Aman ki Asha at PURANA QILA

MITWAS AT PURANA QILA - Arpita Nath

The Purana Qila, lit by soft purple and saffron lights, made for a beautiful venue for the Aman Ki Asha concert – a joint initiative by The Times of India and the Jang Group of Pakistan – which saw even the Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit sit through the performances. Hours ahead of the concert, people had queued up at the venue to hear Bollywood singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan and Pakistani singer Shafqat Amanat Ali perform.Aamir Raza Husain,eminent theatre personality, welcomed the people for a “quest to find the Holy Grail that will end the hatred” between the two nations. “We cannot deny that problems exist, but we should not stop prosperity and growth in the fields of culture and commerce,” said Raza, adding, “Dehshatgardi ke liye nahin yeh zameen humari, aur nafrat ke liye hum taiyaar nahin… hum mohabbat hain, hum mohabbat le kar aayenge.” And this set the mood for the evening as Mahadevan took to the stage to a thunderous applause by music lovers, who started requesting for songs the moment the singer took the mike.
Said Shankar, visibly surprised by the reception from the crowd, “Such cheerful fans – they sound so much better!” as he started off with the Aman Ki Asha theme song “Nazar Mein Rehte Ho”. Next came in the title track from the movie “Lakshya” which got everyone singing along “Lakshya Toh Har Haal Mein Paana Hai”, followed by songs from “Dil Chahta Hai” – “the most flop movie with which we started out,” joked Shankar. The singer got the audience to do sing along with him and said, “The Delhi audience gets a 10 on 10 in this test!”
Talking about the initiative for peace, Shankar stressed the fact that “Music is a powerful medium, it doesn’t have a language or religion. This is music for peace.”
The event, which was held at this historic venue thanks to the Archaeological Survey of India, saw a tremendous reception, and the people who could not be accommodated inside the demarcated area, were seen standing on either sides of the barricades, with some even scrambling up and perching themselves on the walls of an adjacent structure for a better view.
Shafqat took to the stage next, and keeping with the theme of the concert – of friendship and harmony – Shankar and Shafqat sang a duet, “Mitwa”. Said Shafqat, “Hum aise hi hope ke saath aate hain, for all the people of the world, to bring everyone together.” And as the audience sat in anticipation, wondering what to expect from the singer, he joked, “Agar aap itna khamosh baithe rahenge, toh mujhe tension ho jayegi!” He went on to sing “Bhula Na Paye” which had a soulful and romantic guitar solo in the middle, followed by a fusion of rock elements like heavy drumming, electric guitar, and classical elements like the flute. The romantic tunes followed throughout the rest of the evening, as Shafqat crooned audience’s requests like “Aankhon Ke Sagar” and “Khamaj” and rounded up with “Damadam Mast Kalandar” which saw many from the crowd get up and dance, bringing the beautiful winter evening to a closure.

Aman ki asha at Ajmer Sharief

Sufi qawwals from India and Pakistan set to perform at Dargah Sharief on February 12
Chandna Arora


The members of Fareed Ayaz Abu Mohammad Qawwal and Brothers from Pakistan have spent the past few days in great excitement. It’s not just that they’re doing a concert for Indo-Pak unity, but also that they’re performing at the famed Dargah Sharief in Ajmer! This February 12 concert, organised by Aman Ki Asha, a joint initiative of the Times of India and the Jang Group of Pakistan, is particularly exciting to the two performers because of the venue.
Sabse badi cheez hai ki aman ka paigam hi wahan se shuru hua hai,” says qawwali singer Munawwar Masoom, who is to perform with the qawwal group from Pakistan at the Dargah Sharief in Ajmer the day after for a concert organised by Aman Ki Asha. “Jis cheez ko hum pesh karne ja rahe hain, woh
Khwaja Moinuddin Hassan Chishti Rehmatullah Alai ke darbar se hamare liye zariya bana hai.” Masoom is a wellknown qawwali singer from the Mewati gharana of Bhopal. The gharana includes mostly renowned classical singers, and Masoom is among the few to have taken up qawwali. And he says that this form is the perfect and time-honoured vehicle for the message of aman, or peace. “Khwaja sahib ne jo ekta ka paigam diya – aman ki asha hi kahiye usse – woh logon tak pahuchaya gaya hai, chahe Hindu ho, Muslim, Sikh ya Isai. Qawwali woh paigam hai jiske zariye log ek chhat ke neeche baith kar ek rang mein rang jaate hain aur ek ho jaate hain,” says Masoom.
He says people often ask him why qawwali is not being able to go further ahead in popularity. “Main toh kehta hoon, woh kabhi peechhe gayi hi nahin. All these pop songs these days, they’re only copies of qawwalis. They’ve simply upped the tempo, and the way children dance to these songs has changed,” laughs Masoom.
He says he can testify that not only can music help narrow the gulf between the peoples of the two countries, it can heal pretty much anything. “Qawwali hi nahin, music har cheez ko jodne ka kaam hai. Sur mein hi qawwali hai, bhajan hai, azaan hai… Sur mein bolne se koi bhi baat samajh mein aati hai. Sur hi hai jo sabko ek maqam pe khada kar deta hai,” he says.
Masoom says he wants to present a song of unity at the concert, to be held on February 12, from 10am to 12noon, but adds that that’ll be decided as things go. We say it’s a great idea!
Says Abu Mohammad of Fareed Ayaz Abu Mohammad Qawwal and Brothers, “Bilkul kamaal ka venue hai! Dargah Sharief bahut hi ruhani jagah hai, aur main dua karunga ki hamara program wahan kamyab ho, aur hum zyada kareeb aayein.”
The group traces its roots to a qawwal group instituted by Amir Khusru about 750 years ago, which, incidentally, was formed in Delhi and was called Qawwal Bachhe. “Aman Ki Asha is a crucial undertaking, aur maine pichle ek saal mein hi isme bahut developments dekhi hain,” says Abu Mohammad. “When we performed with the Wadali Brothers in Ahmedabad, there were at least 20,000 people there, and they wouldn’t let us go back. This is the message that we want to give… In every religion, from Meerabai and Bulle Shah to Kabir, the message is the same – aman. We are very close to each other. Artistes
ko toh sarhad waise hi nahin hoti hai na!”
Has he seen music make a difference to people-to-people ties between the two countries? “Yes, yes!” says Abu emphatically. “In Ahmedabad, people said, we don’t know whether what you’re singing is from India or Pakistan, we only know that it’s from the subcontinent. Then we performed something that’s a great favourite in Pakistan and even abroad – “Padharo Mhare Des”. It’s a very famous song that we sing, and the public simply wouldn’t let us go! When we performed at Dilli Haat in Delhi during the Commonwealth Games, itna rush ho gaya ki logon ko apni dukaan sambhalna mushkil ho gaya. We say proudly ki humein Hindustan mein bahut mohabbat milti hai.”





WE ARE VERY CLOSE TO EACH OTHER... WE SAY PROUDLY KI HUMEIN HINDUSTAN MEIN BAHUT MOHABBAT MILTI HAI
– FAREED AYAZ ABU MOHAMMAD QAWWAL AND BROTHERS, PAKISTAN





QAWWALI HI NAHIN, MUSIC HAR CHEEZ KO JODNE KA KAAM HAI. SUR MEIN HI QAWWALI HAI, BHAJAN HAI, AZAAN HAI…
– MUNAWWAR MASOOM, INDIA – FAREED AYAZ ABU
MOHAMMAD QAWWAL AND BROTHERS, PAKISTAN