INDIA: Kashmir searches for its lost Sufi music

Amid the daily roar of gunfire and grenades, there's something new in Kashmiri's aura these days - music. The strains of the 500-year-old musical form, drawn from the rituals and teachings of the Sufis or Muslim mystics, have been drowned in the 17-year separatist conflict in one of the world's most beautiful regions, claimed by both India and Pakistan. Teachers fled the area because of the violence and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, which sought to restrict Kashmiris from pursuing art and replace its gentle Sufi traditions. But a few Kashmiri musicologists are now trying to revive the tradition, look for surviving artists in far flung villages and try to recover a lost tradition of music. Teenagers, including girls, cradling ancient Kashmiri string instruments and notebooks, listen in rapt attention to teacher Mohammad Yaqoob Sheikh play Kashmir's classical music. They are his prodigies, devouts of their Guru and learning in earnest a tradition Sheikh has been struggling to preserve. "During the dark days I used to hold classes at my home only, now I hold classes till 9 pm but at that time it used to be only till 6 pm ----if somebody wanted to practice for two hours, they could only manage 15 minutes so there were many such problems. But slowly things have improved. Today I sit till 9 pm and if the situation improved we will do more, a lot of children want to learn, we will do much better," says the 45-year-old musician. Sufism is a gentle Muslim way of life preached by Sufi saints in Kashmir, which was known for its scenic beauty, Sufi poets and religious tolerance before the rebellion broke out in late 1989 in which more than 45,000 people have died. Sufi music and its mystic dance were brought to the idyllic Himalayan valley from Central Asia in the 15th century. Many musicians still sing Persian poems. But some instruments also face extinction and experts say that Sufyana Mosaqi, a style of choral music performed by five to 10 musicians, has already lost 130 out of the 180 "ragas" or melodies referred to in ancient scripts. The dhokra, an antique Kashmiri drum, has been replaced by the Indian tabla instrument. Very few players are left to string the Saz-e-Kashmir, a violin-like instrument. The other instruments used for performing Sufyana are the stringed santoor and Kashmiri sitar. But latching onto it by its last string, Sheikh and his likes determined to revive the art … "My only work is to keep this Music alive. My grandfather, my Guru had the same dream. We must keep this…our tradition, alive. Insh allah (By the grace of Allah) I am 100 percent sure that I am succeeding. Come what may I will keep it working towards my goal and if more people join in, more hands moves towards me…it will great," Sheikh said. His undying enthusiasm has found support amid the region's youth and increasing number of them, especially girls, are returning to the serenity of their ancestral Music. Kashmir has been inching back to normalcy and lost arts and hobbies and a keen sense to get back to a culture they had fast begun forgetting. "I chose this Music because it is our culture, it is the identity of Kashmir…Sufiyana Mosaqi and this is why I chose it. I found it be so simple and pure….I have not found it in any other music," said Taslima, a student of Sufiana Mosaqi. Also lost is the once-celebrated Hafiza dance associated with the Sufyana Mosaqi. A solo female dance, the Hafiza expresses the meaning of poems sung by musicians through delicate postures and gliding steps similar to the Kathak dance tradition in northern India. The popular Hafiza dance was performed by Kashmiri women to the accompaniment of Sufyana Kalam or spiritual poetry, but musicians say Hafizas or female dancers disappeared from the scene in the 1940s after some were linked with prostitution. Ironically, while Sufi music is struggling for survival in Kashmir, its popularity is growing elsewhere in India. A popular Punjabi singer, Rabbi Shergill's album with a distinctive Sufi touch has been one of the biggest sellers in recent times and Sufi music festivals with international singers from Pakistan and Iran are big draws. Some Kashmiris say the Indian government has deliberately sought to snuff out their culture. At the end of British rule in 1947, Indian rulers took over the Himalayan region, when a Hindu king of then independent Jammu and Kashmir state acceded to India in return for military aid. But government officials said they were committed to preserving Kashmir's rich cultural traditions, the country's only Muslim-majority state.

ITN Source | July 21, 2006

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