Revered musician Zarmash Shinwari left the world Monday night at the age of 45, leaving behind the melodic memories that will reverberate in the hearts of his fans and admirers for many more years to come.
Zarmash was born in 1969 in Mukhar Khel area of Landikotal, Khyber Agency and served Pashto music for several decades in the face of various obstacles. He passed away in his hometown after a protracted illness.
Zarmash played the benjo, also known as the Punjabi or Indian banjo. Locally called the Bulbul Tarang, literally meaning ‘waves of nightingales’, benjo is a string instrument which evolved from the Japanese taishōgoto. Accompanied by the sweet pluckings of the benjo, Zarmash’s voice gained popularity not only in Khyber Agency, but among Pukhtuns all over the region.
Five years ago, Zarmash was diagnosed with diabetes followed by cancer, which ultimately claimed his life. He leaves behind two wives, five sons and three daughters, said one of his sons, Rajwali. Zarmash was laid to rest in his hometown of Mukhar Khel.
Please don’t stop the music
According to Muhammad Alam Shinwari, an avid fan of Zarmash and resident of the same village, “He (Zarmash) was part of each festivity, be it weddings or social gatherings at hujras of the village.”
Alam said Zarmash was a natural, adding initially he was not given a penny for his performances, but still continued undeterred. Later, people gradually started appreciating Zarmash’s talent and paying him for his appearances.
“I have enjoyed his performances several times,” recalled Alam. He said Zarmash would be accompanied by a tabla player, mangay (pitcher) and rabab player, drawing people in large numbers.
“His selection of poems was never devoid of emotions and heartbreak, often making eyes well up,” said Sarfaraz Afridi, a music enthusiast from the area. Afridi added Zarmash was the only artiste from the agency who played the benjo. “He has given voice to the sufferings of the common man who would gather around to hear him.”
Zarmash was renowned for performing kalams of poets from the agency such as Hamza Baba, Khatir Afridi and Khyber Afridi among others. One of his better known renditions was a ghazal of Khyber Afridi’s: ‘Da Torkham de, da Torkham de, delta har qadam nakaam de’ / This is Torkham, this is Torkham, where there is suffering at every step.
The verse is an ode to the people of Khyber Agency and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas at large for the turmoil they have been witness to.
In an area wracked by militancy, Zarmash’s struggle was not one sans danger. He had been repeatedly threatened, and was once even arrested by the administration for providing a vehicle to the Taliban in 2009. Clerics of the area, meanwhile, wanted Zarmash to not perform music, but he simply turned a deaf ear, if that was even possible for a man of his musical caliber, to such misgivings.
It is widely believed Zarmash took up the mantle and filled the vacuum left behind by legendary ghazal singer Rafique Shinwari. What will be more difficult to fill is the empty space left by Zarmash.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 3rd, 2014.
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