PESHAWAR: Septuagenarian artisan Sarfaraz Afridi at once thriving music street Dabgari Bazaar is one of the three rabab makers in the walled city who showed deep concerns over rapidly dying art of repairing, tuning and making of king instrument of Pashto music orchestra.

The veteran artisan expressed his deep dismay over fast disappearing art of rabab making in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as no institution provides any kind of support to the artisans associated with making and repairing of musical tools including rabab. “The rabab players are many but few artisans left, posing a threat to traditional Pashto music,” he told this scribe.

Sarfaraz Afridi aka Sapar Ustad is a resident of Jamrud subdivision of Khyber tribal district. He said that he drew inspiration from Bagh-i-Haram Ustad (1925-2002) and learnt basics of rabab playing from him and a few others when he was in his early teens.

Sarfaraz Afridi says makers of musical instruments should be supported to preserve this craft

He went to his village school up to 7th grade but his inborn flail for music never died and he continued to pursue his own target. He also learnt banjo from Azmat Ustad and Yar Khan Ustad, who lived in his vicinity. He went through all Pashto classics like Bayazid Ansari, Khushal Khan Khattak, Rahman Baba, Ali Khan and Abdul Hameed Baba and read Persian and Urdu poetry.

The veteran artisan said that he bought a set of rabab at Rs30 way back in 1967 in Dabgari Bazaar then used to be abuzz with musicians and singers. He shifted to Peshawar in 1988 and joined the music group of Bagh-i- Haram Ustad and spent 13 years with him.

During his career, he also learnt how to repair, tune and make rabab. He used to play rabab at private gatherings till 2010. He has been repairing and making rabab for the last 8 years as he is not able to perform due to his old age.

“Being old, I am unable to perform till late in the night. Young students come to my private office for learning rabab as I charge nominal fee from Rs 800 to Rs1,500 per month but surprisingly enough nobody turns up for learning the art of repairing and making of rabab. I think artisans of musical instruments should be supported financially to preserve this craft and also to save traditional Pashto music from being extinct one day. How can we preserve traditional music without taking measures to promote the art of making musical tools,” he questioned.

Mr Afridi said that students in the age group of 15 to 20 could learn easily the craft of rabab making and also could master the basics of rabab playing. He has trained 10 to 12 best rabab players. The art of rabab playing could be acquired in a year but regular practice was essential, he added.

The senior artisan said that rabab was introduced in Turkey some 6, 000 years ago but the craft of rabab making was refined in Afghanistan around 2, 000 years ago. He said that about 150 years ago, two families in Afghanistan -- Qadir and Wasil -- had introduced mosaic patterns on the body of the rabab.

“The difference between Afghan rabab and ours is length. Maximum length of an Afghan rabab is 30 inches while ours goes for 27 inches. I am transferring my art to my nephew Aryan Khan Afridi, who is reading in 10th grade,” said Mr Afridi.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2019