Preserving Sindh’s history: A 20-year labour of love, 11 CD box set of ‘Shah jo Raag’ launched

At the launch of the 11 CD set of Shah jo Raag performed Dilshad Mirza, Sanam Marvi, Abida Parveen, Humaira Channa, Reshma Parveen, Zulfiqar Ali and Mazhar Hussain accompanied by Jamaluddin Faqir and his group in orange. Jumman Shah and group came attired in black and the Qalandari dhammali were clad in red velvet. The concert took place at Mohatta Palace Museum on Sunday, November 24, 2013 and was organized also by the Endowment Fund Trust. PHOTO: FAHIM SIDDIQI/WHITE STAR FOR DAWN

KARACHI: It was an evening for which Sindh will remain forever grateful. An 11 CD box set of an anthology of the surs of ‘Shah jo Raag’ was launched in an evening of Sufi poetry sung by none other than Abida Parveen at the Mohatta Palace Museum.

It would be misplaced to call this work an ‘effort’, as it took 20 years to put together. Twenty years for Abida Parveen to select the verses, and then for them to be translated into Urdu and English so that they can reach a wider audience. And for those who may not be conversant with the Sufi poetry, transliterations in Roman accompany the text.

The labour of love is the work of the private Endowment Fund Trust for the Preservation of the Heritage of Sindh, personified by Abdul Hameed Akhund, the soft-spoken and humble crusader who brushed off thanks from Dawn Media Group’s Hameed Haroon at the compilation’s launch on Saturday night. The spectacular concert was organised by the trust, museum and the media group and the work they do is assisted, in part, by Jahangir Siddiqui.

Haroon dwelt at length on the history of the surs in an eloquent speech. Shah Abdul Latif’s poetry was written in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. “And the thing about the poetry is that when it was written – every rag in the cycle – it was clear that it had to be sung in rag,” he told The Express Tribune later on Sunday.

Over the years, the poetry persisted only as an oral tradition. So, at the shrine there is a group of faqirs who were handed down these verses. They transcribed them in the Ganj – which became the record of Latif’s poetry and of many other poets. They were the kalam that were recited at the dargah. The Ganj was not shown to scholars and the first one to see it was Air Marshal (ret’d) Daudpota, Akhund’s grandfather. From the original 36 verses, he judged 30 were Latif’s and Abida Parveen has sung 32 of them. (Two are from Shah jo Risalo which is separate from Shah jo Raag).

Each day since Shah Abdul Latif’s death, the poetry has been sung in rotation by the groups of faqirs. Nine to ten groups survive today. “All night, the vayee is sung every night in Bhitshah and the cycle ends with Sur Sohni,” explained Haroon. “The words are important, but in a particular form the words are planted so the faqirs can sing all night long. This vayee form has remained untouched.”

In the 1970s, Allan Faqir modified the vayee. And Abida Parveen has reclassified it. This is what you will find in the new Shah jo Raag companion. “Like Allan Faqir, she has modified it… for younger people,” said Haroon.

And thus, when Abida Parveen took the stage with Sanam Marvi, Humaira Channa, Reshma, Dilshad Mirza, Mazhar Hussain, Zulfiqar Ali, Jamaluddin Faqir and the faqirs of Bhit Shah, Sachal Sarmast, including three sons of Ustad Niaz and that of Allan Faqir, the crowd broke out into applause. More came in waves for ‘Tere Ishq Nachaya’, ‘Arey logo’ ‘Munjhe Rani Khe’ and ‘Dama Dam Mast Qalandar’. Some young men couldn’t help themselves but get up and dance as well.

The invitations had pretty much run out, for which the hosts apologised. It was a mixed crowd but notable among the guests were names such as Dr Asad Pathan, who has been treating Abida Parveen, and his wife Muna Kazi Pathan, Mazhar Siddiqui, Salim Memon, Aijaz Mirza, Mustafa and Rubina Qureshi, Nuscie Jamil, Sherry Rehman, Najmuddin Shaikh, Kazi Asad Abid’s wife Shehla, Tapu Javeri, Nighat Mir, Nafisa Shah, Deepak Perwani, Naiza Khan and Ghous Ali Shah.