KARACHI, July 13: Farid Ayaz and Abu Mohammad enthralled a gathering with their Qawwalis and talk on Ishq (love) in the Arts Council auditorium on Friday night.

The Qawwali performance, beamed live by a private television channel, was however marred by the frequent commercial breaks.

Hosted by actor Noorul Hassan, the programme opened with Hassan discussing with Farid Ayaz the nuances of Ishq and the characteristics of an Aashiq (lover). Farid Ayaz, hailing from the family of the renowned Qawwal Munshi Raziuddin, replied in verses. Abu Mohammad preferred to keep quiet and let his brother do the talking.

Soon the brothers recited the first kalam of the show: ‘Meri nas nas haq bole’. It was a lively 27-minute performance with Farid Ayaz punctuating the recital with strident calls of Haq, swaying to and fro.

“How enormous is the responsibility of Ishq?” asked Hassan next after the end of the initial recital. “Ishq can never be a responsibility. Ishq is an essential requirement of every human being,” answered Farid Ayaz.

Next they recited a Naat, ‘Ki ki na keeta yaar nay eik yaar waastay’ followed by a long break in which Farid Ayaz regaled the handful of audience sitting in the auditorium with an instrumental version of ‘Kaahe ko biyahi bedais’. The extremely popular kalam of Bulleh Shah, ‘Tere ishq nachaya kar thaiyya thaiyya’, came next which Abu Mohammad sang with ecstatic movements. However, it ended too soon as it was merely for 10 minutes which hardly did justice to the kalam.

The recording ended with ‘Kangana’ composed in Raag Malkauns.