Shakeela Bano comes alive in Delhi qawwali princess’ ‘ada’
Memories of Mallika-e-Qawwali Shakeela Bano Bhopali walking into ‘mehfils’ in heavily embellished ’sharara-dupattas’, with attendants in tow, came alive at the Delhi Arts Festival when Baby Warsi enthralled the audience with her ‘ada aamozi’.
The qawwali nite was part of the three-day festival, which included classical and folk dance recitals and sufi and traditional music, to breathe new life into these dying art forms.
Like Shakeela Bano Bhopali, who glamourised the very male-dominated genre of qawwali, Baby Warsi charmed the audience with her recitations — light couplets — “Dushmanon se nahin doston se daro, dushmanon se nahin doston se daro…Aisa ek paagal mujhse keh gaya…” to great “wah-wahs” and “irshads”.
Dressed in a sea green sequinned salwar suit and a red qawwali ‘topi’, Baby Warsi, who led the qawwali troupe comprising a dozen members, used her forte — ada aamozi (style) — to engage the audience…”Kya bataoon tujhe main woh kya de gaya, kya bataoon tujhe main woh kya de gaya…Raat bhar jaagne ki saza de gaya…” Shakeela Bano Bhopali, who died four years ago broken, bankrupt and absolutely unsung, admitted that her talent lay in ‘ada aamozi’. Qawwali lovers still remember Shakeela Bano famously trooping into functions like a queen with attendants carrying her ‘paandaan’, ‘pankha’, ‘ungaaldan’.
Baby Warsi, who writes poetry admits that the standard of couplets is not the same anymore. “Times have changed. The audience is not the same. They will not be able to understand good couplets. These days, I usually sing couplets written by Naseem Nagpuri and Dana Barodgi,” she says. On the future of qawwali, Baby Warsi, who got her first lessons in singing from her mother who was a famous qawwali singer in Bihar, says “not very bright.” To drive home her point she says, “I learnt singing from my mother. But I will not teach my daughter to sing. I want her to study.” Though Baby Warsi may shirk any comparison with Shakeela Bano, the similarities are too many.
Like Shakeela Bano, she has both the looks and the voice. And, like Shakeela, she has the penchant of playing to the gallery and singing couplets which are easy to understand.
Even her ’shairs’ (couplets) were a stark reminder of Shakeela’s singing: “Zindagi kadmon main hai thukrayeye/Aur kya khidmat karoon farmayeye..” or “Humko jeene se zid nahin lekin/Zindagi ho to zindagi jaisi..” of “Aap jayen to do peher ki dhoop/Aap ayen to raat phoolon ki..” But unlike Shakeela Bano, Baby Warsi did not kick an empty glass on the stage when she sang her last qawwali. Shakeela would kick a glass while singing “Sehr ka waqt hai aur jaam mein sharab nahin…” inviting a standing ovation from the audience.
— PTI
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