MUSIC BEYOND BOUNDARIES

 

The Holy Bible says “ Praise Him with Timbrel, Praise Him with Music and Dance”, hence music and dance is considered the best medium to reach out to the Almighty. Further more the “shastras” proclaim that if you sincerely practise classical music and dance, you are a blessed soul, signifying the fact that classical musicians and classical dancers enjoy a close proximity with the Almighty, which is unique, unusual and divine, hence the divine intervention is always solicited for divine bliss, peace and prosperity.

Here I would like to draw your attention to this cultural and musical ambassador, whose musical performances has crossed regional boundaries for over five decades. His admirers are spread in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Middle East countries, the Indian diaspora in United States of America and United Kingdom. He is none other than one of the greatest Ghazal singers of our time, Ustad Ghulam Ali.

 

Ustad Ghulam Ali was born on 1st December 1940 and is 84 years old and is Pakistani Ghazal singer of the Patiala Gharana. Since childhood he was inclined to music and his family were great admirers of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, hence decided that if a son is born, his name would be Ghulam Ali. There after Ghulam Ali became the disciple of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and his younger brothers Barkat Ali Khan and Mubarak Ali Khan. Ghulam Ali is blessed with a deep throated voice that effortlessly travels through various octaves of music and melody with ease and dexterity, with the additional quality of emotional intensity that resonates with the listeners, creating a lasting impression.

 

Ghazal pertains to the light classical format, poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets, usually in Urdu or Persian, set to music and mostly performed solo, relating to the theme of love, the varied facets and shades of love like love, hatred ,jealousy ,suffering, pain, union or the pangs of separation. On a larger perspective it would mean love is divine, hence to find true love or life partner is a blessing in disguise, there by the dictum that marriages are made in heaven is quite pertinent here. THe poetic verses when interpreted with melody, musical interludes and emotional intensity it really touches the listeners as they identify their personal experience with the musical interpretation, hence Ghazal music is one of the most popular musical programmes in the contemporary society that is acclaimed internationally. Some of the most popular poets whose renditions are listened repeatedly are Mirza Ghalib, Mir Taqi Mir,Daagh Dehlave, Faiz Anwar Faiz etc

 

Some of the most popular renditions of Ghulam Ali are “Humko Kiske Gham Ne Mara”(Whose sadness has affected or beat me?), “Chupke Chupke Aasu Bahay”(Slowly and quietly tears starts dropping), “Hungama hai kyu …, thodi si peeli hai”(what’s this mess about, my drinking a little?) “Kal Chaudvi Ki Raat thi”(Yesterday was an unusual and unique moonlit night), “Yeh Dil Pagal…….awaragi”(My heart is mad, a vagabound) “Dil Mein Ek Lahar Si Uti hai abhi”(THere is a unusual wave or current in my heart), Yeh Faasle, Yeh Bhi Honge, Kabhi Socha Nahi Tha”(There will such a distance between Us, Never thought of it). Ghulam Ali revealed that the audience appreciation and adulation is most important for me and feel that the religion of music is humanity and truth. He has been consistently singing for various audiences around the globe for more than fifty five years and is really happy to serve people through music and feels that music is not confined to any region, it is beyond boundaries.

Playback singer Mahendra Kapoor had approached Ghulam Ali on behalf of India’s nightingale Lata Mangeshkar for a concert in Mumbai, Ghulam Ali was quite nervous to sing in the presence of Lata Mangeshkar. After listening to Ghulam, Lata remarked, you say you are nervous but your music is not nervous at all, enjoyed listening to you” In another meeting with the great Mohammed Rafi, Ghulam remarked “Lot of people listen to you” but Rafi remarked “I listen to you and enjoy listening to you regularly”.

 

As a child Ghulam used to catch the common cold quite often and used to wonder as to whether singing should continue or not but his father remarked that Singing is considered the most supreme art, next is instrumental music and the third place goes to dance, with regular “riyaaz” young Ghulam mastered the art of singing, nevertheless he learnt play the harmonious and the Tabla too.

As a young man Ghulam was addicted to smoking but his meeting with neuro surgeon Dr Amjad changed his life. Dr Amjad said that you must stop smoking for my sake, young Ghulam was surprised and asked How does it affect you? He replied, I regularly listen to your music, after a hard day’s work, after I return home I listen to you but if u continue to smoke like this, I am afraid u may not live long and then I will miss your music forever, hence stop smoking immediately, Ghulam listen to him and quite smoking completely.

Ghulam does not watch Indian cinema, except for few musical films like “Baiju Bawra” or “Hulchal” known for its musical scores. Ghulam personally appreciates Madhuri Dixit the most as he feels that “Music is there every where, if there is no music, there is no life but very few people are blessed with unusual musical sensibility and I feel Madhuri Dixit is one among them, that’s possibly the reason as to why she is such a wonderful dancer and actress”

Ustad Ghulam Ali says that the love and adulation he gets from audiences in different countries is most important, which is priceless and more important than any awards or rewards.

- Guru Vijay Shanker