Classical concert: Teachers and students put up master class

Baithak with students of PNCA’s classical classes held.

ISLAMABAD:

While the urban youth prefer picking up a guitar or shelling out money for a fancy drum kit, there are still some precious few that are holding on to their traditional roots. And it was these youngsters, who after a gruelling training of three months, took the audience on a soulful journey at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts on Friday.

Ustad Shaukat Manzoor and Ustad Sultan Fateh Ali Khan — both classical maestros in their own right — sat backstage as they gave their students last minute advice. “I think you should sing two geets, the mood of the audience outside seems just right,” said Manzoor to a student named Ali Kamal.

The only two females out of the lot seemed enthusiastic about their performance, as Haleema Saher, a student of Khan’s who has been singing for the last 20 years, kick started the night with the ghazal “Kahan ho tum chalay ao” by Shehnaz Begum. The crowd responded with enthusiastic applause. “This is the first time I’m performing in Urdu, usually I always sing in Kashmiri,” informed Saher backstage as she came back and asked her teacher about the performance.

Syed Fiaz Kazmi, another student, already has 14 albums under his belt, yet after three months of tutelage under Manzoor, who vigorously grilled him about the “Arfana Kalam”, Kazmi too seemed excited in front of the audience as he began his performance with “Tang mahi di”, a Bulleh Shah’s kalam, and expertly switched to the next item, “Raatan lambiyan raatan”.

Ali Kamal, who seemed more inclined to classical and semi-classical, enthralled the audience with a mesh of the two with the folk song “Mara eh the mara”.

Sadia Batool, another of Manzoor’s students, said she is a big fan of Nur Jehan. “If one has a good voice, one should use it, I love singing to her songs as they really inspire me,” she said before going on to perform “Dunya kab chup rehti hai” by Nur Jehan. As the audience roared in appreciation, Batool moved on to a Punjabi geet “Meray dil day sheeshay vich”.

After each student had enjoyed their moment of glory, the maestros themselves took the stage to give spellbinding performances. Manzoor sang “Qafi kalam” by Khwaja Ghulam Fareed, while Khan sang ghazals by Mohsin Naqvi.

Backstage, both maestros and their students enjoyed a hearty laugh as the event came to an end, but on a thoughtful note. “It is ironic that our new generation is more interested in picking up western instruments while the west is now interested in learning our art. We must hold on to our roots as much as we can,” concluded Khan.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2012.