KARACHI: It was an upbeat performance by some brilliant musicians from the Thar region that made the second day of the 9th Tehzeeb Festival at the Arts Council a pretty special one.

But before that, the show began with a piece called ‘Taal Aahang’ in which the renowned kathak dancer Nahid Siddiqui performed while Nafees Khan played the sitar. The two had previously performed together at an event organised by the National Academy of Performing Arts.

After their act, awards were given to three artists. Ali Abbas received the first award in the fine art category, followed by Nahid Siddiqui for her contribution to classical arts and Ustad Fateh Ali Khan. Governor of Sindh Mohammad Zubair gave the awards to them.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Zubair said his Revive Karachi Plan contained economic, social and cultural activities. He told the attendees that he had seen Nahid perform after 30 years and she seemed to be getting better.

The speech was followed by what the organisers called ‘Rajasthani/ Thar folk music’. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Artists Mithu Khan, Gulzar Faqir, Hakim Faqir and Mai Jeni performed their heart out, presenting a lively and upbeat facet of the music from Thar, making the audience fervently clap to their heartwarming beats.

While all of them had distinct voices, it was their lovely instruments, such as chapri, dholak and du’hil whose rhythm patterns reverberated in the auditorium, transporting the audience to a cheerful world. Apart from singing in his sehrai voice, Gulzar Faqir danced to his own music, adding visual flair to the whole atmosphere. As their last item, all of them performed together. But by that time the audience had become so taken with them that they requested for one more song. The musicians obliged and played the famous ‘Khari neem ke neechey’. It was received with a nice round of applause.

Then Wahdat Rameez, who had performed the night before in the ghazal segment of the festival, was invited on stage to present a thumri. He did a decent job.

The last part of the programme was about classical music with two young musicians and a seasoned artist to perform. Muslim Shaggan was the first of the two young vocalists. He presented raga basant. He comes from the Gwaliar gharana and appears to have inherited a great many qualities of his ancestors.

The final two names on the programme’s list were Nayab Ali and Ustad Fateh Ali Khan.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2018