Songs of Sindh: Why more Sindhi musicians are releasing songs in their language

Yovrsquove probably heard Mast Qalandar in more ways than one belted out at weddings looped in remixes or at a Sufi nightFirst written by Amir Khusrau in the 13th century with verses adapted later in the 18th century this qawwali has defined Sindhi music in the public imagination Another tune Ho Jamalo was written as a celebration song in 1889 and continues to be remixed into several Bollywood numbers and renditions by Sindhi artistsSindhis despite the turn of centuries have clung to these songs Postpartition icons like Ram Panjwani and Master Chander gave the community many poems and ghazals with Panjwani often playing the matka commonly used as an instrument in Sindh A host of other traditional Sindhi instruments did not manage to cross the borderAndheribased singer Vandana Nirankari says she began singing in Sindhi to preserve the language PicSatej ShindeDespite the communityrsquos love for music few originals have been produced after this period Recently a quiet shift has been occurring A new wave of artistes are revisiting Sindhi identity through a more personal contemporary lens and are using music to preserve language and also to reclaim their heritageDelhibased jazz and electronic musician Tarun Balanirsquos latest album Kadhain Milandasi is rooted in memory longing and identity The title is a poetic spin on Tadhain Milandasi Thatrsquos when we will meet a wellknown verse from Tiri Pawanda by iconic Sindhi poet Sheikh Ayaz whose work was once popularly sung by folk legend Allan FaqeerBalani changes the phrase to ask instead Kadhain Milandasi When will we meet Itrsquos both a question and a tribute to Sindh the homeland he never visited to Lajpat Nagar where he grew up among other Sindhis and to the grandfather he never met Predominantly instrumental the album is a journey that makes the listener ask the question through the tracks Itrsquos only when you encounter the title track that Balanirsquos voice gently lingers in the backgroundFor Balani the album is more personal ldquoBecause my grandfather KS Balani was a postmodern writer photographer and a painterrdquo he says Balani grew up with his grandfatherrsquos camera and photographs even as his family refused to speak of their grief after he passed away at the age of 40 at the peak of his career ldquoIt was only last year that I started to sort of investigate a little bit more about my own Sindhi identityrdquo says Balani of his quest which led to him creating the album Its cover art features his grandfatherrsquos photograph and the albumrsquos name in the Sindhi scriptEighthgeneration Sindhi singer Jatin Udasi adds simple words from spoken Sindhi and even a few English or Hindi words to his lyrics to attract a young audienceIn a similar fashion singersongwriter Vandana Nirankari began singing in Sindhi to preserve the language ldquoYou sing your ABCs thatrsquos why you have learnt it well Without them being sung we may not have remembered them wellrdquo she saysWith no training in singing she initially began singing devotional songs and later shifted to creating music in more modern genres to hook youngsters Her song Sik Mein released in 2019 features a bit of rap and has garnered 50 lakh views on YouTube It gave her the confidence she needed to continue onldquoWhen I started there was a problem of audience We had very little to no audience and the people that we had were above 3540 years of age who preferred Sufi ghazalsrdquo she says adding that to attract a younger audience she has taken iconic Sindhi numbers played during celebrations and weddings and created extended versions of them either with a bit of rap EDM rock or pop Her upcoming music will see afro house and synth But youngsters still find it difficult to grasp ldquoAfter the virality of Paiso Aa I think young Sindhis want to listen to Sindhi songs But they want to listen to something newrdquo she addsEighthgeneration Sindhi singer Jatin Udasi opines the same ldquoOld kalaams Sindhi poetry are difficult to understand Itrsquos why through a lot of my songs I westernise the Sindhi boli My audience also enjoys Bollywood covers translated into Sindhirdquo he saysUdasi whose genre is mostly pop has released originals like Sadke Wanya wedding songs like Dhoom Machi Aa and even taken a more devotional path with Lal Sain Beautiful He adds simple words from spoken Sindhi and even a few English or Hindi words to his lyrics to attract a young audienceA deep dive into Sindhi music will usually reveal themes of longing or you will find devotional songs or those themed around a wedding ldquoThemes of loss and longing are so fitting for a community that lost everything they are also strong themes in Sufi philosophy which Sindhi music largely draws fromrdquo explains writer researcher and oral historian Saaz AggarwalThere are some echoes of the traditional Sindhi music poetry and philosophy especially that of 18century Sindhi Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai that is reflected in todayrsquos musicldquoBhittairsquos words were sung to not just classical but also folk music across Sindh I have heard that ordinary people sang these words to simple tunes as they went about their work This form is known as lsquoWairsquo a kind of sung poetry where the power lies in the words melody and spiritual emotionsrdquo says Aggarwal adding ldquoShahrsquos philosophy entered the thoughts and minds of the people it was such an integral part of life in Sindh that it has routinely surfaced in the interviews I have conductedrdquoBhittairsquos Sur Sanrang mdash one of the 56 surs or ragas in the Shah Jo Risalo mdash which is associated with the monsoon season had also inspired Balanirsquos music themed around climate change Sindhi artists say there are many other challenges when it comes to creating originals Nirankari says ldquoThere is a lack of lyricists music directors and music producers Aspiring musicians are going towards Hindi or Punjabi music because that market is made So I think now we need artistes like usrdquoKumar Taurani managing director at Tips Music was instrumental in pushing Nirankari to create Sindhi originals and launch Tips Sindhi ldquoWe have done it for the love of our language and our culturerdquo he says And adds ldquoSindhi artistes are now directly releasing music on YouTube because no one supports them They get to perform only at events like the ones for Cheti Chand Sindhi new year nothing elserdquoTaurani is of the opinion that Sindhi artistes need to be more committed to the cause But he also thinks ldquoThe fault is the communityrsquos Youngsters donrsquot speak or know the language and culture because parents have not taught themrdquo ldquoSo far itrsquos only been in Sindh that the language is alive and thriving and young people continue to speak it even when they are quite westernised This is not true at present in Indiardquo says historian AggarwalSo why is the audience not intune with artistes or as Nirankari says is demanding originals only now ldquoIt was looked down upon to speak Sindhi I have come across people who have hidden that they are Sindhi When people mock your culture you tend to hide itrdquo says Jyoti Mulchandani who blogs at Sindhi Khazana Aggarwal adds ldquoYoung people hesitate to identify themselves as Sindhis because of the shallow stereotypes mdash tasteless moneymindedrdquoAfter the Partition for Sindhis survival was crucial So no one thought about luxuries like music ldquoMost Sindhi songs I listened to were because my father used to play them on the gramophone we owned This is roughly 2530 years after Indiarsquos independence So it shows that it took the community that much time to build themselves up enough to have a disposable income that would allow luxuries like a gramophonerdquo says MulchandaniAggarwal adds ldquoMost Sindhis in India donrsquot know about their cultural heritage This loss is sharply distinct and poignant when you look at the content from social media influencers on either side of the border In India they speak mockingly of cultural stereotypes while in Sindh the culture is precious and nurturedrdquoIn an attempt to shed stereotypes Balani created a video for the title track of his album ldquoA lot of my family members are wearing the Sindhi topi my mom is making koki This shows how despite displacement therersquos a quiet resilience in how wersquove held on to our language and our culturerdquo he saysSo does Sindhi music have any future Nirankari and Udasi believe it does and their YouTube views are proof Udasi adds ldquoThe crowd in most shows earlier would include 4045yearolds and barely 350400 people Now I see youngsters and I have sung in front of an audience thatrsquos 10000strong So therersquos changerdquo