So Ghulam Ali is reportedly upset with all the politics that is being played out in his name and has cancelled his concerts here and won’t be coming to India. This news should sound like a soul stirring ghazal to the ears of all those who’ve been hankering for a ‘ban’ on Pakistani artistes performing on Indian soil. They’ve probably succeeded in taking Ghulam Ali out of India, but can they take India out of Ghulam Ali?
First of all, the good news is that the Pakistani ghazal maestro will be back, he’s only waiting for the dust of partisan politics to settle down. Randhir Ranjan Roy of Ek Ehsaas Concerts, the man behind most of Ghulam Ali’s concerts in India, says that they’re already planning for shows to be held in February and March next year. “His popularity is such that if I announce a show today, by tomorrow I will have a full house”, Roy says. “It’s not just Mumbai, be it Pune, Delhi or Hyderabad, we always have a housefull show”, he adds.
And it’s been like that for decades. Pavan Jha fondly remembers a Ghulam Ali concert co-organised by his father in Kota in 1983.
“The concert was scheduled at 7pm in the evening, and Kota was not connected by air so Ghulam Ali saab was coming by car. Unfortunately his car breakdown on the way and he could not reach Kota till 11.30pm. I was one of the youngsters waiting to receive him at the guest house, but he was feeling so guilty about having come late that without much rest or even freshening up, he headed straight to the auditorium”, recalls Jha.
Even after a 4 hour delay, the audience in Kota had not moved an inch on that chilly winter night of January 16, 1983. They waited, not just because of the respect they had for him, but also because they knew it would be worth it.
“Once he started singing, the show went on till 4.30 am and it remains one of the most fantastic memories of my childhood”, says Jha. “He sang his hits, Dil Yeh Pagal Dil Mera... was very popular at the time, Nikaah’s Chupke Chupke was very popular back then, he also sang some of his new compositions there for the first time”, reveals Jha.
According to Roy, a certain amount of the ticket sales from Ghulam Ali’s concerts goes for charity, an initiative that’s been taken up after the demise of Jagjit Singh in 2011. “In Pune we did a show for an organisation that runs mid-day meal schemes, in Bangalore we did it for a Woman’s organisation and in Mumbai we did it for the Maharashtra Relief Fund”, says Roy.
For those who don’t know it, Ghulam Ali was named by his father, who was deeply inspired by India’s very own Hindustani classical vocalist, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. The popular ghazal singer was also a student of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and trained under him for several years.
Remembering one of Ghulam Ali’s last visits to India, Roy says, “We were supposed to perform in Hyderabad on 5th April, 2015, Ghulam Ali saab landed on 4th of April, Bade Ghulam Ali Saab’s kabr is in Hyderabad, so he said that I want to go over and pay my respects, and he sat there for an hour. He said that – what ever I am today is because of him.”
Roys is positive that the 74-year-old singer will be back to entertain his fans in India soon.
Meanwhile, Ghulam Ali might be trying to make sense of all the repeated brouhaha over his concerts by recontextualizing one of his most popular ghazals:
Hungama hai kyun barpa,
Thodi si jo pee li hai,
Daka toh nahin dala,
Chori toh nahin ki hai...
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