Sunday, October 08, 2006

Whither ghazals of Ghalib?

The Daily Star - Cultural Correspondent
Thu. March 09, 2006

Enayat-e-Moula Jinnah, is a singer of ghazals and modern Bangla songs, apart from being a music director of the Shilpakala Academy for decades. Amplifying on the music scene, he says, "Ghazals, which have come down from Amir Khusru and Ghalib, are popular at clubs, and private houses. However, they are not heard on our local TV or radio. This also applies to Rabindra Sangeet that includes words referring to Hindu mythology."

At present Jinnah is an enlisted singer of Nazrul Sangeet, and modern Bangla songs on radio and TV. He had his initial training in music under Ustad Siddiqur Rahman and next with Ustad Saimud Ali Khan, of Banaras gharana, who himself was a student of Pandit Bishek Shebak Misra. He began with sargam, went into classical training and then progressed to Nazrul Sangeet. In Dinajpur, in his youth, he was attracted to the songs of Mehdi Hassan, which were popular in the homes of his friends of the then East Pakistan Rifles. This saw an ebb even though the ghazals originated from Mirza Ghalib and Bahadur Shah Zafar, who were from India.

Dwelling on this genre of songs, Jinnah says that these ghazals are a combination of Persian and Urdu. Today in India, he says, people sometimes confuse bhajans of Anup Jalota -- which include tales of Krishna and Ram, for ghazals. The famed ghazal writer, Amir Khusru, was originally Turkish. Mirza Ghalib's family, in India, too had its roots in Turkey. Ghalib combined Persian, Arabic and Urdu, he says. "Modern writers of this genre include Mazrul Sultanpuri and Javed Akhter from India. But these writers have not, in any way, been able to surpass Amir Khusru, Bahadur Shah Zafar. Mirza Ghalib or even Allama Iqbal. "I like the ghazals of Bahadur Shah Zafar best because of their poignancy and passion. Their lyricism and moving lines can't help but touch your heart. Their rhythm and clarity communicates with the listener without any effort," says Jinnah.

Ghazals, he says, are not necessarily love poems. "Like qawwalis, they were immersed in Sufism and had a religious nature, as in the case of the early ghazals of Amir Khusru," he says. "They were always based on a raga. In India they are confusing ghazals with bhajans and thumris, such as in the case of Bare Ghulam Ali's Ae na balam, keya kare sajni (a thumri) or Begum Akhter's Jochhona korechhi ari, asheyna amar bari (a dadra). Kazi Nazrul Islam also wrote a large number of Bangla ghazals," he adds.

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Sunday, October 08, 2006

Whither ghazals of Ghalib?
The Daily Star - Cultural Correspondent
Thu. March 09, 2006

Enayat-e-Moula Jinnah, is a singer of ghazals and modern Bangla songs, apart from being a music director of the Shilpakala Academy for decades. Amplifying on the music scene, he says, "Ghazals, which have come down from Amir Khusru and Ghalib, are popular at clubs, and private houses. However, they are not heard on our local TV or radio. This also applies to Rabindra Sangeet that includes words referring to Hindu mythology."

At present Jinnah is an enlisted singer of Nazrul Sangeet, and modern Bangla songs on radio and TV. He had his initial training in music under Ustad Siddiqur Rahman and next with Ustad Saimud Ali Khan, of Banaras gharana, who himself was a student of Pandit Bishek Shebak Misra. He began with sargam, went into classical training and then progressed to Nazrul Sangeet. In Dinajpur, in his youth, he was attracted to the songs of Mehdi Hassan, which were popular in the homes of his friends of the then East Pakistan Rifles. This saw an ebb even though the ghazals originated from Mirza Ghalib and Bahadur Shah Zafar, who were from India.

Dwelling on this genre of songs, Jinnah says that these ghazals are a combination of Persian and Urdu. Today in India, he says, people sometimes confuse bhajans of Anup Jalota -- which include tales of Krishna and Ram, for ghazals. The famed ghazal writer, Amir Khusru, was originally Turkish. Mirza Ghalib's family, in India, too had its roots in Turkey. Ghalib combined Persian, Arabic and Urdu, he says. "Modern writers of this genre include Mazrul Sultanpuri and Javed Akhter from India. But these writers have not, in any way, been able to surpass Amir Khusru, Bahadur Shah Zafar. Mirza Ghalib or even Allama Iqbal. "I like the ghazals of Bahadur Shah Zafar best because of their poignancy and passion. Their lyricism and moving lines can't help but touch your heart. Their rhythm and clarity communicates with the listener without any effort," says Jinnah.

Ghazals, he says, are not necessarily love poems. "Like qawwalis, they were immersed in Sufism and had a religious nature, as in the case of the early ghazals of Amir Khusru," he says. "They were always based on a raga. In India they are confusing ghazals with bhajans and thumris, such as in the case of Bare Ghulam Ali's Ae na balam, keya kare sajni (a thumri) or Begum Akhter's Jochhona korechhi ari, asheyna amar bari (a dadra). Kazi Nazrul Islam also wrote a large number of Bangla ghazals," he adds.

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