KARACHI: One of the things that fill proponents of cultural values with hope is to see schoolchildren enjoying classical music. This is exactly what happened on Monday morning at the historic Khaliqdina Hall where sitar maestro Ustad Ashraf Sharif Khan Poonchwala entertained and educated students from five schools in the basics of Eastern classical music.

The event, organised by the All Pakistan Music Conference (APMC) in collaboration with I Am Karachi and the Goethe Institut, was held for participants of workshops (Sept-Nov) devised for schoolchildren by the APMC.

When Ashraf Sharif Khan entered the hall, he was greeted with a standing ovation. He was accompanied on stage by tabla player Irfan Haider. The sitar nawaz started off by thanking the young boy and girl who had formally introduced him to the audience. He said he belonged to the ninth generation of musicians in his family which originally hailed from Poonch (Kashmir). Then he apprised the audience about the shape of a sitar and the kind of material (wood) it’s made of.

It took him by pleasant surprise when he asked the children about the tabla and its bol in teentaal (16-beat cycle) and found out that some of them knew about it. He also indulged everyone in a vocal exercise and sang the sargam’s (of raga Shudh Bilawal) each note separately which the children repeated after him. It sounded lovely. The young ones were, as they say, in sur.

Before playing the raga (Bilawal) the Ustad touched upon the three parts — alaap, jod and jhala — that are essential for a sitar recital. The students, who were patiently sitting on the floor, listened to him with undivided attention.

The moment the raga was played, it changed the atmosphere in the hall from one of a participatory session to a veritable concert. Of course, there were a few boys and girls who were finding it hard to absorb the pure sitar-playing; after all they are too young to get the hang of things just like that. But on the whole they thoroughly enjoyed it. A couple of them were eager to ask questions of the musician as soon as his first performance ended; they were told that questions would be asked later.

The second piece that Ashraf Sharif played was in raga Bhairavi. He said while Bilawal raga was in a major scale, Bhairavi had komal (soft) notes. The performance carried familiar tunes as well.

The five institutions that took part in the workshops were: PECHS School, Happy Home School, CAS School, Karachi High School and Civilisations School.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2017