There are sheets of snow all over the Bumburet valley, the largest of the Kalasha Desh in Chitral. It’s a very hot October in Karachi and yet I’m feeling cold just re-watching the first video from Coke Studio Explorer. Through clips of the producers’ journey through dirt tracks, you also get a sense of how remote this location is. Producers Zohaib Kazi and Ali Hamza have travelled to one extreme end of Pakistan, in the coldest time of the year, looking for music from one of the oldest, yet least exposed, communities in the country — the indigenous Kalasha people.

Over there they uncovered one of the biggest gems of this season for the music show: friends Ariana and Amrina. Their rendition of their local folk song Pareek (Kalasha for ‘Let’s go!’) spread like wildfire across the internet causing quite a stir even before the season officially started.

Because of its remoteness, there are only some parts of the valley that have cellular coverage. Some residents have to travel a little farther away from their homes just to make a phone call. To speak to the girls, I had to prepare beforehand: drop a text, wait for them to see it whenever they happen to be within range — that could take a couple of days — and then figure out a time for them to be together at the right location for the call.

Ariana is the first to talk. The clarity of the call is surprisingly good. Excited to share her experience, Ariana talks breathlessly into the phone whereas the more shy Amrina is prone to bursting into giggles in the middle of her responses quite frequently. Ariana is the taller of the two whereas in the video one can see that Amrina has a constant twinkle in her eyes. Best friends since they were born, they’re around 15-years-old now and do everything together. Their responses reflect their simplicity and the unrestrained joy and unbridled enthusiasm in both of them. It’s contagious. I couldn’t help smiling throughout our conversation.

Two Kalash girls from Chitral became a sensation on the latest season of Coke Studio. Icon catches up with them to find out what makes them tick ...

“Before my name used to be Farsi Gul,” says the artist now known as Ariana. I heard you changed it because you’re a big fan of Ariana Grande, I tell her. “Yes, but also because I wanted to change my name anyway,” she responded. “And so I kept Ariana.”

Although she was named after her grandmother, Ariana assures me her grandmother doesn’t mind that she didn’t keep her name. “For them, I’m still Farsi Gul,” she explains. “Those that want to call me Farsi, call me that and those that want to call me Ariana, use that.”

Do you know how to speak Farsi? “No!” she laughs. She wants me to know Grande is not the only Ariana she’s a fan of. There’s Ariana Said across the border too. A quick Google search reveals that Said is one of Afghanistan’s biggest pop stars.

“She’s very famous,” relates Ariana. “And she’s very big — older than 20-years-old! [Said is 33-years-old] I like her songs very much.”

Do you have a favourite? I ask her. “Yes,” she responds. “But they’re in her language. Would you even understand if I told you?” She has a point.

According to Ariana, Coke Studio producers Zohaib Kazi and Ali Hamza came to their valley through her cousin. They had heard some Kalasha songs on a tape that was sent to them and were looking for the artist. “But the recording they heard was of my mother and her friend,” says Ariana. “My mother’s name is Dilja Bibi. My cousin’s mother came to our home and told her, ‘Some friends of my son are here, we have to sing a song for them.’ She never told her that these are the Coke Studio people.”

At first Ariana was oblivious to what was going on. After her mother left, she asked her sister, “Who are these people?” Her sister responded, “I don’t know. Mum’s gone to sing for them. They’re here to record her.”

“You should’ve told them about me!” protested Ariana in response. “That ‘My sister is a very good singer and that she loves to sing.’” But that boat had sailed. Their mother had already auditioned.

Ariana didn’t lose faith. “I went to sleep that night hoping that in the morning they would call for me,” she says. “And that’s what happened — in the morning they did call for me!”

Amrina was immediately summoned as well. “I was at my mamoo’s [maternal uncle] place,” relates Amrina chuckling, “Ariana called me and said ‘Come! We have to go sing!’ and so I went.”

Eager to show off their talent and skill, the girls sang their hearts out. “We sang songs in Urdu, Pashto and the Kalash language as well,” says Ariana. “And we told them everything — how we’ve always wanted to be singers.”

They spoke about how their song ‘Pareek’ is a folk song that’s often sung at their festivals, especially the winter festival, Chamos. It looks like winters in Bumburet are brutal, I say to them. “When Ali Hamza came there was snow,” says Amrina. “We were very cold! We had shawls on us and they asked us to take those off [during the recording]. We were freezing!” She laughs. “But it was a lot of fun!”

The girls experienced another type of extreme weather when they travelled all the way to Karachi in the summer to record their part in Haniya Aslam’s feminist anthem Mein Irada for the first episode. Excited to show off their singing skills, the girls had prepared a few songs. But once in the studio, they discovered that things were a little different than how they were expecting them to be.

“We were a little sad that day,” confesses Ariana. “When we got there, they told us ‘We’ve only called you for the Pareek part’.”

They didn’t stay blue for long, however. “In the middle of the recording, Zohaib Kazi showed us the video they made from their trip to our valley,” says Ariana. The girls say they immediately brightened up. “Then we were ready go ‘Pareek! Pareek!’ in the studio.”

That episode was recorded right before the Coke Studio Explorer series came out on the internet. By the time they returned to the valley, everyone in their neighbourhood had seen it. “Everyone congratulated us,” says Ariana. “They were all very happy for us.”

“At first, I felt a bit weird,” says Amrina. “Later, I started to like it. Everyone in the valley says we’re famous now! [Laughs] Our friends want to be singers like us too.”

Now that they’re officially recorded artists, travelled across Pakistan and are famous, what do they want to do now? “I want to sing in the future as well,” responds Ariana. “I know many songs. If I get an opportunity to sing like that again … I’ve prepared a song which is in Pashto, Urdu, Chitrali and Kalasha language as well.”

What’s it called? “Do you understand Chitrali?!” she asks sounding surprised. No, I say. “Then you won’t know what I’m saying!” she laughs again.

At least tell me what it’s about? I ask her. “Oh, it’s a love song,” she says in a matter-of-fact way. “Like most songs are.” Of course.

Amrina is not so sure. “I don’t know [what I want to do]” she says shyly, “Kya hota hai, dekh leynge [Let’s see what life has in store].”

For now, things are back to how it was before they were ‘discovered’. That means going to school at the crack of dawn and returning to help out their mothers at home with household chores. “We clean the house, wash the dishes, cook the food,” relates Amrina. “In food, over here, you only get lobia [beans].”

What’s your favourite food? “Me? I love biryani!” giggles Amrina. Me too! I tell her. Fancy finding a fellow biryani addict among the Kalasha. “We’ll make biryani for you when you come here!” she says excitedly. The only response I could give, other than thank you, to that generous offer was, “Pareek!” Let’s go!

Published in Dawn, ICON, September 30th, 2018