Keeping qawwali alive

Published May 21, 2011

Rains may come later to this blistering hot city but Farid Ayaz and Abu Mohammad qawwal brought a breath of fresh and lively air for the beleaguered Karachites through their performance of traditional Sufi works. The two sons of the legendary qawwal Munshi Raziuddin had organized this event on the eighth death anniversary of their father. Farid Ayaz and Abu Mohammad have revived this form of recitation of Sufi literature over the last few decades and are keeping the art alive by preparing their younger generation to take the stage when their time comes. The event, held Friday night, started with a performance by a group of teenage children, who left the audience in a rapturous applause. The two qawwal maestros then captivated the listeners, and the evening ended with a documentary based on Munshi Raziuddin’s interview and samples of his par-excellence performances. – Text by Nuzhat Rehman and photos by Tahir Jamal/ White Star

Opinion

Editorial

Digital growth
Updated 25 Apr, 2024

Digital growth

Democratising digital development will catalyse a rapid, if not immediate, improvement in human development indicators for the underserved segments of the Pakistani citizenry.
Nikah rights
25 Apr, 2024

Nikah rights

THE Supreme Court recently delivered a judgement championing the rights of women within a marriage. The ruling...
Campus crackdowns
25 Apr, 2024

Campus crackdowns

WHILE most Western governments have either been gladly facilitating Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, or meekly...
Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...