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A concert in Toronto
Sixteen thousand people on their feet to join Adnan Sami Khan in his plea to the Almighty to ‘lift kara dey’ ranks pretty high in the list of scenes I never thought I’d see when I moved to Toronto two years ago. But that was the scene at the Skydome in the finale to a three-hour concert spotlighting Asha Bhosle’s six-decade career, Adnan Sami Khan’s flying fingers and their duet Kabhi to nazar milao, after which the concert tour is named.
Although we were seated right at the back, one couldn’t help but get carried away by the buzz of expectation in the crowd that waited to welcome Asha Bhosle to Toronto after seven years. Actually, our excitement started much before we reached the Skydome, Toronto’s landmark auditorium with its dome-like roof that can retract to become an open-air auditorium in summer. In fact, it started at the subway station where our group of six met up. While waiting, we saw droves of desis go by, some of them jewellery-laden and in their best outfits. We even saw a woman in a blue sequined gharara. These aren’t the kind of sights one sees at concerts in Pakistan.
Adnan Sami Khan came on first. His visit was a homecoming of sorts because he lived for several years in Oakville, a small town on the outskirts of Toronto. In his introduction we were told that he was rated by Swedish Radio and Television Broadcasting as the fastest keyboard player in the world, and it’s a believable claim after seeing him perform. His sense of humour and stage presence matched his generous proportions (It’s hard to imagine that he was once a Rugby player). He laughed easily and exuded such a happy spirit it was difficult not to be charmed. After taking a sip of water while playing, he smiled and said, “It’s only water. No calories.” Then turning to the musicians on stage he said, “Ask these guys. I don’t eat much…just the buffet table.” Recently remarried, he dedicated Bheegi bheegi raaton main to his wife who was sitting in the audience.
Asha Bhosle was, of course, treated like the legend she is. The crowd joined in when she sang perennial favourites like Chura liya and Piya tu. There was a resounding roar when she sportingly joined the backup dancers to do a step or two, and when she mentioned that on September 8 she would be turning 70. She also asked the audience if she could sing a classical song in Marathi that she first learned almost six decades ago, saying that it was important to remember that any kind of music, pop or filmi, has its foundation in classical raagas. She reminisced about her father who encouraged his daughters to sing and her didi Lata Mangeshkar. When she requested Adnan Sami Khan to return for their duet, she mentioned that he was from Pakistan and paid tribute to Pakistan’s best-known singer Noor Jehan. She referred to her as apa, and recalled how she and her sisters had waited in line as teenagers to see the golden voiced actress when she had visited Kohlapur. She said, “Na kabhi aisi awaz pehle thi, aur na kabhi hogi.”
A piano was wheeled out for the Asha Bhosle-Adnan Sami duet Kabhi to nazar milao. Although the audience was in high spirits all evening, with applause and enthusiastic whistles peppering the performance, one had to be there to see how quiet the crowd became when the performers on stage sang this song. It was magical.
As we were walking back to the subway, discussing our personal highlights, one of the four ex-Karachiites who were attending a concert in Toronto for the first time said, “Did you realize there were 16,000 people and not one chair was broken nor one gunshot fired?”
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