Askini Ver Bana

By Irfan Aligi, "Give me your love: the whirling dervishes of Mevlana Rumi" - Daily Times - Lahore, Pakistan
Friday, April 25, 2008

Karachi: Music from the flute is capable of moving hearts and can force minds to adopt a philosophy or creed ever strange to them.

The sufis around the world cannot separate themselves from the moving tones and whirling ecstatic dances of musical organs, largely because of the flute, said Nameera Ahmed while talking to Daily Times at the premiere of her documentary film “Give me your love: a journey into Mevlevi Music”.

“I choose to name my documentary Askini ver bana: mevlevi müzikine bir yolculuk, meaning ‘Give me your love: a journey into Mevlevi Music’. I was always curious to discover what dervishes do by putting themselves into an ecstatic whirlpool haal with every step, moved rhythmically under the influence of the flute,” explained Nameera.

The documentary explores the role of music, especially that of the reed flute, in the lives of contemporary spiritual followers of the thirteenth century Persian Sufi poet-mystic, Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi. Mevlevi Sufis are most popularly identified internationally as the “Whirling Dervishes”.

Rumi referred to the making and playing of the ney in his poetry as a metaphor for the training and subsequent transformation of the human spirit. The dervish claim that the melody of the flute resembles the sweetness of the voice of the Almighty, she explained.

The flute is made of reed that grows at the riverbank and when it is pulled out, sadness prevails; when it is played, hearts are moves, stated the director.

The informal screening of “Askini ver bana” was held at the house of former Pakistan Television news anchor, vocalist and author Sabuha Khan, and was organized under the flag of UTAQ, a society for the promotion of arts and culture.

The screening ceremony attracted prominent admirers of arts and culture, including Tasneem Hashmi, S. Nusrat Ali and Maj (retd) Inayat Sher Khan.

Khan said that Nameera’s film was an attempt to remove the doubts that Islam restricts music. According to Khan, Ahmed has produced “fabulous work” at a very young age. She claims that her work brings people of different religions and culture close to each other. The message of the whirling dervishes is of love, peace and tranquility.

The documentary was first selected for screening at ‘Sol e Luna DOCFEST’ in Palermo, Italy in July. It was selected at the Cinema Verite-Iran International Documentary Film Festival, Baku International Audio Visual festival of Young Authors, Sufism and the Performing Arts Programs, International Festival of Short Films on Culture.

It was selected for the Kara Film Festival in November that was postponed. However, it will be screened at the festival in June.

The 30-minute documentary is shot entirely in Turkish with English subtitles.

This poetic symbolism holds power for the Sufis, who reveal their connection to the ney. The players are all individuals actively engaged in the production, performance and perpetuation of the Mevlevi music tradition.

The film documents the story of a ney-maker, a young whirling dervish, a female student, a reed-flute enthusiast, a ney teacher, a spiritual teacher, a silversmith, who is a friend of the Mevlevis, and a senior ney player.

While maintaining a sense of timelessness, the artistic treatment of the film highlights everyday aspects of their experiences, working methods and processes and performances within a cultural context.

In the film, the Mevlevis present their own approaches and esoteric philosophies about music through interviews and discussions that draw upon sufi ideas on love and Muslim theological traditions.

The viewer gets a taste of their world, philosophy and beliefs, and their journey of love explored through the ‘Sema’ or ‘Audition’, while seeking to juxtapose the relationship between the sublime and the mundane.

Ahmed was born in Karachi. She completed her BA in graphic design from Bilkent University, Ankara. She then worked as a designer in Istanbul and on her return, she worked as a graphic designer and illustrator.

Later on, she went back to Turkey for her Masters degree in Visual Arts and Visual Communication design at the Sabanci University, Istanbul where she focused on documentary filmmaking.

Presently, she teaches filmmaking at the University of Karachi and writes for the Leonardo Reviews. She also directed “Reflections in the mirror,” this year.