In a world where even classical musicians’ offsprings are moving Westwards, Kavita Seth is on the mission to spread the mystical charm of Sufism. Her maiden album, Sufiana, has been raking in appreciation.
Kavita Seth is delighted that her Times Music album worked out so well both in content and its release. “We released the album at the 800-year-old Khaman Pir Ka Dargah in Lucknow at the hands of the actual maulanas there,” she says excitedly. “Before this I had multi-city concerts in India and abroad.”
Kavita reveals that Maulana Rumi, on whose verse the album is based on, was probably the most eminent poet in the Sufi school and remains the best-selling one over eight centuries. “The UNESCO has declared 2007 as the Year Of The Poet in memory of the 800th birth anniversary of the Maulana, and back home Muzaffar Ali is planning a film on him in Delhi,” she says. “Maulana Rumi wrote Persian ghazals and it is said that he loved playing the rabab and the flute.”
Kavita has read a lot of Rumi and is spellbound by his intensity. “I know Persian well as I used to work at the Iran Culture House many years ago. And I wanted to do this album for a good while. It is my great privilege that though I have been performing now for years my first-ever album is on this great poet’s work.”
Obviously needing a wider connect with the audience and listeners, Kavita felt the need for translating the treasury of in-depth thoughts and their expression into simple Hindi and Urdu. “Here again I was lucky,” smiles the lady. “I met Syed Ali, a poet who is himself not enamoured by worldly trappings in a dargah. He translated a lot of his songs for me and I have also included a beautiful original song of his in the album, which has been receiving a lot of appreciation. I have selected the tracks here based on the response I got while singing them in my concerts.”
As an example, she mentions a couplet in one of the songs,
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n “Hazaaron saal nargis aap be-noori pe roti hai
n Badi mushkil se hota hai deedaawar paida.”
(The woman lamented her misfortune for thousands of years
For it’s with great difficulty that a deliverer takes birth)
Kavita has herself composed the music, and Yaar mera has a special place in her heart among the tracks. But why did she have to sing a ‘me-too’ version of Damadam mast qalandar in the album? Kavita smiles and says that it was the music label that wanted this all-time popular track.
The singer-composer is known to film music buffs for her popular songs for Satish Kaushik’s Vaada (Maula) and Anurag Basu’s Gangster (Mujhe mat roko). So when will we hear her again in films? “When I get something as dear to me as these two songs,”she replies.
Till then, it is Mission Sufi.
The article appeared in Screen India on 4th Jan 2008
1 comment:
Kavita`s voice seems to be traversing the cosmos and seems reverberating into eternity. He compositions are catchy and hummable. I cannot howere resist mentioning that the song "piya piya" reminded me of the strains of an old qawwali from a film of yesterdays which began ...Qismat hamare saath hai jalne wale jal karein... The similarity may be unintentional but it is there> I wish it could have been avoided.
Another word of caution for Kavita, she has to be careful in choosing lyrics when it comes to Sufi poetry. Instead on picking on N`aat or Hamd form of poetry, she can draw from the rich repertoir of kalam of Sufis like Baba Bulleh Shah, Sah Hussain, Sarmad, Baba Fareed, Kabir and the ones like Amir Khusro. Their poetry brings out the yearning of the poet for his master, who is at the sam etime his beloved in whom he wishes to merge his identity breaking all barriers of caste, creed religion and rituals.For her reference I am quoting here a DOHRA of Sachhal Sarmast which so eloquently bringS out the nuances of the devotion of this divine seeker. He says:
NA MEIN KEETA KHADKA TASBIH DA
ATE NA MEIN ZEHAD, IBADAT
NA MEIN ZER ZABAR DA KEETA
NA MEIN TAKWA TAA`AT
SACHHAL DA THIYA BAKHT SAWAYA
JO KEETI ISHQ AMANAT.
Kavita`s dedication to music reaches the fringes of the divine. Ia msure she will soon amke a mark herself in the fraternity of great singers.
Jagdish
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