Saagar- The High Tide That Refuses To Ebb

“For East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet…”- wrote Rudyard Kipling in his Ballad of the East and West-maybe because he never got a chance to listen to Fuzon’s  Saagar- the perfect example of the east and west reaching out, and embracing each other .A perfect blend of two styles, the coming together of two very different musical traditions, to create something so unique and magical that it satiated music lovers in a way like never before

“Still listening to this in 2012”- reads a YouTube comment on the song Aankhon ke Sagar from this album; and it was this comment that inspired this post. In this day and age pop albums in the subcontinent are hardly getting produced, and even if they are, they have a very short shelf life and are easily forgotten, for they have to compete with a monster of a song factory called Bollywood.

What is it then that makes Saagar sound so fresh, so endearing till date, a decade after its release? An intriguing question, indeed, and I had to search the answer.

Beautiful compositions, for starters, which combine the delicate nuances of the Hindustani classical with the energy of western sounds and beats… Easy to remember, catchy lyrics, which talk of the universal themes of friendship, love, romance, separation, yearning, pain …

But above all a voice- the voice so pure that it connects its listeners to the emotions of the songs instantly. A voice so strong that it takes over your being and transports you to another world altogether. It feels more than it sings, and brings the music not just to your ears but straight to the heart.

The voice of Shafqat Amanat Ali!

Here I pick my top 5 favorites from the album that I just cannot get over.

1. Khamaj- The Heart Calls Out..

“Beautiful heart-rending song, it almost touches the soul with its bare hands”

- a YouTube comment

If I had to hear one last song before I died, this would be the one! The melancholy, the longing and a kind of resignation, too… For the world, it might be the lament of a lover, for me it is a call to the divine-the desperation of a soul to meet its maker, an appeal to end the long wait before the two reunite! Titled after the beautiful raga that it is based on, this song in my opinion is synonymous with perfection…

2. Aankhon ke Saagar- The Ultimate romance!

“I could elope with his voice” – A Shafqat fan, on twitter

This song is every woman’s dream come true-The impassioned urge of a lover in a voice that sounds like that- what more could one ask for? And lines like-Palkon ko aise, Palkon se chchoo le…Ke jab dil mile, toh manzil mile” are simply to die for!                                                                                                                                                                      

3. Madhbanti – Yearnings of the night!

Another raga based composition, which brings to life the mood of the night. As night falls, and the shadows lengthen, the pain of separation seems to increase manifold

Purwa Chalay Kuch Aisi/Khushbu Teri Ho Jaisie

Sham Dhallay Kuch Aise/Palkain Jhukaye Tu Jaise

The wind blows such/ like your fragrance floats around

The night falls/ as if you slowly lower your gaze

4. Malhaar- Singing in the Rains!

My favorite season, one of my favorite ragas and my favorite for life singer… when they got together, I became hooked forever. I think I’ll be playing this song every monsoon season that I live to see.

5. Akhiyan- The first flush of love

The feeling of falling in love is incomparable- and the excitement, the attraction, the energy that it creates is beautifully captured in this folksy, fast paced number. The passion, the power and the pace makes you want to tap your feet and dance to it even today!

It’s hard to sum up how I feel about this album- but a line borrowed from a music review of the album does some justice to my reaction to it- the first time that I heard it and every time that I hear it…

“Fuzon's vocalist Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan, one of Pakistan's most distinguished classical pop vocalists, is at his very best... a formidable achievement, every glorious second of it.”

Malhaar -The Music of the Monsoons

The monsoons arrive every year but I can never get tired of waiting for them each time. The fragrance of the damp earth after the first showers, the mystery of the dark overcast skies, the flash of lightening followed by that short moment of anticipation before the thunder rumbles and echoes above, raindrops gliding off the leaf blades of ecstatic plants that seem to be dancing in the rain- ever so grateful for the pouring heavens from above- the magic of the rains could ever cease to amaze me!

No wonder then, that for centuries poets have been inspired by this magical season in our part of the world. Some have talked about the romance of it and some are overwhelmed by its sheer beauty.  There are some for whom the monsoons are a reminder of the power and glory of the creator and that also fills them with a certain kind of grief of being separated from the supreme and a longing to be one with Him. Tulsidas says –

“Ghan ghamand nabh gartjat ghora/ piya heen tarpat man mora”

The thunder echoes in the overcast sky/while my heart pines for my dear one….

Raindrops often become an analogy for the tears of “virah” or separation. Like Surdas wrote:

“Nisdin barsat nain hamare/Sada rahat pavas ritu hum par/Jabse Shyam sidhare

Tears flow constantly/like the never ending rains/ever since my beloved walked away

The rains have also inspired our music. The ragas of the Malhaar group are born form the parent Raga Megh and present different aspects of the rain. So we have, for example, the DhuliyaMalhaar that is about the start of the monsoons, when the first breeze carrying the rains blows over the parched lands marking the end of the dry summer.  And then there is Mian ki Malhaar, created by the maestro Tansen himself, which is inspired by the heavy downpour and the sonorous sounds of the thunder.

If there is any popular song of our times that captures the essence of the rains for me it has to be Shafqat Amanat Ali’s Malhaar from Fuzon’s album Sagar.

   

The powerful voice connects you to the Divine as it laments about the distance between the eternal lovers- the soul and the Supreme…

Raiin Na jaaye, ab din nahin aaye/ tum bin kucch nahin bhaaye

The long night refuses to end, the dawn never breaks/ Everything pales into insignificance, without you by my side

Barkha rut hai shor machaye/kahe yeh mujh pe yoon jal barsaye

Door ho tum mere pas nahin ho/koi use samjhaye ….

The downpour creates such a din/ why does it leave me drenched

You are so far away from me/ why doesn’t it understand

The wonderful blend of modern beats and rhythms makes the perfect package to present the timeless Malhar to the current generation. Just like the magic of the monsoons never fades away and remains a subject of fascination for people of all ages, our musical legacy- of the ancient, season-inspired ragas and such- will also continue to enthrall music lovers in all age and times. And we have artists like Shafqat Amanat Ali to thank for that.