career with a release of a ghazal album titled " Aahat " in 1980 and subsequently recorded many hits . Udhas rose to further fame for singing in the 1986 film Naam, in which his song "Chitthi Aayee Hai" became an instant hit. In 2006, Pankaj Udhas was awarded the coveted Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award.]

-Sarita
Dated - 1st November 2014 (Day well spent reviving all these beautiful Ghazals and Qawwali's)