No strings attached: Sarangi player goes through the daily grind even after making it big

Gul Muhammed Hussain had wowed people with his performance on Coke Studio.

KARACHI: He lives in a small house at Pakistan Chowk and changes two buses every day to go to the schools where he teaches vocal training. Despite having little education and money, Gul Muhammad Hussain, an 18-year-old Sarangi player, has reached the pinnacle of success at a very young age.

“When I was three years old, my father used to play the Sarangi every morning after Fajr prayers. I used to wake up by the music and run downstairs. I sat on his lap while he played and he used to tap my head on every beat,” says Gul Muhammad. “This was my first lesson in music.”

Born in a family of musicians — with his grandfather Ustad Ghulam Muhammad Khan a Sarangi player and his maternal grandfather Ustad Mushtaq Hussain a tabla player — melodies come naturally to him.

The strong musical traditions of the family made him crave holding a Sarangi for 16 years. After those years painstakingly passed, playing the Sarangi was quite a task. “My father always says that you cannot play the Sarangi until you can sing and have the knowledge of music. So he gave me vocal training for those 16 years.”

According to Gul Muhammad, the problem is being an honest musician. “If you’re an honest musician, you can’t do anything else for a living because all you know is music.”

But, reality check: you need to earn a living. With four younger siblings to support and his father earning a minimal amount as a music teacher, he has to string something together. He leaves his home at 7 am with his Sarangi and goes to the school where he provides vocal training to children.

Then in the afternoon, he goes for his recording and in the evening, he gives vocal lessons at another private institute. “So it’s pretty much my Sarangi, a public bus and I throughout the day,” Gul Muhammad said with a smile.

All this hard work contributes Rs20,000 to his house. But he keeps his optimism. “If  Pakistan can run, so can my family. God willing, I will play Sarangi with Ustad Zakir Hussain one day.”

With life’s surprises — like the Coke Studio session where he infused his Sarangi with Shafqat Amanat Ali’s hit song Aankhon Kay Saagar — anything is possible for him now. “Having played with the legends like Shafqat Amanat Ali and Ustad Bashir is a huge honour for a street kid like me.”

Success hasn’t come easy for Gul Muhammad. And whenever he’s feeling the blues, he plays his worries away. Thanks to his precious Sarangi.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15^th,  2011.