Top Ten South Asian Pieces of Music

dost-mittar #55

[...Late Gangubai Hangal...]

Wallah! Last report was that she was alive and well.... Pls inform .... worried at this end. She is one of the few whom I have had the honour to touch the feet.

I would put Ustads Amir Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Faiyaz Khan at the top of my list.

Amir Khan was the most understated phenomenon in Classical music for years to come. I think he reached his peak with his Hamsdhwani and Saraswati Vandana. Now these are numbers which make your hairs stand on end.

Even if he had not sung a single other number, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan would be remembered for his `Aye na balam` number. But the mood he gave to thumris ... even Begum Akhtar could come only that close.

As for Faiyaz Khan, there is a story that when he used to sing Malkaus, `prets` and `jinns` would come and listen. While he himself was extremely embarassed with all these stories, he does not remain the `Aftaab-e-mousiki` for nothing.

I have deliberately not added living singers in this since I don`t believe they have all achieved their best effort till date.

Mannyd #52

Saigal (btw that`s how he spelt his name) was Punjabi, but born in Jammu. But he always called Jullundhur as his home town.

I am not aware of any Punjabi numbers by him, only Hindi and Bengali (since he spent most of his active years in Calcutta).

`Babul Mora` is a classic, composed by Wajid Ali Shah, Nawab of Oudh. In your music classes, it is shown as what a Bhairavi thumri should be like. For the last 130 years or so, this has been sung by various singers, but none has reached the height of Saigal.

PS: If you are in any doubt -- SAIGAL RULES!

I might as well Add my little list in here

1. Yeh Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hai ( complete version ) by Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

2. Ranjish He Sahih by Mehdi Hassan

3. Zindagi Bhar Nahin Bhoolay Gey Woh Barsaat Key Raat by Mohammed Rafi

4. Baat Niklay Gey Tau Phir Duur Talak Jaiey Gey by Jagjit Singh

5. Yeh Baatein Jhootey Baatein Hain by Abida Parveen

............

Acerbic Jazbati

Romair

``If you go beyond Sargodha from Lahore, toward Mianwali on any road, the only thing you will hear on the buses and wagons is Attaullah Niazi.``

I think I know the person you talk about. Isn`t he the one who sang ``Acha silla diya tuney mere pyar ka, Yaar ney he loot liya dil Yaar ka``

I first heard this song at the bustop which is right outside Birla Institute of Technology, In Pilani Rajasthan. This song became very popular and the rumor in India was that Attaullah killed his girlfriend and was in prison when he sang Accha Silla. Don`t know if its true or not...

Speaking of Abrar, he is now a philanthrapist, attempting to build a hospital. Check out www.saharaforlife.org

Someone told me he used to be a teacher in Aitchison College, before he sang Billo day ghar. I would say Abrar is the closest thing Pakistan has to Daler Mehndi. Abrar is not in the same league as Daler Mehndi, but Abrar`s punjabi is definitely very creative and more geared toward the common guy on the street.

SameerJB: For some reason Attaullah Niazi never gets the attention he deserves in the educated Pakistani crowd. If you go beyond Sargodha from Lahore, toward Mianwali on any road, the only thing you will hear on the buses and wagons is Attaullah Niazi. He is easily the most listened to singer in Punjab on the bus routes (perhaps Noor Jehan also, with her punjabi stuff).

I heard Ataullah`s girlfriend left him a long time ago, and since then he has been singing sad songs. If one listens to his cassettes closely, one can actually hearing him crying during some of the songs.

Ref DB Ji #45:

``Amrita Pritam has only one poem to her credit that probably every Punjabi remembers because it was not her poem but it was the people`s who were suffering in 1947 and she was only a medium to say it ..ujj aakhan wapis shah nu, kitay kabran wichon bol... ``

I always confused her with Rajkumari Amrit Kaur. Yes I vaguely remember this poem but I wonder if West Punjabis know it that well. If you find time, could you please submit a translation to the chowk or just post it on this thread?

Had to do a double take on `wapis` to realize a typo.

Samir Sahib,

I confess to be one of the unwashed masses weaned on Filmy muzak, but I am reading your and others` posts on classical music with great interest.

By the way, Surinder Kaur has an oldy `Lathe di Chaadar Uteey, Saleti Rang Mahiya`. Did you hear it and can you tell me if it has Pothohari Punjabi in it? What in the world is `` Ussi Kandhan da Mocha Moria``?

How is Gnostic? I hope he shows up here once in a while. He is a walking encyclopedia on classical music.

Dost Mittar Sahib:

Was Sehgal a Kashmiri or a Punjabi? I Never heard any Punjabi song of his before. Did he sing any other Punjabi songs?

Sadhna Ji:

Sehgal`s ``Babul mero`` is a great song from the thirties. I wonder if other singers tried their voices on it since then.

SameerJB:

I`ve heard some of your selection you posted. Will try out the rest.

Stuka:

Please don`t underestimate Junoon. I like Abrar too and always say he has the pulse of the nation on his fingertips. Recently I heard this beautiful `hamd` he wrote and sang during the independence day celebration. the guy writes ace lyrics. If there is anyone I can say is the IDEAL representative for Pakistanis and their desires, it is Abrar. BUT, Junoon is still Junoon. Granted Ali Azmat needs serious practice in vocal skills, but musically the amount of successful experimentation done by Junoon is unmatched by any modern band from the subcontinent.

Ref DB Ji #45:

``Amrita Pritam has only one poem to her credit that probably every Punjabi remembers because it was not her poem but it was the people`s who were suffering in 1947 and she was only a medium to say it ..ujj aakhan wapis shah nu, kitay kabran wichon bol... ``

I always confused her with Rajkumari Amrit Kaur. Yes I vaguely remember this poem but I wonder if West Punjabis know it that well. If you find time, could you please submit a translation to the chowk or just post it on this thread?

Had to do a double take on `wapis` to realize a typo.

Samir Sahib,

I confess to be one of the unwashed masses weaned on Filmy muzak, but I am reading your and others` posts on classical music with great interest.

By the way, Surinder Kaur has an oldy `Lathe di Chaadar Uteey, Saleti Rang Mahiya`. Did you hear it and can you tell me if it has Pothohari Punjabi in it? What in the world is `` Ussi Kandhan da Mocha Moria``?

How is Gnostic? I hope he shows up here once in a while. He is a walking encyclopedia on classical music.

Dost Mittar Sahib:

Was Sehgal a Kashmiri or a Punjabi? I Never heard any Punjabi song of his before. Did he sing any other Punjabi songs?

Sadhna Ji:

Sehgal`s ``Babul mero`` is a great song from the thirties. I wonder if other singers tried their voices on it since then.

Romair & DullaBhatti: I think you both are right in defining PabhhaN (pb)harr. It is basically perpetual unease, unsettled state, often used when it is caused by the conditions and no fault of your own. The blame goes to poor rain, bad crops, large family, cunning relatives, bewafa mehboob etc. (pb) sound becomes definite B as the accent changes going from east to west in Punjab, definite B for Ata Ullah Khan Isakhelvi.

Stuka: You must be talking about ``GT road te breakaN lagiaN, billo teri tor wekh je``. Another of my favorite from the same album is something like ``haq, haq kar bandya``

Soysauce #36: Veena Sahasrabuddhe is without a doubt, cuurently the queen of classical Indian music. She was introduced to me at chowk by a dear friend of mine, Gnostic. I do not have any of her CD but some of her music, as you pointed out, is available at mp3.com.

The problem with classical music is that most people do not have the background in classical music to really appreciate it. They listen to popular music for entertainment.

DullaBhatti: You are right about what you said in post #45. Oral traditions are more important in Punjabi language and poetry as well. They have passed across the Punjabi plains through word of mouth and with distinct music. A large number of them are folk songs for festive ocassions and often sung in chorus. A chorus represents active participation by common people. On the otherhand classical and ghazal singing was traditionally patronized by elite. The outlet for Urdu or philosophical poetry was mushairas which is not related to seasons or festivals. Poetry was often full time job of poets and for survival they needed patrons. Besides intellectual literary curiosity of the poets, pleasing the patron was most important thing. It was not until socialist poets started writing about common folks experience, like Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Faiz etc.

Although you may feel great deal of interesr in poetry and ghazals at chowk but no ghazal record or CD, to the best of my knowledge, has outsold NFAK, qawwalis or folk collection. The ghazal listening phenomenon is very much limited to cities with more than high school education and more than 20-25 years old, in general.

DB #45: I have heard three definitions for this phrase. The first is the one you have given. The second is, ``pain.``

The best one I have heard implies pabbhan (pb)harr meaning someone attempting to look over their outside wall, waiting for his/her beloved to arrive. However, the person cannot see over the wall, so he/she has to stand on his/her toes. Now he/she can see over the wall, but cannot stay on his/her toes forever, because it is too painful. This act of standing on one`s toes in pain, while simulateneously waiting for someone to arrive, who isn`t showing up is called pabbhan (pb)harr (according to some).

Reply Neptune #40

“Na Na Jafor-da, tumi bhishon proletariat. Only anti-rebholution reacshanaries are bourgeois and nonshense.”

Thank you, I am reassured. Now off to read next chapter of Das Kapital. (Ki brilliant, na?)

nasah #41

While i think that women are SUPERIOR to men in every other way ;), when it comes to music, the female voice in the subcontinent tends to be high pitched and grating to me. Mrs. Subbulakshmi was an exception but she doesn`t move me as V.S. does. Samples of Veena`s music are available at mp3.com. Give it a listen if you can. Her bhajans are especially good, even tho i don`t understand a word of what she`s saying.

Neptune # 40

Na Na Jafor-da, tumi bhishon proletariat. Only anti-rebholution reacshanaries are bourgeois and nonshense.

Neptuneda,aapni kono din mithya kotha bolen naa,aami jaani tow:)

Nomoshkaar

Romair: ``PahbbaN bhaar`` signifies the perpetual unrest, continuous suffering, time passing too quickly etc. I think the ``MukhRa``(the repeating lines, ``matla``)and some other stanzas are written by Mazhar Tirzimi.

Stuka: There is a whole bunch of such songs as ``bharti ho jao``...songs about ``chhoTa parivaar sukhi parivaar``, nassbandi, how to prevent maleria, how and why kill mice in fields, polio de teekay lagwana etc:) Some of them used to be quite hillarious.(I remember when in school, school used to get choohay maar dawa that teachers used to give to students and organize them in groups to go through the village and fields and kill mice. Also ``laal dawai`` for the wells)

You remember the one `` BhaNDay kalli kara lo, vekho khaN zara Pandit jee ki ay laal mera?.

Sameer: Lyrics and songs don`t get popular because they say something deep, philosophical or arty but because they say something about common man`s emotions. Thats why some of our greatest poets of recent times don`t have a single poem that common man could remember. e.g Amrita Pritam has only one poem to her credit that probably every Punjabi remembers because it was not her poem but it was the people`s who were suffering in 1947 and she was only a medium to say it ..ujj aakhan wapis shah nu, kitay kabran wichon bol... after that she became too philosophical, un-enjoyable.

I am not into present day dhol Dhamakka and don;t listen to much bhangra music but once in a while I find some very powerfull imaginary in some songs by unknown poets. a line from one such song I heard few weeks ago `` asin chaadraN vashaunday rehge chaahRke, te sajjan gawanDoN murh gaye``...such a simple words but who ever lived in a village could easily relate to the pain in this lyric.