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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Mint-on-sunday/  The loneliness of the Malerkotla qawwals
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The loneliness of the Malerkotla qawwals

The tradition of Malerkotla qawwali music in Punjab dates back to the early 1900s, but today, few really remember it

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From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, people dance to the Bhangra beats of Punjabi music. But the unprecedented popularity of Punjabi folk and Punjabi pop has eclipsed many other rich traditions of music that evolved in the state—including the Malerkotla qawwali. 

When the late Rehmat Ali Khan came from Jadla in Nawanshehar, Punjab, to the court of Nawab Ahmad Ali Khan (in the 1930s), he introduced the flavour of Urdu qawwali to a land reverberating with the Punjabi sufi poetry of Bulle Shah, Baba Farid, Shah Hussain, Sultan Bahu, Ghulam Farid et al. 

As the qawwali tradition took roots in the court of Malerkotla, Rehmat Ali’s fame attracted many shagirds (disciples), who spread the tradition of qawwali north of Delhi. 

“Urdu and Farsi (Persian) qawwali was popular in Delhi. Amir Khusrau, the chief disciple of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia, contributed to its popularity (in the 14th century). It was Aulia’s mentor Khwaja Qutubuddin Bakhtiar Kaki who inculcated the love for qawwali in him," observes Prof Mohammad Rafi, founder secretary of the Urdu Akademi in Malerkotla. 

“The Khwaja enjoyed the ‘sama’ or atmosphere created by qawwalis, thus it became a tradition at Nizamuddin Aulia’s dargah to make an ‘offering’ of qawwali. But in Punjab, it was Rehmat Ali who introduced the genre." 

Since his coming to the court of Malerkotla, to the partition of 1947, Rehmat Ali turned qawwali into a genre of Punjabi music. His disciples came from all parts of Punjab, which explains why irrespective of where a group hails from, they still like to be known as Malerkotla qawwals. 

Exodus and fading of music 

During the Partition of 1947, the mass exodus of musicians to Pakistan damaged the cultural landscape of Punjab beyond repair. This includes the decline and gradual disappearance of the four major gharanas of Punjab—Shyamchaurasi, Talwandi, Haryana Dhunga and Kapurthala—where the finest Dhrupad gayaki evolved in the tradition of Gurbani kirtan. Since artistes of all the four gharanas were mostly Muslims, they migrated to Pakistan. 

Gurbani kirtan (in the courts of Sikh rulers who were the patrons of these gharanas) was done in pure ragas, to the accompaniment of stringed instruments like the rebab, dilruba and taus and pakhawaj for percussion. 

The migration of rebabis, who were traditionally Muslims, to Pakistan also diluted the quality of Gurbani kirtan in Harmandir Saheb (the Golden Temple), Amritsar. 

Rehmat Ali didn’t leave for Pakistan, like his patron the Nawab, but partition had created a vacuum. Stalwarts like Malikzada Mian Mehar Ali Khan, Mian Maula Bakhsh of Talwandi, jugalbandi singers Nazakat Ali and Salamat Ali of Shyamchaurasi, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan of Patiala Kasoor gharana, migrated to Lahore. 

Even though he chose to return later, Ghulam Ali Khan lived in Kolkata, not Punjab. 

Those left behind gradually migrated to Maharashtra or West Bengal, where opportunities for artistic growth and the presence of a higher quality audience would , they hoped, enrich their art. In this culturally impoverished landscape in Punjab, Rehmat Ali’s four sons and grandsons stuck to the tradition. 

But they sing before an audience that is largely incapable of appreciating the finer nuances of their musical rendition and the flavour of Urdu. 

Neighbour’s music 

The vacuum created by the exodus of stalwarts was filled by folk artists. They produced rhythmic music for the masses but lyrics became a casualty to popular appeal. It would also reflect on the quality of qawwali, more so for Malerkotla qawwals, who were trained in Urdu and Persian. 

“Learning the art of qawwali takes a lifetime. These singers are gifted with good voice but have never done riyaaz (long hours dedicated to practice), nor learnt the art," says Karamat Faqeer of Mubarakpur Chunga gharana, a disciple of Rehmat Ali Khan. 

“Even when they imitate, they render compositions of masters with wrong pronunciation, which completely alters the meaning. Our jaws dropped listening to a popular singer duo render from a prestigious platform ‘qayamat aapke dar pe saji baithi hai,’ which would mean devastation courts your doorstep, but no one objected to it. Senior artists were swinging to this music. Our taleem (training) makes us feel out of place, we miss sophisticated listeners," adds Karamat Faqeer. 

For survival, they too have had to adapt. Faqeer is well-known in Punjab. He also rendered a qawwali Ishq ni darda, for a Punjabi feature film Shahid-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh. 

His son Ghulam Ali says music based only on Ishq-e-majazi (love for the creator, God) gets religious sanction in Islam, not Ishq- e-haqiqi (love for creation—man, woman). As a result, Pakistan has produced about 2,000 qawwals—some of whom have created pop qawwali—of which only about 100 follow the true form. 

In India too, cracking of cheap jokes and double-meaning lyrics are delivered in the name of qawwali by folk singers. The internet is chocabloc with their music, and contact numbers for programmes. 

“People demand the same from us, they hear some popular composition and expect us to sing the same. They don’t know the proper order of presenting a qawwali—like khayal rendition in classical music. It has a grammar to be followed, but who cares," says Ghulam Ali. 

Anwer Rehmat Khan, Rehmat Ali’s grandson, says based on the audience they often change simple Urdu words. They also try to explain the difficult words, even at the cost of disrupting the rhythm. But to create the “sama" you need a responsive audience, which is not there anymore. 

Anwer’s son is unwilling to join his father. He plans to go abroad to study. His older brother Javed Irshad Rehmat too sings, often modifying lyrics according to tastes. 

Long tradition 

Malerkotla in Sangrur district is not located on the state highway. Once you reach the town, driving along a water canal after leaving the state highway 12 A (from Chandigarh, it takes about two-and-a-half hours to cover a distance of 110km) the difference becomes obvious. 

Boards like New Pakeeza Dhaba, Anwar Hair Stylist and Majid Ruh-e-Paan greet in bold Urdu and Punjabi scripts. After every few turns on the road, you spot a monument—a relic from the town’s glorious past—jostling next to houses. 

Religion-based segregation of houses is not known here. This is one of the only two towns in Punjab with a majority Muslim population—close to 70%. The other is Qadian (Gurdaspur district), the headquarters of Ahmadiyya Muslims, considered kafirs by some fellow muslims. 

Those who witnessed the bloodbath during the Partition know that the entire Muslim population was swept clean from east Punjab. But Malerkotla was left unscathed. It never witnessed a communal flare up, even after the Babri Masjid demolition of the early 1990s, when cosmopolitan metros of secular branding burnt with riots. The decade-long militancy too left it untouched. 

Local people—with plenty of time on hand— love to narrate stories behind the culture of peaceful plurality of the town. At the dargah of Kotla’s founder Sadruddin Sadri Jahan (died 1508), popularly known as Haider Sheikh ki dargah, and visited by Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims alike, the offerings consist of coconuts and lamps, which is a Hindu tradition. 

Nawab Bayzid Khan (died 1659) invited a Chishti Sufi saint, Shah Fazl, and a Bairagi Hindu saint, Mahatma Sham Damodar, together for laying the foundation of the fortified quila (fort) in the town, fostering an atmosphere of mutual respect and cooperation among communities. 

In 1702, when Guru Gobind Singh’s sons were ordered to be walled up alive in Sirhind, Nawab of Malerkotla Sher Mohammad Khan’s was the only voice of protest to Aurangzeb. He said, in no uncertain terms, the execution of children was a heinous act and against Islam. 

The composite culture was further strengthened by the Malerkotla qawwals, who came to the court of Nawab Ahmad Ali Khan in 1930s to introduce Urdu and Farsi qawwali. They followed the 750- year- old tradition of Amir Khusrau, of blending verses from varied faiths and traditions into one seamless song called qawwali, to the rich musical landscape of Punjab. 

Of religion, films and money 

Making a qawwali group requires eight to 15 people. It needs at least three lead singers with different pitches of voice (soprano, tenor and baritone). Apart from a deep knowledge of ragas and mastery over rhythm, seasoned qawwals need a rich repertoire of poetry—both majazi and haqiqi—memorised for impromptu rendition. 

Engaging the audience is a daunting task. Qawwals agree they too are responsible for not infusing the form with a fresh approach and innovation. 

“No one after Rehmat could attain that stature, or enrich the form of qawwali," says Arvind Sharma, a professor at the department of music, Panjab University, Chandigarh. 

After rich patrons left artistes to their fate, classical music found space in concerts, government-sponsored programmes and even universities that started courses in music. Qawwali didn't find space in institutions of either the folk or classical music. 

The performances were limited to dargahs and few rich weddings. The internet has changed this, but with distortions that turned qawwali to a parody. The music department of Panjab University has not considered it worthwhile to attempt a research-based study on the legacy of Malerkotla qawwali and its decay. 

The two dargahs in Malerkotla do not allow singing of qawwali. “There is no place for qawwali in Islam, kabraparasti (worshipping of a tomb) is believed to be a sin," says Rafi. 

With growing religious fervour, as kirtan and jagrata groups abound, the qawwali singers’ space is shrinking for the same reason. In popular culture too, qawwalis presence has vanished. Films like Barsat ki Raat (watch a clip here), whose popularity was based only on its brilliant qawwalis, are a thing of the past. 

“Qawwali is replaced by item numbers, it reflects the public taste. How far can we accommodate?" rues Anwer. 

He adds that the patrons who understood the sophistication of Urdu and qawwali have gradually passed away. The younger generation doesn't relate to their music. 

“People used to invite qawwals for weddings, birth of a child and other such celebrations. Now they get a DJ who plays popular Punjabi numbers. There are those who sing folk in the name of qawwali. They don’t respect simple traditions. I’ve seen a few sing qawwali standing and do all sorts of vocal acrobatics in the name of sufi. There is more money in sufi music, but it has diluted the quality of qawwali," says Anwer.

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Published: 17 Mar 2018, 11:27 PM IST
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