Nizami bros regale Nagpur with Sufi qawwalis

NAGPUR: Living up to its title, ‘Ibadat’, the Sufi musical evening at Deshpande hall on Thursday was just about worship. Nizami brothers, the famous qawwals of Sikander gharana, performed initially for the state governor Vidyasagar Rao, but came into their elements when an appreciative audience applauded a wee bit more freely once the VIP guest had taken leave.
In a programme organized by the SCZCC which has the governor as its administrative head, the evening mesmerized city audience for its sheer artistry of words and high class singing. Picking up some of the finest writings of Amir Khusro, who the Nizamis consider as their guru, Ustad Chaand Nizami and his two nephews Shadab and Shorab regaled the audience with numbers which are often heard but rarely felt.
Starting with a kaul or a prayer which is supposedly recited by Prophet Mohammad for the almighty, the trio and their troupe played it out on instruments and rededicated the tarana with the rubai, ‘banake tujhko maula, ye sajda kar liya maine, ab mehenga ho ya sasta yeh sauda kar liya maine’.
The qawwals spoke of communal integration and wove the two religions effortlessly by blending the immortal and deep poetry of both Khusro and Kabir. Moving from Urdu to Sanskrit and Hindi verses, the Nizamis established in no uncertain terms the oneness of almighty whichever name he may be worshipped with. ‘Ali ke veer ho balwan ho, kahin dharmatama toh kahin parmatama tum ho’.
Dwelling on the classical bandish ‘phool khile bagiya main’, the artists moved on to the more popular Khusro composition in Hindi, ‘chaap tilak sab leeni’, before they paused to see off the VIP. “Jaa rahe ho tum toh meri jaan bhi lejao, tum apne saath ye gaane bajane ka samaan bhi lejao,’ they said by way of good bye.
Relating with their audience more with poetry of both Khusro and Kabir they compared the two through their worship of Krishna with Khusro’s lines ‘aap toh saiyaa bane manmohan’ and ‘woh anand kand hai feli hai jag main jiski sugandh, aap toh saiyaa bade manmohan’ written by Kabir.
Holding the audience in sway with the popular number from Jodha Akbar, ‘Khwaja mere Khwaja’, they impressed with the rendition of ‘Zehaal-e-miskeen makun taghaful, Duraye naina banaye batiyan’ explaining the mastery of the great poet as he had composed it in both Persian and Braj Bhasha. The Nizamis presented this popular composition which had five languages incorporated in it.
The stage backdrop done up with flowers added to the mood of the event.