Energy

Staff Report, "Mystic Music Sufi Festival kicks off" - Daily Times - Lahore, Pakistan; Sunday, April 27, 2008

Lahore: The fifth annual International Mystic Music Sufi Festival kicked off on Friday night amid tight security at the Peeru’s café.

About 300 people were present in the spacious lawn adjacent to the café where the stage was set for the performances of the Sufi singers.

The Festival begun with the performance of Akhtar Chinar Zahari from Balochistan.

The intricately designed stage had tombs in the background to fit to the soul of the Sufi festival.

A wide area was left vacant in front of the stage. A lot of people sat on the lawn with pillows on their side instead of sitting on the chairs. Rows of chairs were arranged behind the people sitting in the lawn. The open-air venue of the festival added to the charm.

Security personnel and plainclothesmen were deployed outside as well as inside the café. A walkthrough metal detector was also set up outside the venue to search the people before letting them inside.

Taj Mastani’s performances stole the show and put the audience on their toes. Hailing from Sindh, Mastani sang several folk songs. With the start of her performance of the famous folk lyric ‘Dama Dum Mast Qalandar’, many people thronged the vacant area in front of the stage to dance.

Talking to Daily Times, Mastani said she had been blessed by saints and she was always showered with “a thundering response” whenever she performed mystic melodies.


She said she had devoted her life to mystic music, which had given her much respect and peace of mind.

Mastani’s performance was followed by those of Goonga Saieen and Mitthu Saieen who delighted the audience with their drumbeats.

Shah Jo Raag, Abrar Hussain, Dildar Hussain, Sanam Marvi, Ghazi Khan Barana and Arif Anim Nizami also performed and received applause from the audience.

Saieen Zahoor’s performance put the audience into a spell. The sincerity, heat and passion of his singing are widely admired.

He said, “Sufism is the message of peace, love and harmony. Love for all, hatred for none. Listening and singing of Sufi songs provide one with an energy that help curb hatred and malice from society.”

[Picture: Saieen Zahoor performing at theIndia Habitat Centre in May 2006[1], with his three-string Ektara. Photo from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sain_Zahoor].