Sufi medley peps up culture fest

Lucknow: Sufi mood captivated SafedBaradari, as members of musical group ChaarYaar presented melodies to enthral audience at the ongoing Sanatkada festival on Wednesday evening. The concert began with a verse written by Hazrat Sultan Bahu, a Sufi Mystic of 17^th century. “The verse is like a Gayatri Mantra to Sufis,” said MadanGopalSingh, lead vocalist, as he sang it accompanied by guitar, tabla and Sarod.
It was followed by ‘Anand’, poetry by KabirDas set tune and recorded at Woodstock in New York by the band. As Madan rendered the musical piece, Amjad Khan on multiple percussions turned it into an exhilirating experience for listeners.
The compositions evoked romance with poems by Rumi and Bulle Shah like HeerRanjha and created magic with DeepakCastelino played an Arab-African musical instrument. Pritam on Sarod made the musical sojourn all the more enticing.
Madan surprised the audience with a powerful track which was Pujabi version ‘Sochozara’ of John Lenon‘s ‘Imagine’.
Born in Amritsar, poet-singer MadanGopal said, he believed Sufi music was like tying knots, a journey through diversity of language, culture and movements. “We don’t know if we sing for good, bad or worst but what is certain is that we never compromise on the essence of Sufi and originality,” he said. MadanGopal traced his musical journey to the times when as an amateur he sang for business tycoons and painters and gradually moved to theatre and public performances.