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 Imagine a situation when the main singer of a concert was told before the show that she has to perform with local musicians as those accompanying her were stranded in the previous airport and could no way be available on stage! In such a situation any singer of repute would straightaway ask the organiser to cancel the show rather than risk her reputation by experimenting with rookie musicians on stage and that too in front of a jam-packed audience.
This, however, was not the case with Pakistani Ghazal singer Farida Khanum who took up the challenge by the scruff and regaled the music-loving Chennai crowd with her vast array of vocal talent at the opening of the November Fest organised at the Music Academy by The Hindu group of publications.
When the full-throated voice of the legendary singer from across the border filled the auditorium’s air, the India-Pakistan barrier broke and a mood of trance prevailed that could be described as sublime in its content. It was apparent that there existed a huge constituency that likes to enjoy the common cultural heritage of the two countries and remains above the din of the political rhetoric that we read in our daily newspapers.
The diva from Lahore mesmerised one and all with truths from her heart. Clad in a yellow chiffon sari that sparkled in the arc lights, Farida Khanum spoke in Hindustani when she addressed the Chennai audience. “One can lie with words, not with the music, I have come from Pakistan to sing for you and you have come to listen me, so, Aaj Jaane Ki Zidd Na Karo,” she said amidst thunderous applause.
The 71-year-old singer began her performance with Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s Ghazal and it appeared for a moment that the musicians could not coordinate with her. However, when her voice completely dominated the musical instruments, the musicians got their act together and adjusted with the pitch of her voice. The void created by those who were supposed to perform in their place was soon being forgotten as artistes’ artistry reigned supreme.
 The septuagenarian singer went on to sing one after the other all her favourite Ghazals that have brought her name and fame world over. ‘Aaj Janne Ki Zidd Na Karo…’, ‘Mohabat Karne Wale Kum Ne Honge…’, ‘Mere Humnafas Hera Humnawa…’, ‘Sanjan Toa Se Laagi Nayan Man Ma...’, ‘Woh Maikada Na Jaate To Kuchh Aur Baat Hoti…’, ‘Allah Allah…’ and many more.
The dignified Chennai crowed that turned out in large numbers to listen to her that day that was marked by intermittent rains and thundershowers gave spontaneously applause to all her presentations.
Farida Khanum’s style of signing was replete with emotion. Her dignified presentation infused life to the poetry of the celebrated poets whose works she sang. Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Daagh, Shakeel Badauni, Agha Hasher Kashmiri and Sufi Tabassum, to name a few. Farida Khanum reminded the audience the name of the lyricists whose composition she was to sing next but somehow a few of her Ghazals have become so popular that they have inextricable become associated with her name.
“Ghazal means bride. Just as one does make-up to the bride to make her look more beautiful, the mastery of the Ghazal singer is in the art, how beautifully it can make-up poets’ verses through his or her voice,” says Munna Shaukat Ali, a Ghazal singer based in Chennai and lyricist of the Hindi movie
‘Fiza’.
“Farida Khanum’s wizardry lies in her high-speed taans and sargams (note patterns). She picks up a stanza of poetry and takes it to a height where it touches the borders of classical singing and then brings it back to the sublime level of the Ghazal. This layakari (rhythmic wizardry) in Khayal tradition has earned her the title Mallika-E-Gazal, (Queen of Ghazals)” said Shaukat Ali who is also the president of Amir Khusro Academy that promotes Hindustani classical music in
Chennai.
P M Belliapa, a retired officer of the Indian Administrative Service, says he had come to listen to Farida Khunam because she epitomises an era of common India-Pakistan culture. “I hope that artistes from India will be able to create the same place in the hearts of the people across the border as Khunam has done here,” he adds.
Farida Khanum is a darling of Ghazal lovers in India and Pakistan. She was born in Kolkata and brought up in Amritsar. Her sister Mukhtar Begum and the reputed maestro of Patiala Gharana, Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan, who also tutored legendry Indian Ghazal singer Begum Akhtar, initiated her into a rigorous tradition of classical music.
In 1947, she migrated to Pakistan where kept up her practice and excelled in the genres of Ghazal and Thumri. She rendered her first public concert in 1950 in which renowned singers like Zeenat Begum and Iqbal Begum too had performed. The next five decades in her life saw her become an iconic singer in Ghazal singing. She was awarded the Hilal-e-Imtiaz - Pakistan's highest civilian honour by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in 2005.
“I am honoured to be for the first time here in Chennai,” said Farida Khanum in her closing remarks. “I had heard that this city loves and respects an artiste and I see this how much this is true in the overwhelming response showered on me. I thank you all from my heart,” she added.
The crowd, however, did not let her go and started shouting one more, one more. She was in a fix what to sing next as she spotted one Sikh gentleman shouting; “Punjabi song M’am, Punjabi song!”
Farida Khanum responded with equal spontaneity with “Balle Balle,” number that made the crowd go foot-tapping and hand-clapping. Some even stood up and started performing the Bhangra on the sideways.
In the end, the date with Mallika-E-Gazal turned out to be a memorable evening. The queen of Ghazals etched an impression of her class on her fans in Chennai. Everyone who watched her perform that day would remember her for a long time to come.
Syed Ali Mujtaba
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A date with the Queen of Ghazals
