I had the privilege of spending a week in Karachi recently. What a city! Though my experience of its obscure and offbeat pleasures was necessarily indirect rather than hands-on (my employer did not allow me to move beyond the hotel without the entire Vth Core of the Pakistani army serving as body guards), like all great metropolises Karachi is a seething organism. Its trafficked arteries are as swollen as the jugular of an obese magnate, new seaside suburbs burst skywards while existing infrastructure crumbles in disarray.
Violence is everywhere. The main metro broadsheets carry a pristinely presented crime map on the back page where city dwellers can discover where the city’s overnight murders, "target killings" and armed heists have taken place. Karachites operate with a sixth or perhaps seventh sense: an innate knowledge of where and when to make detours as they go about their business.
Violence is part of this mad urban travesty. But even the insanity of homo karachius is unable to eliminate the deep soul in the soil. Though murder and extortion and tribal bigotry is endemic in the city’s current culture, it is overlaid with and frequently undermined by the ancient spirit of Sindhi syncretic tolerance. An attitude and culture that has made Sindh the land of mighty Sufis, brotherhood and one of the richest musical regions of the subcontinent.
Ustad Manzoor Ali Khan
Weendas Yar Mari
Abdul Shah Latif, (1690-1750) mystic, poet, Sufi and scholar is the venerated font of so much of Sindh’s unique approach to life. His collection of writings Shah Jo Risalo, is widely regarded as the zenith of Sindhi poetry and Ustad Manzoor Ali Khan, is in my book, the greatest interpreter of that poetry. Born in the mofussil town, Tando Adam Khan, he was the first Sindhi to be awarded Pakistan’s highest artistic prize, the President’s Pride of Performance Award.
Blessed with a glimmeringly brilliant voice and amazing delivery Mazoor Ali sahib remains sadly unrecognised beyond Sindh and Pakistan. This clip should win you over immediately.
Syed Suleman Shah
Sacho Muhenjo Piyar Ahey
Suleman Shah was one of Sindh’s ultimate showmen/performers. A folk singer equally at home with the deep mystical currents as well as the more mundane theatrical streams of Sindhi culture, he turns out an upbeat performance for an adoring audience in this clip from the 1980s.
Sabri Brothers
Tashnagi ko Jhanjhor dete Hain
In a land, a province and city of many wonderful qawwals, the Sabri Brothers need no introduction or justification. Punjabis who landed up, like millions of other Indian Muslims, in Karachi soon after Partition, it is perhaps unsurprising that these immigrant brothers became the musical kings of what is now considered the Mohajir capital of the universe. In this clip, recorded at the BBC, the brothers and their party set a deep groove that is crying out of a mashup/remix by some enterprising DJ, as they get high on the jaam of love.
Mohammad Rafi
Kehri Kayan Mehmani Ya
Lahori/Mumbaikar Mohammad Rafi made a set of what can only be termed "gospel" recordings in the late 1960s for a homesick expatriate Hindu-Sindhi community in Bombay. If proof was ever needed as to the bewildering genius of Rafi sahib’s versatility, this track provides some evidence. His golden vocals, so familiar to the world, bring the mystical poems on the record alive in an unexpected way. The album itself has recently been championed by record collectors and music nuts in North America and featured on several radio shows and DJ lists.
Sanam Marvi
Yaar Vekho
Often touted as the new Abida Parveen for the Millennials, Sanam Marvi has shot to the top rung of contemporary Sindhi performers with a strong voice and sufistic philosophy. A favorite on the Coke Studio circuit from which this wonderful, restrained track is lifted, it is hard to argue against Sanam’s musical gifts and vision.
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Violence is everywhere. The main metro broadsheets carry a pristinely presented crime map on the back page where city dwellers can discover where the city’s overnight murders, "target killings" and armed heists have taken place. Karachites operate with a sixth or perhaps seventh sense: an innate knowledge of where and when to make detours as they go about their business.
Violence is part of this mad urban travesty. But even the insanity of homo karachius is unable to eliminate the deep soul in the soil. Though murder and extortion and tribal bigotry is endemic in the city’s current culture, it is overlaid with and frequently undermined by the ancient spirit of Sindhi syncretic tolerance. An attitude and culture that has made Sindh the land of mighty Sufis, brotherhood and one of the richest musical regions of the subcontinent.
Ustad Manzoor Ali Khan
Weendas Yar Mari
Abdul Shah Latif, (1690-1750) mystic, poet, Sufi and scholar is the venerated font of so much of Sindh’s unique approach to life. His collection of writings Shah Jo Risalo, is widely regarded as the zenith of Sindhi poetry and Ustad Manzoor Ali Khan, is in my book, the greatest interpreter of that poetry. Born in the mofussil town, Tando Adam Khan, he was the first Sindhi to be awarded Pakistan’s highest artistic prize, the President’s Pride of Performance Award.
Blessed with a glimmeringly brilliant voice and amazing delivery Mazoor Ali sahib remains sadly unrecognised beyond Sindh and Pakistan. This clip should win you over immediately.
Syed Suleman Shah
Sacho Muhenjo Piyar Ahey
Suleman Shah was one of Sindh’s ultimate showmen/performers. A folk singer equally at home with the deep mystical currents as well as the more mundane theatrical streams of Sindhi culture, he turns out an upbeat performance for an adoring audience in this clip from the 1980s.
Sabri Brothers
Tashnagi ko Jhanjhor dete Hain
In a land, a province and city of many wonderful qawwals, the Sabri Brothers need no introduction or justification. Punjabis who landed up, like millions of other Indian Muslims, in Karachi soon after Partition, it is perhaps unsurprising that these immigrant brothers became the musical kings of what is now considered the Mohajir capital of the universe. In this clip, recorded at the BBC, the brothers and their party set a deep groove that is crying out of a mashup/remix by some enterprising DJ, as they get high on the jaam of love.
Mohammad Rafi
Kehri Kayan Mehmani Ya
Lahori/Mumbaikar Mohammad Rafi made a set of what can only be termed "gospel" recordings in the late 1960s for a homesick expatriate Hindu-Sindhi community in Bombay. If proof was ever needed as to the bewildering genius of Rafi sahib’s versatility, this track provides some evidence. His golden vocals, so familiar to the world, bring the mystical poems on the record alive in an unexpected way. The album itself has recently been championed by record collectors and music nuts in North America and featured on several radio shows and DJ lists.
Sanam Marvi
Yaar Vekho
Often touted as the new Abida Parveen for the Millennials, Sanam Marvi has shot to the top rung of contemporary Sindhi performers with a strong voice and sufistic philosophy. A favorite on the Coke Studio circuit from which this wonderful, restrained track is lifted, it is hard to argue against Sanam’s musical gifts and vision.