Punjabi Academy gives fresh lease of life to Sufi and Punjabi folk music
(No Ratings Yet)Folk and Sufi music are an integral part of the cultural wealth of Punjab. And, to promote this rich heritage, the Delhi-based Punjabi Academy recently organized a cultural program featuring great exponents of Punjabi folklore and Sufi music.
Pushpa Hans, a veteran singer and actress of yore, took her audience on a nostalgic trip down memory lane during her performance at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi.
The legendary singer presented folk and ‘kalams’ of Sufi writers and poets so that the modern generation has an idea of the rich heritage it has inherited.
An ambassador of the golden age of music, Pushpa, was happy to see a revival of the age-old traditions.
“The new generation has already taken to Sufi music. It’s a revival, as young artists like Kunal Ganjawala have started singing in the Sufi style. I believe its a revival of melody and good lyrics,” said Pushpa.
Tejinder Gulati is among the new breed of singers who have adopted Sufi, the music that connects with the heart.
Great Punjabi poets and singers have passed this prized heritage of Punjab from one generation to another over the centuries.
Be it the exponent Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Hakim Sufi and now Tejinder Gulati, authentic Sufi music continues to have an ardent fan following.
Even today, when Punjabi music is mostly identified with `Pop’ music, thousands turn up to listen to folk and Sufi.
“Punjabi pop has definitely affected the original form of Punjabi songs. On the other hand, it has popularised Punjabi folk. In the USA, UK and Canada or anywhere in the world Punjabi folk is popular along with western beats. Somehow, if its originality has been affected, it also gets the popularity. Of course, globalisation has had its impact on everything,” said Tejinder Gulati, a Sufi singer.
The popularity of folk music lies in the fact that it is not thrust upon listeners. It reflects the culture of the land.
In her 70s Pushpa continues to sing Kafians, Mirzas and Heer - And in that lies the true spirit to preserve the `pure’ music of Punjab.
The real spirit of a folk-song rests not only in its text but also in its tune. The popular tunes of Punjabi folk-songs ring with the heart-throbs of the simple, unsophisticated villagers. These melodies, characteristic of their deeply-felt emotions are absolutely in tune with their mode of living.
The rhythm and beat of Punjabi folk music is simple. The rhythmic patterns are determined by the day-to-day activities of the villagers, the sound of the grinding stone, the drone of the spinning wheel, the creaking of the Persian wheel, the beat of the horse’s hooves etc. These rhythms refined into symmetrical patterns form the basis of the entire folk music of the Punjab.
Punjabi folk music is primarily vocal in character and is accompanied by instruments. It comes so spontaneously to the villager that when he is ploughing or digging his fields, driving his cart or walking homeward alone he just bursts into song in a full-throated ecstasy.
— ANI
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