Ustad Eltaf Hussain Sarahang bridges Afghanistan and the rest of the world with his soulful voice
The year was 2009. A grey haired, bespectacled man found himself making a journey back home. It had been 20 years since he had last seen his country, Kabul. Twenty years of living in India and then the US, yearning for his “sar-zameen”, Ustad Eltaf Hussain Sarahang prayed for peace, for visiting his land one more time and breathe in its air, walk its cobbled streets and relive old memories.
“War has torn apart a city that was once the cradle of civilization, where the arts and music flourished in the court of King Zahir Shah. The theatre, the poets, writers, singers and artists filled Kabul and its many colourful soirees with rich words and soulful music. It was a glorious life, which is scarred, wounded and lost to many now,” narrates Eltaf, who was also the royal musician in the Afghan King’s court back then.
In the city for a concert as part of Pracheen Kala Kendra’s monthly Baithak Programme, this renowned vocalist of the Patiala Gharana from Afghanistan, considers himself a link, a bridge between the old and new, the present and ancient Indo-Afghan cultural heritage.
“Now that there is hope of peace, many people are coming back to Afghanistan and bringing with them a new culture, a new wave of thought,” says Eltaf, welcoming this change, one that’s progressive and yet rooted in Afghani traditions.
A man of learning, Hussain belongs to a lineage of great musicians. His grandfather was Ustad Ghulam Hussain Sarahang, and his guru was his father, Sartaj-e-Mausiqui, Ustad Mohammed Hussain Sarahang. On his own, Ustad Eltaf Hussain is a musical expert on the Sufi thought, particularly of the renowned Sufi poet, Abdul Qadir Bedil.
“Sufism is a difficult path and not all can walk it,” he says, adding how it should not be tampered with and retained as it is, simple and sincere.
Like Kabul, Eltaf shares his second home, India. “It was India, its people who gave us shelter when we were in trouble,” he recalls his days in Mumbai, when he was here on a music scholarship, and made friends with Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Shabana Azmi, Mithun Chakraborty and with city’s ML Koser, the director of Pracheen Kala Kendra.
Back in Kabul, he was Director of the Urdu Service of Kabul Radio, teaching music at the Kabul University, learning Hindi, singing at concerts etc. It was in the ‘80s, after being enlisted in the Afghan army, that he sustained serious injuries, putting a halt to his music career for several years. The dark days, however, continue to haunt him and his family.
“The world made a monster of Afghanistan. Any activity and the blame would come on us,” he says and adds how they are still eyed with suspicion in the US.
“Politics is based on lies, and politicians are liars,” he makes a strong comment, and chooses to leave all that behind and move on with his wife and seven children, in a new life, now in Toronto, Canada.
“In the last couple of years, I have been visiting Kabul, and will continue to do so.”
He is now training his son, Yama Sarahang, who is following in his father’s footsteps. “I will go to Kabul, whenever I’m ready with my music,” says Yama.
[Picture: Portrait of Mohammed Zahir Shah (d. 2007), the last King of Afghanistan. Photo: Wiki.]
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