THE ICON INTERVIEW: SPIRITUAL CHANNELS
“I don’t give interviews,” says Farid Ayaz looking at me square in the eyes to communicate the gravity of the point he’s about to make. “There’s no power in the world that can make me come here [to speak to you]. Kissi ka baap nahin bula sakta mujhe meri marzi ke baghair [Nobody can dare call me without my consent]. Except, he has an advantage,” he points to his younger brother and second half of their popular qawwal group, Abu Muhammad. “When he reached out to me, even though I’m unwell, I told him I’ll be there.”
Although brothers, Farid Ayaz and Abu Muhammad observe radically different fashions — Abu sports a typical North Indian-style kurta and pyjamas whereas his older brother Farid has adopted a more flamboyant look in comparison: he dons a Sindhi cap with intricate mirror work, an ajrak around his shoulders and a dhoti.
Farid Ayaz is late to arrive to the interview and demands the attentiveness of everyone present. Should their attention waver, even slightly, they’re in trouble — Farid is swift to scold them for being disrespectful. His mouth is forever stained a deep orange due to his habit of incessantly chewing paan, and several times during this interview, he motions to his nephews to bring him a silver paandaan so he can fold himself a new paan. When he is done, he flashes a sharp look at the other family members present in the room and is promptly presented with a spittoon shaped like a large silver goblet to expel whatever remains of his paan into.
His younger brother (there is a 10-year age gap between them) Abu Muhammad has no such inclinations — towards dhotis, delivering regular admonishments or chewing on betel leaves. Amiable and quite the storyteller, Abu is the one who manages the business side of things; he meets with prospective clients, negotiates contracts etc. There’s a faint scent of a musky itar (essential oil) at his home where we meet and he promptly takes a little vial out and places two tiny drops of itar on both of my wrists. We spent a good half hour engaged in conversation before his older brother joined us.
As the heirs of the legacy of legendary qawwal Munshi Raziuddin, Farid Ayaz and Abu Muhammad have striven to keep their art pure even in the face of contemporary commercialism. They explain how …
One of the more prominent qawwali groups in Pakistan today, Farid Ayaz and Abu Muhammad trace their lineage back to Mian Samat bin Ibrahim who was mentored by Hazrat Amir Khusro — at the birth of what we now know as qawwali. It’s a tradition that has been passed down through generations ever since. They belong to the qawwal bachhon ka gharana of Delhi and, according to the brothers, their family have been engaged in qawwali for 750 years.