Kab Bahaar Aayi

April 24, 2013 by Uzair

chali phir sard hawa kuch yun aaj
ke subh ke suraj ki simti hui kirano
ko bikherne wale pahadon ki yaaden
phir gosh-e-dil mein ubhar aayi.

aur sarnaate mein ghuli hue
door dariya se ubharte hue geeton
ke sang beh jaane ki chaah mein
mano nayi jaan phook di ho.

Kuch usi tarah jaise
Sawaan mein sabze se lipti
hui zameen par baarish ke qatron
mein chalkti duniya ki tasveer
woh qatre jo isi zameen mein ja samayen ge
ek ho jayen ge.

aur phir ubhren ge
chand mahino, saal, sadiyun baad
jab zameen badal ho gayi hogi
patjarh ho, garmi ho
dariya ho na ho
pahar hi bikhar gayein ho
kaun jaane

kya tabh bhi yeh qatre
isi hasrat se zameen ka rukh karien ge,
ya behna chaud denge
maazi ka lihaaf audh lenge,
ya badlaav ko badalne ki jadhojhed karenge
aaj ko kal mein tabdeel karne ki aas liye.
yaa phir iss naye khwaab ko samaa len ge
jaise jheel ki stah par chamkta chaand
jo hai bhi or nahi bhi.

Shepherds of Kashmir

March 19, 2013 by Uzair

Towards Panjal and beyond. Awarded Best Film in Non-feature film category.

What I really liked about the film was that it tried to capture the entire journey. The camera travels with the caravan as it heads towards the margs of Kashmir crossing the treacherous Panjals. The scenes follow the timeline of shooting for most part of the film. Shooting in strong winds and slippery mountains is a tough task. Director writes“The horse carrying our equipment skidded and broke the solar charger. This limited our shooting hours so I had to use the camera judiciously to save my batteries.”

The translations are a bit off the mark. “Bakarwali go zamano ni de punjabi ban ja” translated into “If you don’t want to do it go to hell.” I cannot equate being a punjabi to going to hell.

Rajesh Koul’s film on Bakkarwals got the music right. Shepherds of Paradise has Kashmiri music playing the background which is not the part of culture that film tries to depict. Its strength is in depicting life of shepherd as he undertakes the journey every year and the film does that beautifully.

There are many passes that the shepherds use to travel across Panjals. I am guessing, this film was shot along the Darhal pass.

Rajauri-Darhal-Beloh-Aliabad Sarai-Hirpur-Shopian

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Sirf Qawwali

March 3, 2013 by Uzair

For a lifetime spent scavenging the corners of world wide web for qawwali ,there’s no better reward than a live performance. I do realize there are thousands of wandering souls which could kill if not die reading about the extravaganza.

Delhi is an amazing city, especially in spring. It is musically alive and breathes for couple of months. All you need to enjoy all that is free and awesome is a friend with right kind of connections, a friend who is equally enthusiastic if not more about music. Well, a friend indeed is a friend in need.

Yesterday was another fine Saturday morning in Delhi with clear skies, the perfect weather for an outdoor musical concert in evening. Jashn-e-Khusrau, the ten day long musical festival ended a week ago. Artists from across sub continent performed in events that were spread across venues. It was probably the largest classical music event with great performances by Ustad Naseer-ud-Din Saami, Ustad Shujat Khan, Ustad Shahid Pervez Khan, Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan and Tahira Sayeed.

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Suran

January 10, 2013 by Uzair

Beyond the second ridge lies LoC.

River carries with it
Snow of distant peaks,
Floating memories
Twigs, leaves.

Only a few miles west
it would be stripped
at the border, asked
to produce a permit,
shot dead or may be not.

Waters were negotiated upon;
so the river travels seamlessly
only a few miles west
to another country.

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Ustaad Tibetbaqal

January 8, 2013 by Uzair

Reblogged from A World,s Heritage Of Native Music:

Remembering Ustaad Tibetbaqal

Ustaad Muhammad Abdullah Tibetbaqal (July 14, 1914 – January 03, 1982 S/o Kh.Abdul Gani Bota Wani) was a non Caste Sufiyana Vocalist and Instrumentalist (Santoor etc) famously known as the "King of Santoor". He was regarded as one of the most successful Vocalist of North India and Central Asia. In 1972, he was the First Person from J&K to whom Sangeet Natak Academy Award was given by the President of India.

Scenes from Dhok

December 10, 2012 by Uzair

Every year Gujjars and Bakerwals travel to higher reaches of Pir Panjal and Himalayan mountain ranges in search of pastures. These high altitude pastures are called “Dhok.”