Reving up "ghazals" to drown one's sorrows

Mesbahuddin Ahmed, in his early thirties, is not new to the scene of "ghazals" for he has given about 700 solo stage performances in this genre. Lately, during the last Eid, he brought out an audio album of his Bengali songs too to prove to the world that it is not "ghazals" alone that he has mastered; and most of the 12 compositions in the album content are his own. As he performed recently at "La Vinci", he mingled his songs with extempore repartee, jokes, variations of "Uchanga sangeet" and added suitable accompanying dramatic gestures, while his "tablachi" accompanied him with zest. His pronunciations were immaculate and he performed according to the request of the crowd that had gathered. As a consequence, the crowd, many of them Indians or from Old Dhaka, were heady with the joie de vivre of the high poetry content of the songs and their unparalleled lively renditions.

Asked why had had chosen 'ghazals" rather than any other form of songs for his choice of perfection in the musical world, Mesbah said that he had selected this "genre" as each individual has his own right to have a choice. He said that he loved to sing "ghazals" and enjoyed going through the wordings of these songs which come down as our heritage from not the Mogul courts but Persia. He said that he enjoyed listening to other forms of songs too such as the modern, the "Rabindrasangeet", "Nazrulgeeti" and "Palligeeti", but it is this music which he had heard from his collection of audio tapes that moved him most of all, before his training in "Uchanga sangeet", which formed a stepping stone and base for his rendering of "ghazals", ultimately. He felt that if one had to excel one has to struggle, which is exactly what he did. He said that he was lucky that whenever he had been asked to sing the response had always heartening.

Mesbah began his training with Minhajuddin Khan, in the early 80s then he moved on to Hasan Ikramullah for classical training for five years. This was all in Dhaka as he is a Dhakiite, born and brought up in the capital. While doing his Masters in Management, he kept up his passion for singing, so that singing is his "second profession", as he himself puts it. He said, "I love 'ghazals' because when I heard my 'ustads' singing I was totally captivated by its wordings and its fiery and poignant emotional impact. I used to listen to this particular form of singing as a young boy, and since than I've lost my soul to it. I heard Jagjit Singh, Ahmed Hussain, Mohammed Hussain, Farida Khanum, Ghulam Ali, Begum Akhter etc, and felt this was something I could and should master myself for my own delight and the pleasure of others for whom I could sing. My feelings were that I could best express myself to the rest of the world through these 'ghazals.' I am basically a very emotional person and the passion contained in this particular genre touches my heart, as nothing else does."

Asked to recount the names of the numbers that he had sung that Sunday night, Mesbah said that they included popular 'ghazals' as they best appealed to the people after their hard day's work. He said that the requests for songs by Jagjit Singh were the most. He said, " I love Jagjit's songs enormously myself. That nigh I sang songs of Anup Jalota, such as 'Tumhara sher ka mausam bahat suhag hai' and 'Lazzagte gham darha dijeye', Jagjit Singh's 'Ye daulat bhi leylo ye shohrat bhi le lo' and 'Tum itna jo muskura raheho,' Ghulam Ali's 'Chupke chupke' and there were some of my own compositions too. I give a lot of time and effort to compose songs myself."

Touching on how he was pursuing a genre of song which has limited popularity in general in Bangladesh, Mesbah said, " Let me begin by saying that although I had training in Indian classical singing (which is the basis for all eastern music), no one was my 'ghazal' trainer: I concentrated on the songs from CD and cassettes. It is a pity that the people here in our country copy the Indian style in clothes, cosmetics, jewellery, food, watch Zee TV and other Hindi channels ardently, and yet fail to understand that 'ghazals' belong to the entire Subcontinent and Urdu was once our camp language for all types of people coming from the length and breath of India. We admire Oriental Art and Muslim calligraphy that comes down from the Mogul courts and frown on a genre of music which found its heyday in these same courts during the time of Akbar and Jehangir to the time of Bahadur Shah Zafar, who everybody knows composed 'ghazals' himself and it was not just Dagh or Ghalib who composed 'ghazals'.

"People pay me honorariums and welcome me with open arms no doubt but as we all know too well, 'ghazals' are banned from the TV and radio in Bangladesh and even 'Uchangasangeet' is never at peak hours. Privately, 'ghazals' do have a good following in Dhaka and,even in Chittagong -- where I have sung on invitation with my passage and stay being paid for apart from the honorarium and gifts galore. There have been large audiences at public stages too -- so that you cannot totally push aside the people's hunger to listening to songs emanating from excellent poetry, which belongs to the world and which is based on classical music. I've played at the Russian Cultural Centre, Alliance Francaise, National Museum Auditorium, 'Sonargoan' and 'Sheraton' hotels and now 'La Vinci'. Here you meet people from all over the world, just as people in Europe and USA do come to attend 'ghazal' performances and the listeners there are not just Indians, Pakistanis or Bengalis.

"As for myself, I've been awarded the prize as the best 'ghazal' singer from Rotary Club in 1997 by former minister Sajida Chowdhury so it is not something to sing only in a hide- and -seek manner. It is a pity that some people in Bangladesh have the wrong conception that 'ghazals' are a part of Pakistan, who once dominated us: 'ghazals' have global appeal and meaning. The British have ruled us and yet there is no objection to listening to English music or seeing English TV programmes or even seeing English films on the big screen. Music is music and should not be bound by barriers of countries. If the old complexes could be set aside 'ghazals' too would have the patronage that they deserve, as this too is an integral part of our cultural heritage that comes down from centuries. It is not that we don't have talent for 'ghazals' locally but there is not the conducive ambiance generally. In India, on the other hand, the patronization in comparison is so large that even the average 'ghazal' singer has a following and he/she does not have to necessarily resort to other means of existence as we have to do here. Take Niaz Mohammed Chowdhury, my own guru, he deserves more recognition than he has got so far. As for myself, I'm now learning with Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan from India, at workshops arranged by the Bengal Foundation and this is a two-year course. I'm taking training in Indian classical singing even today and will continue till I die."

Asked to name the best exponents of "ghazals", Mesbah said, "Ghazal was once sung in the 'thumri' style as Amanat Ali and Begum Akhter used to sing. Mehdi Hassan modified the style and brought a new arrangement which appeals universally. The composition there is fixed which is different from the 'thumri' or 'khiyal.' Next, it is Jagjit Singh who the fans of 'ghazals' should be thankful to as his contribution is enormous. Pankaj Udas too is to be admired greatly."

Giving a brief history of the "ghazal", Mesbah said, "It was a court song sung by private singers as there were the resources and the time for that by the royalty, years back, in the Indian Subcontinent, and this included exponent and poets like Amir Khusru, Ghalib, Dagh, Hazrat Mohani, Mir Taqi Mir, Momen and of course, Omar Khayyam from ancient Persia. It got its revival in the 20th and 21st century as the songs are ageless and cross barriers of hundreds of years. Like Tagore songs, that began years ago, they will never die out."

Asked if he had any problems while pursuing his passion for "ghazals", Mesbah said, "I don't really care if I get proper remuneration or not for my singing. I sing therefore I am. People coming from the upper echelons of society spend a lot on this and that fancy item, but when it comes to singing or even many other elements of performing or fine arts they complain that they have a tight budget."

Elaborating on who he combined his other work with singing Mesbah said he does business with his father but finds the mood, he locks up his office and comes to practice with his own "tabla" players. He plays the guitar, "tabla" and the keyboard too himself.

His latest feat is his "G series" which is his first CD/audio cassette album after performing professionally for twelve years. These contain modern Bengali songs which he has sung and composed and put into music himself except for one. The names include "Abar dekha hole", "Ekta coffee house", "Tandra jorano do chokhey shondhar karukaj", "Bhalo bhasha bole kakey bole", "Shondha" which is a pure experiment, based on "raag" "bagesri" where "tabla' is used and is a combination of questions and answers. This is often seen in eastern dancing such as "katthak". Bappa Mojumdar and Manam Ahmed (from "Miles") have arranged the music. Acoustic drums, electric guitar, keyboard, "tabla", acoustic flute etc. have been used in this. The album also contains the famous song "Shono dekbo boley" by Mousumi Bhumik of India.