KARACHI: The tickets were sold out and security beefed up, because many who didn’t have the tickets wanted to get into the the Arts Council of Pakistan on Sunday evening to listen to the numero uno qawwal group in the subcontinent, Farid Ayaz and Abu Muhammad.

It has to be said that compared to last year’s performance on the same premises, the duo and other members of their large family on stage, performed with more musical oomph and spiritual fervour on Sunday. It was an exceptionally enriching experience. They started off with Qasida Burda Sharif and immediately had the big crowd’s attention. If any young man or woman was found busy with their cell phone, Farid Ayaz (it has now become a habit of his) would tell them the etiquettes of how to behave in a qawwali show.

This was followed by the Qol and the crowd responded it to in an excited manner. They swayed to the beat with raised hands, especially those who were sitting on the floor in front of the musicians.

The next two numbers further energised the younger lot in the Jaun Elia lawn of the council. Mera piya ghar aaya is a track that the group sang in one of the seasons of Coke Studio and that’s how they introduced it. It got young boys and girls to dance and things had livened up a great deal by this time.

At that juncture, Arts Council President Ahmed Shah came on to the stage and presented a bouquet to the qawwal brothers.

When music returned, the duo did not let the momentum to go down by presenting one of the most popular pieces penned and composed by Hazrat Amir Khusrau, Chhaap tilak sab cheen li. The thing that they do with this popular tune is that they don’t sing all of its verses; instead, after the opening couplet, they add some other romantic lines and verses to it, and in between croon a sher from the original poem. It works well. But one would like them to sing the whole track in the future.

Then came the turn of complying with requests, including Zihal-i-miskeen making the evening, which was part of the World Culture Festival, a memorable one.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2024