Thaindian News

By Madhusree Chatterjee
New Delhi, Dec 13 (IANS) The power of South Asia as a cultural block is woven around its young contemporary music which is drawing from ancient traditions to fuse with new sounds to create a distinct voice and identity. Young Bangladeshi folk vocalist from Dhaka, Anusheh, is a new age “baul” (wandering devotional minstrel) in body-hugging denims and an ethnic drape. She follows “sadhus sanghas” across the fertile terrain of Bangladesh to sing of freedom, light, “asman” and “khoda” in a crystal voice that borders on an operatic tenor.

Her musical credo as well as those of her co-musicians Buno, Pandu, Nazrul, Kaartik and Jibon, the members of “Band Bangla”, a popular folk-rock ensemble from Bangladesh, is that of Lalan Fakir, the uncrowned king of ‘baul’, Jalal Kabir and her own spiritual philosophy.

She was here to perform at the South Asian Bands Festival at the Purana Qila Dec 12-14.

The festival, hosting 15 bands from nine South Asian countries, has been brought to the capital by a non-profit organisation Seher, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Ministry of External Affairs. The participating countries include Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India.

“We sing Bengali baul with a twist. The songs are those of Lalan Fakir’s, Jalal Kabir and our original tracks that preach the philosophy of Lalan. We came together as a band in 1997,” Anusheh told IANS.

The band, which has played in New Delhi in 2007, said the “South Asian Bands Festival was a wonderful platform to bring musicians of the south Asian countries together.”

“It represents South Asia as an entire block. The borders are imaginary. We want the ICCR to take the festival to Bangladesh next year so that people in our country can get a taste of this music. Serious regional music does not happen in country. We usually get Bollywood imports from India,” the lead vocalist of Band Bangla said.

The festival, instituted in 2007, is an attempt to foster better youth-to-youth contact between the South Asian nations with music and cultural exchanges.

“The festival is growing. Nearly 45 bands from the region sent their albums this year for screening. One of our objectives this year and in the subsequent editions will be to promote young unheard of, but talented bands,” Seher founder Sanjeev Bhargava told IANS.

Mekaal Hasan, a young pop-rock-devotional contemporary band, has been making waves in Lahore for the last 10 years. Lead vocalist Hasan, after whom the band is named, shares his roots with India through his music.

“We try to find commonalities in our cultures through our music and celebrate the unifying spirit of music in the region,” Hasan told IANS.

Hasan - also known as Asad Abbas - and his crew, Aamer Azar, Fahad Khan, Mohammed Ahsan “experiment with fusion combining diverse elements like Sufi, traditional classical bandish and folk music from the Punjab region of Pakistan”.

“We have combined verses penned by Sufi saint Baba Bulle Shah with the poetry of Sant Kabir for our original tracks to show the world that the spiritual ideology of every religion - if they are diverging - is the same,” Hasan pointed out.

The band, which could not make it to the Rajasthan International Folk Festival in October thanks to a visa glitch, “is glad to be on the much-needed South Asian platform because it removes misconceptions of hostility between the India and Pakistan”, the lead vocalist said.

“I think the ICCR can play a central role in promoting harmonious relationship through music in South Asia,” Hasan said.

For the Afghan folk-pop band, “Mawj”, the journey to India has been a long one from the days of Taliban, which banned music in Afghanistan. The Kabul-based band sings in Pashtu, Dari and Uzbek language accompanied by contemporary rock instruments.

Aimal Omid, brother Ajmal and band members Zaki, Masood and Shakir, who fled to Pakistan during the reign of Taliban, returned to Kabul with 2002 after President Hamid Karzai took over.

“We formed a band and played at local gigs. Now, we have a recording studio in Kabul,” Aimal told IANS. The band uses Indian percussion instruments like “dhol” and “tabla” in its compositions.

“I love this platform of cultural exchange. Sharing music is the best way to make peace between Afghanistan, Pakistan and India,” the young musician said.

Foreign secretary Nirupama Rao, who attended the South Asian Bands Festival late Sunday evening, said it “was a wonderful way of bringing young people from the region together”.

“They can be creative and express their feelings. There is no better way we can experience the cultural and civilisation foundations that unite the whole region. SAARC is gradually acquiring more momentum. Cultural activists within SAARC are bringing people together. The South Asian identity is best experienced by the youth,” Rao told IANS.

ICCR director general Suresh Goel said “culture had to engage with the youth to survive and grow”. “We should not get tied up with old symbolisms because the youth will lead the country in a decade from now,” Goel said.

ICCR president Karan Singh agreed. “The festival is bringing the countries together in a broader sense. And the music is mind-blowing,” Singh said.