KARACHI, May 4: One and a half hours flew imperceptibly on Saturday night at the Arts Council when Zia Mohyeddin and accompanying artists recited and sang one ghazal by Ghalib after another with remarkable elan.
In a well-coordinated and well-rehearsed performance, vocalists Mehnaz, Salamat Ali and Azra Riaz sang the ghazals. They were accompanied on the sitar by Nafees Ahmed and on the flute by Abid Ali.
The function began almost on time. At 10pm a disembodied voice announced that the function would actually start at 10.07pm. On the dot of 10.07pm vocalists and instrumentalists filed onto the main stage. Applause greeted Zia Mohyeddin as he walked in.
Mr Mohyeddin explained why the programme had been titled “Nairang-i-Tamanna”. He quoted a couple of Ghalib: Hoon main bhi tamashai-i-nairang-i-tamanna/ Matlab nahin kuchh iss say kih matlab hi bar aaway.
He said: “Ghalib inherited a particular tradition and culture. But his poetic genius enabled him to create a greater tradition and culture. Rasheed Ahmed Siddiqui has rightly pointed out that Ghalib made ghazal our culture, and our culture a ghazal.”
The break-up of the programme was somewhat simple: every ghazal rendition was followed by an excerpt from Ghalib’s prose, especially his famed letters, with some comments by Mr Mohyeddin thrown in.
The vocalists sang eight ghazals in all. But the surprise package was a singing performance by Nafees Ahmed who crooned Main hoon mushtaq-i-jafa, mujh pay jafa aur sahi and plucked softly the strings of his sitar at the same time. While Azra Riaz and Mehnaz sang two ghazals each, Salamat Ali earned accolades from the largely well-behaved audience for a soulful rendition of three ghazals of Ghalib.
Mr Mohyeddin drew on his essay on Ghalib which appears in one of his EMI recordings. His comment on Ghalib’s letters — that “they have no drut lay but only mellowed bilampat” — was spot on.
Speaking of Ghalib’s predilection for alcohol, he said: “While sharab brought him into disrepute, he did his utmost to honour it. Look at this couplet: Phir dekhhiey andaz-i-gul-afshani-i-guftar/ rakhh day koi paimana-i-sehra meray aagey.
At the outset of the programme, Mr Mohyeddin had said that it was beyond him why the invitation card said that he would entertain people. He said that he would merely read out couplets and letters of Ghalib and make some observations about him. This, however, did little to stop the audience from chuckling mindlessly as Mr Mohyeddin expounded Ghalib’s views about the finer points of Urdu grammar.
KARACHI, May 4: One and a half hours flew imperceptibly on Saturday night at the Arts Council when Zia Mohyeddin and accompanying artists recited and sang one ghazal by Ghalib after another with remarkable elan.
