Written by: Subboh Jaffery
Posted on: February 22, 2019 | 
Mehak Rashid
I had the pleasure of attending the Nautarang Platform on Saturday, 16th February, 2019. Organized by The All Pakistan Music Conference (APMC), and hosted by the Alliance Francaise de Karachi, the Nautarang Platform is a joint initiative working tirelessly to promote traditional, folk and classical music of Pakistan.
Founded in 1959, the All Pakistan Music Conference (APMC) is a non-profit organization, with a vision to develop a rich culture around the classical arts, while fostering a community that truly appreciates classical art forms, primarily music. Alliance Francaise de Karachi is a non-profit cultural center, run under the umbrella of Foundation Alliance Francaise, aiming to introduce French culture to local audiences, and also support local culture in a way that appreciates diversity and opens doors to cultural inclusion.
The Nautarang Platform serves to provide students of distinguished mentors of classical music from all over Pakistan, with a platform to perform, get noticed and improve as musicians and performers. It provides people with a place to interact with these very talented musicians, and to experience the musical sounds from all over Pakistan. The regional sounds of Pakistan are all quite distinct, with different styles of singing and diverse instruments, each with a history of its own. With the breakthrough of more contemporary styles of music, these folk sounds have lost their way. While instruments like the tabla, the dholak, and the harmonium are more mainstream, instruments like the sarangi, the sarod and the santoor have not been experienced by the urban consumer. Events and platforms like these not only recognize such music, but also help it find its way to the masses, consequently giving these musicians the confidence to grow.
The event was well organized, with an audience of around sixty individuals, dominated by elderly people. Under Nautarang, different mentors and institutes nominate their students to perform and represent them. All performances are by students who are still under training. Often, these young artists are performing for the first time before an audience. In this event, students of mentors Ustad Mumtaz Sabzai and Ustad Ghulam Khusro were performing. After the formalities, the host went on to invite the first musician of the day onstage, the talented young Mehak Rashid. Although Mehak is blind, her sense of sound is astounding to say the least. I’d heard that individuals who suffer from a loss of one sense, make up for it with exceptional ability in other senses, and Mehak proved that right with her beautiful singing. On the sound of the tabla and harmonium, Mehak sang a ghazal which left the entire audience lost for words. To show their appreciation, they gave her a standing ovation.
Yasir Raees and Noor Khan
The next performers were a group of very talented young men from Balochistan. During this performance, I was exposed to the folk instrument, benjo, for the first time ever. Invented in Balochistan, in the year 1919, by the Khusro family, this instrument has been a part of their music ever since. It’s a string based instrument with tiles used to create different sounds. As I watched it being played, the complexity of plucking different strings and tapping on the tiles at the same time struck me, but it ended up producing an unusual folk sound. The benjo, grouped with the dholak, the tabla, the santoor and the harmonium, created the background music that Yasir Raees & Noor Khan Zaheer sang to. Even though I didn’t enjoy the singing as much due to the limited vocal ability of the singers and a lack of coherence in the melody, it must be recognized that these are students who still have a long way to go in their musical careers.
Pakistan has some sensational folk and classical music, with the likes of singers such as Reshma, Mehdi Hasan, Pathanay Khan and in more recent times, Sanam Marvi. When you try to understand the complexities and the evolution of classical music, you really come to appreciate it. It’s heartbreaking to see the younger generations lose their taste for classical and folk music, and I’m glad organizations such as APMC and Alliance Francaise are working to promote and celebrate our wonderful music.
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