Malika Pukhraj — a strong, unique and tuneful voice

Published on: June 19, 2018 12:05 AM

I remember that Malika Pukhraj telephoned me from Detroit in my hostel, Lucas House, Birmingham UK in the University of Birmingham to fix a recording with Saleem Shahid (father of actor Salman Shahid) for Sunday morning programme for the Asian community. BBC used to air one hour programme ‘Apna Hi Ghar Samajhiye’ (Make Yourself at Home) every Sunday morning at 9 AM and Saleem Shahid was one of the producers. That was my first exposure with the great lady who was on the top of her singing career at that time, famous for singing Ghazals and Kashmiri folk songs. I am talking of sometime in between 1968 to 1972. I attended her recording at BBC Bristol Road Studios. She had to sing live. She gargled her throat with luke-warm water with a little salt in it before singing her songs. More than four and a half decades have passed since this incidence but her strong, tuneful voice still resounds my ears. Mushtaq Hashimi and I were Malika’s son Tanveer’s friends. He was a very good singer as well, amateur of course and would often sing for us in Government College informal get-togethers. Later he joined Armed Forces and we knew him as Major Tanveer. There used to be peacocks in their Canal Road residence in 1960s. Malika’s husband Syed Shabbir Hussain Shah’s rural background was noticeable in the shape of breeding of cattle in the backyard. Malika had totally adapted to her new way of living. Her husband who had brought her from the courts of Maharaja of Kashmir had married her and they lived happily ever after. Born in village Mirpur on the banks of the River Akhnoor sixteen miles from Jammu in 1912, Pukhraj, a name given by her aunt, was given the title ‘Malika’ (Queen) at her birth by Majzoob Baba Roti Ram, a spiritualist in Akhnoor area.

Training: Malika Pukhraj was trained by Ustad Ali Bukhsh Qusuri – the father of Bare Ghulam Ali Khan. She ended up as an employee in the courts of Maharaja Hari Singh at his coronation when at the age of nine years, she performed at the ceremony. She stayed in Maharaja’s courts for nine years. According to her daughter Tahira Syed (a famous singer in her own right) and the youngest of six siblings, her father was deeply in love with her mother’s music. It must have been the reason for their marriage. As reiterated earlier, Malika Pukhraj was married to Syed Shabbir Hussain Shah, a government officer. The couple bore six children, including daughter, Tasneem, wife of the famous lawyer and Senator SM Zafar followed by four sons, Tariq, Tauqeer, Tanveer, and Tasvir. Youngest among the children is Tahira Syed, who emerged as a well-known singer in her own right being trained by Ustad Akhtar Hussain of Patiala Gharana and by Malika herself. I recall that she was also given lessons by music composer Ustad Nazar-e-Hussain for some time and the difference was clearly visible in her one of PTV performances.

Malika Pukhraj songs and style of singing: Malika Pukhraj was very popular as a singer with a strong command on her voice in the genres; Thumri, Ghazal, Bhajan, Pahari Geet and Dogri folk songs. She was among the greatest singers of British India in the 1940s. After the creation of Pakistan in 1947, she migrated to Lahore, Pakistan, where she received further fame through her radio and television performances. She also opened a Film Studio namely Malika Studios on The Mall, Lahore. She preferred working with composer, Kale Khan at Lahore Radio Station. Her fame was through many ghazals (like Woh Baatein Teri Who Fasane Tere) and folk songs (like Pal Pal Bhai Jaana) but the one deeply imprinted on the minds of her fans in the subcontinent was poet Hafeez Jallundhri’s Ghazal ‘Abhi Tau Main Jawan Hun’.

Famous songs and tribute by celebrities: Malika’s famous songs are ‘Kab Tak Dil Ki Khair Manaein/Kab Tak Raah Dikhlao Gei’, ‘Kiya Mujh Ishq Nai Zalim Ko Aag Ahista Ahista’, ‘Hum Apne Aansuon Ka Afsana Kaya Bataein’, ‘Tere Ishq Ki Intiha Chaheta Hun’  (Iqbal’s poetry flawlessly rendered by Tahira Syed also in PTV’s tribute to Malika), ‘Yei Kaun Sakhi Hain (with intervening narration of poetry)’, ‘Sukhn Dard Ka’, ‘Yei Gumbad-e-Minai’, ‘Kahan Aah Ban Kei’, ‘Tum Mere Paas Raho Mere Qatil Mere Dildar’ (She received appreciation in India when she rendered this song in Door Darshan, State TV) and ‘Dard Sei Mere Hei Tujh Ko Beqarari Haye Haye’ (Ghalib). This variety comprised poetry of Iqbal, Ghalib and Faiz. Famous poet Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi had stated once that he knew Syed Shabbir Hussain known as Shah Ji, from the days when his short stories used to be published in Akhtar Shirani’s literary magazine ‘Rooman’ where Nadeem’s short stories used to be printed as well. Then he had met Shah Ji after he had married Malika. About Malika’s singing he stated that her pronunciation and expression was flawless and she kept the sanctity of the word foremost. Anwar Maqsood had said that Malika’s voice was a household voice full of holiness in PTV’s tribute ‘Khiraj-e-Tehseen’.

Malika started singing for a private recording company Wadia Movietone and she was the only popular voice recorded and listened to in pre-partition days. One of her songs ‘Lo Phir Basant Aai’ was a hit song. Malika said in her PTV programme that her eldest daughter Tasneem (alias Saifi) had a brilliant voice but she did not pay heed to developing her voice ready for singing. Then she got hold of Tahira and forced her to learn her music. Writer Imtiaz Ali Taj’s daughter Yasmeen Tahir and husband Naeem Tahir loved Malika because of her unique voice and expression and the fact that it is very difficult to emulate her barring her daughter Tahira Syed. Tina Sani geared up all her strength to sing Dagh Dehelvi’s ‘Zahid Na Keh Buri Keh Yei Mastane Aadmi Hain, Tujh Ko Lipat Parain Gei, Diwane Aadmi Hain’ and rendered it in Malika’s programme ‘Khiraj-e-Tahseen’. She also rendered her famous folk song ‘Pal Pal Bhai Jaana Ho’. Malika’s Gaiki (singing style) has a special aspect that none of her other contemporaries had. She normally gave beat a rest while performing the second line of antra to be recalled when asthai came. Then she used to give pauses in between her renderings to lay emphasis on the words or enhance the importance of the words.

Malika’s rendering of the Ghazal ‘Woh Kehte Hain Ranjish Ki Batein Bhula Dain, Muhabbat Karain Khush Rehain Muskura Dain’ is a typical example of judging her style of singing. She starts with a straight Alaap followed by asthai in equally straight and strong voice and while coming to antaras (stanzas) she provides the musical variations in well-knit murkis (intertwining of notes). Apart from the hit song ‘Abhi To Main Jawan Hoon’, the other interesting tracks are ‘Kab Tak Dil Ki’, Piya Baaj Pyala’, ‘Kab Tak Dil Ki Khair Manayen’, ‘Kiya Mujh Ishq Ne’ and ‘Kab Tak Dil Ki’.

Tahira’s impressions about her mother: In an interview with Ally Adnan, Tahira Syed recalls her mother Malika Pukhraj after a decade of her demise in the words ‘I remember Mommy as a very exacting person and a perfectionist. She wanted everyone in her family to do their very best and set high standards for herself and for those she loved. One had to live up to her high standards to earn her respect. Singing, writing, cooking, embroidery and everything else that she undertook had to be done to the best of her abilities; anything less than that was unacceptable. She demanded perfection from everyone in her family and from people she cared for. It was my mother who forced me to take up singing. And even though learning to sing and studying simultaneously was very difficult for me, I did it to please my mother. She wanted me to do everything that she had done in her life and more. As I struggled to accommodate both studies and music into my schedule, she added painting to the list of things she wanted me to do by asking Ustad Allah Bukhsh to be my teacher. Mommy’s ambitions for her children were boundless.

Hobbies: Malika Pukhraj did not remain inactive at home and in her spare time she always stitched designs or flowers in a piece of cloth, an art rarely possessed by women of stature. She matched this art with the modern machinery doing the same bit. Bano Qudsia, the famous writer, had once stated that Malika, as a singer would live long in the history books on music. She was like a bridge between peace time and revolution while water shall keep flowing under the bridge. Bano’s comments about Malika’s voice that it sounded like somebody playing mandolin in an old empty well, has been quoted many times. Malika’s creativity continued to be enhanced all her life, late Ashfaq Ahmad had observed. Justice Nasira Javed Iqbal observed that her voice was like a fountain erupting out of ‘Soz-e-Daroon’ (melody from within). She added that Malika’s heavy vocal tones suited Allama Iqbal’s poetry. His poetry ‘Yei Gumbad-e-Minai’ suited Malika’s voice and Umme-e-Kulsoom from Egypt. Justice Javed Iqbal, Allama’s son declared Malika as Asia’s Umm-e-Kulsoom. He mentioned Malika’s additional quality of being an excellent cook as well as he had the privilege to eat her dishes.

Demise: Malika Pukhraj’s last appearance was in PTV’s programme ‘Khiraj-e-Tehseen’ in 2003. She was flouted by her family and friends. She looked frail. She died the following year on 4th of February, 2004. Her funeral procession started from her residence at West Canal Bank, and was held in the house of her eldest son. She was buried at ‘Shah Jamal’ graveyard in Lahore. I attended the largely attended funeral. She received the Presidential Pride of Performance Award. In 1977 when All India Radio (for which she sang until Partition) was celebrating its Golden Jubilee, she was invited to India and awarded with the ‘Legend of Voice’ award. Malika Pukhraj also recorded her memoirs in the novel Song Sung True.

Published in Daily Times, June 19^th 2018.