Daily Times

Our society has been divided on many issues related to language, caste, creed, culture, religion, ethnicity, etc. Even in our day to day lives, we are still fragmented into various cliques. A person such as Dr Amjad Parvez is among such people who have refused to be part of such a system.

He deserves a commendation not to accept such norms. Despite the fact that he does not belong to any family of musicians and is from an established educated family of Lahore, he is a popular vocalist of Pakistan. He learnt the traits of classical music from great Ustads and has been performing classical music since last three decades. He is an engineer with PhD from UK. Apart from his contributions in the field of education, he is fully involved in poetry and literature with three books to his credit in this field. In music, his research on melodious composers – Melody Makers appeared last year both in English and Urdu and was received with open arms in music circles.

One day, Dr Amjad visited my house and confessed that while at work he feels more consumed and is a happier person. Music is his passion and he sings folk songs, ghazal, geet, Kafi and classical music with equal ease. Even in this field he is above the prevalent prejudices. Education and love for poetry makes him exploit the qualitative, classical poetic pieces. His lifestyle is well organised. He takes daily walks and practises music as well. After Melody Makers, his latest research is based on melodious singers. After reading this book I became fully convinced of Dr Amjad’s attachment with music and his commendable hard work. He has not only collected the relevant information on a vocalist’s life and works but has also written an essay on each singer in such a way that each distinguishes from the other. Each singer looks like a different flower in a bouquet with its own fragrance.

The essays on singers have been printed in alphabetical order. That is why the first article is on Asha Bhosle and the second one on Bilquis Khanum; an interesting situation that cultural issues are above all other issues. When Pakistan came into being, Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims were busy in loot and plunder but went to the same cinema to watch Noor Jahan and Dilip Kumar’s movie ‘Jugnu’ with Noor Jahan and Muhammad Rafi’s songs. Believe me that in this dismal scenario; the film ‘Jugnu’ emitted the light of a glow worm.

Dr Sahib has written this book without any prejudice, oblivion of any religious or partisanship. He has written on the personal lives and important works of Asha Bhosle with the same passion and attention as that of Bilquis Khanum. The same passion and attention is caught by Lata Mangeshkar and Noor Jahan.

The essays have been written and their titles given in such a way that each singer’s individual traits are represented in an excellent manner. Asha Bhosle is claimed to be a versatile singer, Farida Khanum as Malika-e-Ghazal (Queen of Ghazal singing), Lata as the living legend, Noor Jahan as Melody Queen and Habib Wali Muhammad as a cultured voice. Such titles make each singer prominent and different from the other; the greater the singer, the more voluminous the essay. Also the singers whom Dr Sahib knew personally have his experiences expressed like the title for Mehdi Hassan, ‘Hassan as I knew him’.

All the essays also have an element of human, psychological and emotional aspects. The regrets, shortcomings, pains and sufferings of the singers during their struggles in their personal and professional lives have also been mentioned. It proves that pains and gloom overshadow happiness. It was Asha who lost interest in music because of her daughter’s untimely death. It was the same Asha whose love for music brought her back into singing. Dr Sahib has brought to surface certain psychological preferences like Farida Khanum’s love for driving big cars and Noor Jahan’s hidden pains oozing out frequently in the form of tears. Now the question arises as to why and how Dr Sahib managed to write such a detailed book in the form of 27 essays?

Is it because of his hard work, or because of his love for music or for leading a disciplined life? None of these reasoning can produce such a quality book. I think these are just matters of heart. Allama Iqbal said that the ecstasy of love makes one oblivious of the two worlds.