Curtains for Qawwali?

Aman Sood in Malerkotla

Strangely, we find ourselves moaning too much over loud, quaint music. When it stops, it stops altogether in our memory; we don’t even recall what we just heard. Not long ago, there were sugary, soul-stirring, romantic lyrics of ever-green songs. Also, there existed high and low pitched lyrical sounds with hand-claps, reminding us of the sufi-inspired qawwali genre, something that appears on the verge of extinction. A few of the proponents of qawwali from Punjab say they can’t make ends meet with their art. They are possibly the last ones struggling to keep an ancestral tradition of Sufiana qawwali alive. 

That form took roots in Malerkotla after Rehmat Sahib performed in the royal court of Malerkotla as a singer almost over a century back. “His four sons followed in his footsteps and became court qawwals,” says grandson and perhaps the last generation qawwal, Anwer Rehmat Khan.

He says there are two kinds of qawwals: Dargahi who perform and preach through sufi music and Nawabi who sing both sufi and other genres. 

Qawwali began as an invocation to the Prophet and was popularized by Amir Khusrau, the chief disciple of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia. It was Aulia’s mentor, Khwaja Qutubuddin Bakhtiar Kaki who inculcated the love for qawwali in him. The Khwaja and his friend, Qazi Hamiduddin Nagauri, both enjoyed the ‘sama’ or atmosphere created by qawwalis.

“That ambience can still be brought back if you can get a good singer who can do justice with qawwali. You also need good listeners. Can you get both?” asks Anwer. He blames vulgar music and videos for the deterioration of such a pious style of singing. 

“I learnt from my father. I am trying my best to continue and sing with devotion. The rest is for the almighty to decide,” he says. Dr Naresh Raj, who has been associated with Mushaira (Urdu poetry meet) and sufi artists, says ‘Sufiana qawwali’ is a medium of devout sufi saints aiming to establish communion with God. “This is the cardinal spiritual experience for blessed souls. It is the musical form of ibadat-ishq hakiki (love with god),” he says. 

Anwer Khan’s grandfather founded the Sirhindi Gharana and was popularly titled Baba Adam Qawwal who sang the famous “Ajj main peeni hai.., ajj mai peeni hai …” qawwali. With Anwer Khan, this Sirhindi Gharana is the torchbearer of traditional qawwali. “I have been holding annual mushairas in Patiala for over 20 years. It saddens me that such a wonderful form of music is slowly getting extinct as youngsters are not interested and government support is missing,” says Naresh Raj. 

A qawwali team consists of at least 10 persons, including a tabla player, vocalists, harmonium player and background artists. “It is not easy to earn in this profession. From a meager Rs 5,000 per function almost a decade back, we now charge roughly Rs 30-40 thousand for a three-hour function. Sometime, we do not get a function for months. The DJ system in marriages and functions has ruined traditional form of singing,” says Anwer. “My only son now wants to move abroad after studies and is not interested in this form of singing. He avoids riyaz (practice) sessions fearing that I would make him join singing.” Qawwalis once added to the popularity of films. But qawwali competitions in films lowered the dignity of this genre which had its own grammar, decency of presentation, including the rich poetic and philosophical content and tehzeeb (etiquette). 

Says Anwer in his inimitable style: “Mohabbat ki tamanna saath le kar, chala hoon ujala saath lekar (with love on my lips, I carry the light along. kabhi bhi shayar aur gayak log, nahi chaltey hain kharcha sath lekar (poets and singers never carry money they have to spend).”

That ambience of qawwali can still be brought back if you can get a good singer who can do justice with that form of singing. You also need good listeners. Can you get both? 

Anwer Rehmat Khan