The soul connection

Rekha Bhardwaj
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The rich, smoky incense of loban (fragrant resin) wafting out of Sufi shrines of Delhi is fresh in Rekha Bhardwaj’s memories even as her composition of Amir Khusrau’s kalam Aaj Rang Hai unfolds in her head.

Fighting a viral infection to find her characteristic timbre before her performance at the upcoming Sufi Heritage Festival this weekend at Sunder Nursery, the singer says while growing up in Delhi, bowing before a Sufi shrine was a common practice even if one had never entered one. “Listening to Garm Hava’s qawwali, Maula Salim Chisthi still makes me cry, and memories of listening to Shankar-Shambhu and Habib Painter on Doordarshan fill me with wonder.”

However, it was the “silence and sukoon (inner calm)” of the hours spent at Mata Sundari Gurdwara with a childhood friend after classes at the nearby government school that prepared her for the journey into Sufi thought. “When I look back, I find the patra (vessel) was ready but brimmed over with Ishqa Ishqa, years later.” A course on Sufi Darvish threshold at the Osho Commune opened her to the idea of zikr and made her familiar with Rumi and Hafiz.

Rekha Bhardwaj
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

“Sufi thought prepares you to walk the path where you connect with your inner self. You start working on your negative emotions and celebrating your goodness. Gradually, you realise how ego manipulates you and come out of the mode of blaming others. When I learnt to take responsibility for my actions, it made me feel lighter.” It is reflected in her work as well. “I can’t fake an emotion and sing only what resonates with me.”

A murid (disciple) of Hazrat Inayat Khan, Rekha will revisit parts of the album that made her a household name and present her version of Khusrau’s other popular composition Ae Ri Sakhi More Piya Ghar Aaye, which became a rage in the voice of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Rekha, who has imbued it with raga Saraswati and Durga says the qaul of a female is different even though the idea of the soul is genderless in Sufi idiom.

Like Rekha, festival director Yasmin Kidwai grew up celebrating the inclusive ethos of Phoolwalon Ki Sair and remembers how the whole city comes to celebrate spring at Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s dargah. She says the annual festival seeks to fill the cultural vacuum created in Delhi because of the pandemic. “Apart from being the political capital, Delhi needs to be the country’s cultural epicentre and, I feel, the syncretic culture and language of the city are best reflected in the ethos of Sufism.”

Describing the festival as an ode to the local traditions as well as a salute to the global appeal of Sufism, Yasmin says the programming captures the expansiveness and freedom of expression that is inherent in Sufi thought. “Kabir Cafe brings in the bhakti aspect of the shared heritage that celebrates the oneness of the Almighty. There is a curated performance by Priya Malik on female Sufi saints and the special place that women hold in Sufi spaces. There are art installations curated by Dhoomimal Art Gallery and modern interpretations like caricatures in calligraphy and toy heads of Amir Khusrau, and, of course, the culinary tradition of the Nizamuddin Basti.”

Dhruv Sangari
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Noted vocalist and Sufi scholar Dhruv Sangari says people tend to appropriate Sufi tradition, but not many work to preserve it. “The festival’s idea of reviving Sufi heritage resonated with me. When people think of reviving history, they mostly think of architecture. They don’t look at living heritage, which includes music.”

Talking about the global appeal of Qawwali, Sangari says it is seen as the Jazz of the East by Western musicologists. “Like Jazz, Qawwali allows improvisation and transcends rules where complex arrangements sound deceptively simple. “Its attractive rhythmic form combined with clapping is engineered to strike a chord with the soul.” There is no harm in going for the popular, but Sangari insists one should “pick the popular from within the tradition.” As spring is still in the air, he promises to recite raga Bahar in Khusrovi khayal and test Delhi’s taste with a couple of not-so-popular compositions of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and a manqabat.

The Nizami Bandhu qawwals
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Chand Nizami of the famed Nizami Bandu, who have kept the traditional Qawwali alive for 19 generations, also sees the festival as an opportunity to uphold the sanctity of the Sufiyana Kalam. “What makes Qawwali charming yet challenging is that there is no restraint of ragas in Qawwali. We can move from Malkauns to Darbari to Bhimpalasi…. Music is prayer in this country, and our work is like a bouquet where you will get Khusrau’s kalam as well as Meera’s bhajan.” He primes us for his interpretation of Chhap Tilak Sab Chheni Mose Naina Milaike where his nephews have added a stanza of a film song. “I don’t like it, but if we have the discerning in the audience, we also have to handhold the youngsters who come looking for their beloved eyes in the prayer to the divine.”

Having worked for the redevelopment and conservation of the Nizamuddin area in her capacity as a municipal councilor, Yasmin says she is no caretaker of purity but is conscious of not falling for the “Bollywoodisation and gift-wrapping” of Sufi heritage. “More than an evening of music and dance, it is an experience, and I hope the festival’s message resounds far longer than the claps of one night.”

(At Sunder Nursery, Opposite Humayun’s Tomb, Sundar Nagar; March 8 and 9; 2pm to 10pm)