SHAUKAT ALI

Ripples Of Calibre

WORKING UP those remarkable vocal ripples that have remained dormant for quite a while, Shaukat All enraptured the talented crowd of artistes and thinkers at yet another fine episode of Khiraj e Tehseen, last week. Paying tribute to that incredible genius of our times, Ahmed Nadeem Gasmi, the show afforded the microphone to potentially, one the most brilliant singers of this country. Shaukat All sang Gasmi Sahab's fabulous ghazal, Tujhe kho kar bhee tujhe paoon jahan tak dekhoonlHusn e Yazdan se iujhe ishq e butaan tak dekhoon. It was a revelation to people who have not seen or heard Shaukat sing ghazals for the last ten years. Most of his songs on television, in the last decade or so, have been either folk numbers or patriotic songs. So, the younger generation how gifted this man is. But, that ghazal in the show changed all that. What beautiful melody and what brilliant rendition. The musical vibrations were produced like a fountain of semi classical fecundity from his vocal chords.

Shaukat All is a very swami personality, with true admiration for progressive ideology and

such personalities as Falz, Farez, Gateel Shlfai and Gasmi Sahab. He has traveled with them on tours and he is committed to their works and thoughts.

Another marvelous ghazal from Glasmi Sahab, sung by Ghulam All in the show, was Sham ko subh e chaman yaad aailKis kee khushbu e badan yaad aai. But, for sheer pleasure of listening to pure melody, and a brilliant tune, Shaukat's number stands ahead of any other song in the show. Shaukat, for that matter, has sung quite a few ghazals of Gasml Sahab, in the past, including Andaz hoo bahoo teri aawaz epa ka iha, Ik but mujhe bhee khans e dil main parra mile and Kaun kehta hai keh maut aai to mar jaoonga. One thing that stands out in his short ghazal singing career was the absolutely heartcapturing tunes that he made, like for instance, Slraj Aurangabadi's Khabar e tahayyur e ishq sun, na junoon raha na pan rahi and Faiz Ahmed Falz's Garmi e shauq e nazara ka asar to dekho.

Gasml Sahab's other brilliant ghazals Saans lens bhee saza legta hai and Gul tern rang churn laey hain, have also been sung by Parvez Mehdl. His powerful poems like Insan azeem hai Khudaya and Rait se ghar ne bane ae mere pyare fankar etc have been on the lips of all and sundry. Similarly, who can forget his short stories like Permeshar Singh, Sannata and Gandasa? The program on Ahmed Nadeem Gasml was a nice one, but I don't know why I get the feeling those famous people called every week to this show don't seem pleased or truly happy. Why? Could it be that while they respect the personality of the show, they don't exactly like the way they are 'invited' to the show?l When lives in the country are herded to a particular direction, no freedom of expression could be achieved. There is no such thing as forced freedom, is there?

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