Hamid Ali Bela, who died in 2001, (no one is exactly sure of when he was born) was one of those voices of which Pakistan seems to have an endless supply – the wandering, singing dervish. A singer with a sound that seems to have sprouted organically from the dark loamy soil along the wide river banks. A son of Punjab, he appears to have had little, if any, formal training in the art of singing. And yet he simply mesmerises you with his richly spiritual, commanding and often, spine-tingling performances.In my estimation, his voice is one of the most moving and passionate ever to come out of Pakistan. That his music is hardly appreciated or available, even within present-day Pakistan, is a cultural crime.
Maye Ni Main Kino Aakhan
Maai ne main kinuun aakhaan,
Dard vichore daa haal nii
O mother, who do I tell,
this pain of separation
Jungle bailay phiraan
Dhoudaindia jayna paayo lal
Wandered jungles and deserts,
But not found the ruby
Ranjhan Ranjhan phiraan dhoudaindi,
Ranjhan mairay naal
wander looking for RanjhanRanjhan,
But Ranjhan is with me
Kahay Hussain faqeer ni manaa,
Shoh milay taan theevan nihaal
Says Hussain the poor faqeer,
Meeting God would be ecstasy
A Shah Hussain kafi that has been interpreted by many artists over the years, it is Hamid Ali Bela’s masterpiece and the standard by which all other renditions are judged. His appellation "Bela" (referenced in the lyric above) was given him, he claimed, by other dervishes who congregated outside the tomb of Shah Hussain in Lahore’s Baghbanpura area. "You sing with such sorrow," they said, "why don’t you call yourself Bela?"
Rabba Mere Haal
Bela was a devotee of Shah Hussain Faqir, Punjab’s "Beggar King" poet. The words of Hussain so enraptured him as a young boy, his only response was to sing them himself. If you have spent any time at all around a sufi dargah you’ll recognise the sort of music Hamid Ali Bela sang: spontaneous, devotional and yearning. It is not possessed of the fiery fury of qawwali and is more akin (in spirit) to the Hindu bhajan. A personal prayer. This, a cappella track, is simply a heart stopper. If ever a song could express to an alien species what being human was all about, this is it.
Rabba mere haal da mehram tu
Andar vi tun bahir vi tun
You are the only one who understands me
You are within and without,
If you have trouble with the whole spiritual thing, listen to this a few times and then reassess.
Chal Melay Noo Chaleyey
Bela grew up singing. His local audience of friends and family immediately understood he had something special – a certain sadness – that grabbed the attention. It was an uncle who finally insisted he present himself to Radio Pakistan, which he did. Bela was soon recognized by the public and especially his peers – including Malika Pukhraj, Farida Khanum and Mehdi Hassan – as an outstanding artist. He appeared fairly regularly on Pakistan TV and radio, but his recordings are severely – and criminally – limited: An odd Compact Disc and a few tapes that are quite hard to locate. Thankfully, YouTube has several gems, including this more upbeat kafi.
Rabba Na Bhuli
This is pure soul music. Bela’s repertoire derived almost exclusively from the kafi (sufi poetry) of Shah Hussain including this amazing appearance from late in his life. Shah Hussain’s poetry is so deeply ingrained in the popular culture and consciousness of the people Punjab, you could say it is the very bedrock of the culture. And there were few artists who could bring this centuries-old poetry to life as movingly as Hamid Ali Bela.
