Sitar maestro Ashraf Sharif Khan started playing sitar at the age of six when his hands could hardly reach the top of the instrument. His learning of the skills of playing and improvising the delicate ragas at the young age was unique and miraculous. His father and mentor, legendary Ustad Sharif Khan Poonchwalay passed away when he was just 11.

“During the last two years of my father’s life, he probably got an idea that he was running short of time. He put on me a tremendous pressure to learn and practise the fundamentals of classical music.

“Even if I were sick or sleeping, he would wake me up for practice. Now I am realising that these two years of rigorous training helped me develop a meditative temperament and made a lasting impression on my mind,” he recalls.

After the death of his father, Ashraf Sharif Khan was only one out of four brothers who opted to carry forward the family tradition and they supported him generously.

“It sounds cool to claim oneself a self-taught but actually it’s tough to learn without guidance. I feel myself exceptionally blessed with a passion and luck to pass the difficult phase successfully.

“Once mesmerised by a stunning performance of an Indian artist at a private gathering in Lahore, I decided not to play at the All Pakistan Music Conference on the following day. I was afraid that I won’t be able to perform up to the standards of the visiting artist. I spent the whole night in confusion and mistrust, practising the raga I was supposed to perform. I told my mother about it when she woke up for morning prayer. She replied, ‘We will support whatever you decide but mark my words, if you do not perform today, then forget about playing sitar because you are never going to be confident enough to perform again.”

That was the watershed moment in Ashraf’s life. He showed courage and confidence and played extremely well, getting a standing ovation from the audience, including the master Indian player.

“In music, teacher is like a spiritual guru who helps you to be confident of yourself. One can learn the techniques but the essence of music comes like a spiritual transference only when you are wholeheartedly connected with your master,” he believes.

Ashraf would spend hours, practising daily at the workshop of famous musical instrument maker Ustad Ramzan.

“I was curious to get familiar with the internal structure of the instrument. The shop was a hub of musicians of Lahore. It served me as a university to study human behaviour. People would encourage and criticise each other simultaneously, in very subtle and intriguing ways,” he recalls.

The first 15 years of his learning was just listening and replaying on sitar his father’s recorded works. On a later stage, he groomed himself by listening to a single raga, played by various artistes, one by one.

“An artiste is not merely a story of an individual’s struggle; he is made by so many people. I am grateful to Raza Kazim, Farrukh Bashir and other students of my father who helped me a great deal,” he acknowledges.

Playing as a professional since the mid-1990s, Ashraf has performed at the major music events in Kolkata, Lahore, Europe and the USA. His excellent performances are acknowledged by the audience worldwide, and he got prestigious music awards including Khwaja Khursheed Anwar Award, Hazrat Amir Khusrau Award and Lifetime Achievement Award by the All Pakistan Music Conference. He is going to get Pride of Performance Award this year. Settled in Germany, he has been a frequent visitor to Lahore.

“I lived in various countries. Hamburg and Oslo are like hometowns for me with big circles of artiste friends there but my heart still beats with Lahore. I love to perform here.”’

Ashraf thinks that comfortable lifestyle and appreciation in the West have rusted skills of many Asian artistes and to keep on growing, one must perform for Pakistani and Indian audiences. An artiste must understand the intricacies of classical ragas and accept criticism as no one in the world can compete the artiste who survives this test of fire, the criticism and resistance by contemporary musicians and serious listeners,” he concludes.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2017