Musically sound

Pushto band makes the most of an evening in Sharjah

It was a Thursday night when I received a call from my poet friend Nizar Ali informing me that a Pushto music band was performing at his Sharjah flat.

When we reached the place, the singers Gul Nawaz and Hashmat Sahar were making last-minute rehearsals along with Khurshid Ali, the tabla master, and Hamid Ustad, the rabab player. A number of music lovers were already there dressed in their pathan hujra.

In their country, the two brothers Nawaz and Sahar are well-known pushto singers and are often appreciated for their performance. They have been to other Gulf countries and have been lauded for their contribution to Pushto music.

Unlike other professional singers, they started the musical evening by presenting the pushto anthem, which was received enthusiastically by the audience. But what got the crowd going was the pushto tappa that Sahar sang.

The gist of it was that in the past no-one even dared to look at Pushtoon women, but due to the prevailing situation (in Afghanistan) the women were migrating to the neighbouring country without veils or burqas. The tappa created a sense of seriousness in the audience.