Who let the Kuttay out?

Like most of Faiz’s works, Kuttay too has a socially conscious element to it.

What’s nearly as good as reading an Urdu poem?

Simple!

Hearing it sung.

This might sound ridiculous to many of you out there, and if the poet in question is the legendary Faiz Ahmed Faiz, even blasphemous, but here me out. When was the last time you allowed yourself to indulge in written Urdu kalaam?

Get my point? So, when we get to hear relatively obscure work of these literary maestros, since we seem to be so averse to the idea of actually reading them, I believe it’s something to be valued rather than being ridiculed. This brings me to ‘Kuttay‘, a somewhat unknown nazm penned by the iconic leftist poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

We might have had our fair share of Faiz’s “Mujhse Pehli Si Mohabbat”, “Hum Dekhaingay” and “Gulon Mein Rang Bhare” over the years but Kuttay is another undiscovered gem that we can now experience – courtesy of Nishtar Park, a Karachi-based rock band.



The band mates previously called ‘EMB’ started jamming together back in 2010 during their time at St Patrick’s High School. In December 2015, they shuffled their pack and renamed the band to ‘Nishtar Park’.

Nishtar Park’s music can be best described as a fusion of indie and rock n’ roll.



Kuttay was penned by Faiz as part of his first book, Naqsh-e-Faryadi, which was published in 1941. The nazm is an extension of his usual criticism of the sleeping middle class and allegorical parallels have been drawn between them and dogs.

There is something peculiarly profound about this poem which mainly stands out due to his plain choice of words and apt metaphors.

As for the crooned version, while the composition keeps the sound very Eastern, the arrangement on the whole leans towards a more Western influence.

Long story short, ‘Kuttay’ is unleashed and we don’t care if this is the way they are let out!

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