Rehmat-e-Nusrat acting at Royal Opera Home in Mumbai
| Photograph Credit score: Particular Association
Typically tribute bands and impersonators have a following of their very own. Their success lies of their skill to maintain the reminiscence and flavour of the unique alive. So it’s with Rehmat-e-Nusrat, a gaggle hailing from the Kumaon hills in Uttarakhand, which specialises in Pakistani legend Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s songs.
At their first public present, a sold-out one at Royal Opera Home in Mumbai final month, the group confirmed its pure aptitude for sufiana kalams. The primary track went on for 25 minutes, but the viewers remained attentive. Many had been accustomed to the Sufi composition ‘Allah hoo’, popularised by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. They loved the way in which it was offered by Rehmat-e-Nusrat — hovering vocals, energetic refrain, melodic harmonium and highly effective tabla accompaniment and rhythmic handclaps.
Although the period was two hours, Sarvjeet and his group (Sanjay Kumar on the tabla, and Rohit Saxena, Shubham Mathpal, Anubhav Singh and Deepak Kumar on backing vocals and claps) carried out for 3 and a half hours and not using a break, with majority of the viewers staying on until the tip. ‘Allah Hoo’ was adopted by the well-known ‘Ae ri sakhi ‘, written by the good mystic Amir Khusro, and the Nirguni bhajan ‘Bhala hua mori ghagri phooti’. When the group rendered the devotional ‘Sanson ki mala’, it was greeted with rapturous applause. ‘Yeh jo halka halka suroor hai’ lasted half-hour however the fervour by no means diminished. Rehmat-e-Nusrat concluded with Khusro’s timeless ‘Chaap tilak’.
Signed up by Delhi-based Amarrass Information, the group has carried out repeatedly in Delhi and Bengaluru, apart from the Jaipur Literature Competition and Ziro Competition of Music in Arunachal Pradesh.
Apparently, the identical group sings Kumaoni people melodies beneath the identify HimaliMou.
Sarvjeet and his group additionally sing Kumaoni people melodies beneath the identify ‘HimaliMou’
| Photograph Credit score:
Particular Association
Sarvjeet hails from Almoda, north of Nainital in Uttarakhand, and was uncovered to plenty of Kumaoni and Nepali music. His father was a authorities trainer who performed harmonium as a pastime. The teenager started singing early, and gained many college competitions. The turning level got here when he heard a recording of Nusrat’s ‘Sannu ek pal chain na aawe’. He recollects, “I should have been 14 or 15 then, and my first impulse was to observe Nusrat ji’s carry out dwell. It got here as a shock after I discovered he handed away in 1997.”
Sarvjeet spent just a few years studying on his personal the qawwalis by Nusrat and the Wadali Brothers. He says he realised the significance of imbibing the nuances of poetry and diction, and in addition familarising himself with ragas. “That you must know the that means of the phrases, and specific them with the appropriate emotion,” he provides.
His father needed him to turn out to be an aeronautical engineer, however at 16, the younger singer determined to go away residence and educate music and artwork in Pantnagar. Later, he travelled round to satisfy singer Pooran Chand Wadali and Manganiyar artiste Fakira Khan. He fashioned Rehmat-e-Nusrat in 2014, selecting proficient and passionate kids, but it surely took them six years to be recognised.
When Ashutosh Sharma of Amarrass Information met Sarvjeet, he thought the group would solely do people music. He was shocked their major focus was qawwali. Moreover reveals, they’re related to the Amarrass Musical Excursions.
In distinction to the sheer vitality of Rehmat-e-Nusrat, the music of HimaliMou is extra restrained . It options Kumaoni hill songs generally known as jhoda (songs for working lessons), niyoli (songs of separation) and chapeli (tunes for dancing). The harmonium and several types of wood flute present the melodic accompaniment, and the dholak and hudka hand drums present the rhythm, together with handclaps.
Whether or not it’s qawwali or people music, Sarvjeet believes in sustaining purity of custom.
Revealed – September 30, 2024 03:28 pm IST
