Making music... and how !?!

There are music shows and there are music shows. But every once in a while something comes your way that blows away all known rules, patterns and norms and creates a space, a genre for itself.

One such event is the Coke Studio series. I came across the first season while surfing random videos on youtube, and by the end of the evening - I had the entire series downloaded.

Pakistani music producer Rohail Hayat brought together artists from various genres of the Pakistani music scene and got them to jam and perform live - the result? Sheer magic.

I was eagerly looking forward to season 2 - and minutes into the first video - the bat had been raised beyond the stratosphere. Sain Zahoor & Noori collaborated to come up with this otherworldly rendition of a Bulleh Shah kafi, Aik Alif.

Now I hope SOMEONE in Bollywood or at Coke comes up with the brilliant idea of copying this format and get some of the Indian artists to perform like this. PLEASE...

The Hidden Gem

Sometime last year, I just heard strains of "Allah Hoo" in the promos of the movie Khuda Ke Liye. Those were enough to convince me to buy the disc and to this date the haunting voice behind Allah Hoo plays in my car almost daily. Unfortunately, the CD did not carry any credits for the music, but after a little bit of hunting, I came across the man behind the song - a voice so great that I was left wondering to this day how was I unaware of him till recently.

The voice in the song belongs a man called Zahur Ahmed, better known as Sain Zahur. He is an absolute illliterate, but it is said that he knows more than 10,000 songs. Most of us are familar with Sufi verses due to the likes of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Abida Parveen, Wadali Brothers or more recently through Rabbi Shergill or Junoon. But that's not his what is so special about him. What makes him special that he sings those Sufi verses as they were perhaps sung by the real Sufis - the wandering minstrels who roamed all over the subcontinent, an ektara in hand singing in praise of their Murshid. He ladies and gentleman

is the Real McCoy. His voice is unlike that of the classical trained Sufi singers that we know - he sings the way the songs were really sung.

He won the BBC's "Voice of the Year - 2006" purely on word of mouth - He hadn't cut a record to date. He learnt his music at the Dargah of Baba BUlleh Shah of all people, and has wandered from dargah to dargah since he was young boy. His attire is those of the Sufis of old, with ghungroos on his feet and tassels around his ektara - dancing his way into a trance. Hear him - for he is the voice of the great men themselves.

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Jugni

Jugni is a traditional folk song from Punjab, wherein the narrative is through the eyes of a wandering woman named Jugni. Jugni is used as an innocent observer who goes from place to place and describing what she sees. Most Jugni songs are happy and humourous, but one version of the song from Rabbi Shergill's first album always touched my heart and has somehow become all the more relevant again...

Jugni vekhan chali desh....
Jithe janmay si kadi ved...
Jithon kadyaa si angrez...
Ki banyaa usdaa....
Ki banyaa usdaa haal....
kede kite usne kamaal...

Vir meryaa ve jugni....
Vir meryaa ve jugni kehndi aa....
Ek raah nawe aaj pandi hain..


(Jugni sets out to see the country where the Vedas were once born, from where the Englishman was once thrown out... what's happened to it today, what wonders has it done since my brother... Jugni says, as she sets out on a new road today.)

Jugni jaa wadi Kashmir ....
Jithe roz maran das vee..
Soni behnaa te sone veer..
Oh ro ro pucchan..
Ke jaghda tayi-on mukna...
Jado jhelum paani sukhnaa?

Vir meryaa ve Jugni....
Vir meryaa ve Jugni kehndi aa....
Ek neer nawe aj behndi aa..

(Jugni ends up in Kashmir, where 10-20 die every die - handsome brothers of beautiful sisters. Wailing they ask...when will this strife end? When the Jhelum runs dry my brother.... Jugni says as she flows down new waters today...)

Jugni jaa wadi Punjab....
jithe padhe likhe bekaar...
Vech zameenaa jaawaen baahar...
Othe maaran jhadu....
Othe gori lain vyah..
Picche tabbar takke raah..

Vir meryaa ve Jugni....
Vir meryaa ve Jugni kehndi aa....
Ek nayi udari lendi aa....

(Jugni goes to Punjab where the educated are unemployed. The end up selling lands and go abroad and end up sweeping the roads. They marry a white girl there and settle while their family awaits their return my brother... Jugni says as she takes a new flight..)

Jugni jaa wadi Bambai..
Jithe sonda koi nahi...
Sab labban cheez koi ....
Kis kise nu labbe...
Jinu labbe oh bechain....
Mathe matke uske pain...???

Vir meryaa ve jugni....
Vir meryaa ve jugni kehndi aa....
Ek sah safar daa lendi aa....

(Jugni reaches Bombay where no one ever sleeps. They all hunt for something which only a few find. Those who find it are then forever worried, with lines on their forehead deepening my brother..... Jugni says as she pauses along the road she's travelled so far)

Jugni jaa wadi aaj Dilli,
Othe bheed wich ral ki bhulli..
Kitho aayi teh kithe chali...
Sab bisar gaya...
Jaddon aaya usno cheta...
Taaki muke-ya si usdaa vela....

Vir meryaa ve Jugni....
Vir meryaa ve Jugni kehndi aa....
Aaj naam Guru-an da lehendi aa.......

(Jugni ends up in Delhi where she gets lost in the crowd. Where did she come from, where did she go, she's lost. When she gathers her wits, she realises her time is over my brother... Jugni says, as she remembers the Lord while she fades away..)