It was an evening that left many gasping for more. The incomparable Tina Sani sang Allama Iqbal's celebrated poems Shikwa and Jawab-i-Shikwa in front of a decent, and discerning to a reasonable extent, crowd at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture during a musical evening organised by the All Pakistan Music Conference on Friday. Tina's inordinate love for Urdu poetry reflects in the way she croons her heart out singing nazms that are difficult to recite, leave alone sing.

The programme began with Akhtar Hussain sarangi nawaz playing the raag andeshvari, accompanied by Gul Mohammad (sarangi), Abid Hussain (tabla) and Wajid Ali (tanpura). Akhtar Hussain hails from the Hushiyarpur Gharana and is a master at playing the sarangi, a dying art. His rendition was suffused with sadness segueing into rapture and then returning to sadness.

At Tina Sani's request, Akhtar Hussain then performed the raag maand that evoked a sense of bitter-sweet forlornness that only music can conjure. His performance was well-received.

Tina Sani was welcomed on stage with a generous round of applause. She informed the audience of how the idea of singing Shikwa came about and thanked the people who had helped her out in her ambitious pursuit. Tina said it was the first time she's trying her hand at the poem, and told the attendees that to facilitate those who might find the nazm hard to comprehend in Urdu - a text of its English translation (by Khushwant Singh) was also available.

Once Tina started singing, the entire audience (well not all of it, actually) listened to her, entranced. In between her rendition she kept describing some of the tonal intricacies of the poem, which not only proved helpful but made the performance more enjoyable. Tina put her heart and soul into the effort that was palpable and turned the show into a memorable one. Bearing in mind that it was the very first occasion when Shikwa was being attempted, the fact that Tina took some time to get a couple of phrases right was understandable.

PS Though the idea of providing music lovers with the original text of the nazm along with its English translation was useful in essence, it was a bit disconcerting, because there were men and women who were seen throughout the show having their nose in the text and not paying undivided attention to the inimitable singer.