One of my most fruitful archeological endeavors was sparked by an observation by a friend that for all the hours upon hours of Qawwali recordings we’ve managed to collect, we still have only managed to unearth recordings by two (or very rarely three) generations of Qawwals. The recordings from older Qawwals have either disappeared under [...]

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Qawwali, like every other field, is dominated by giants. There’s half a dozen or more names that are known to every Qawwali listener, and even to most lay-listeners. Mention the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the Sabri Brothers, Aziz Mian Qawwal or Munshi Raziuddin Ahmed and you’re bound to be met with nods of recognition [...]

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If I had a penny for every time someone’s asked me variations on the following sequence of questions, I’d be a millionaire by now. The questions being… “Where are you going ?” “Data Darbar” “Why?” Rumors run rife among my friends and family as to what can my reasons be for frequenting Sufi shrines and [...]

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A window into the surreal place I currently call home . Conversation 1:W. Doctor sahab, yeh aap ke laptop ke wallpaper pe kis ki photo hai?Me. Woody Guthrie.W. Woh kaun hai?Me. Singer tha ek.W. Accha .. Doctor sahab, mere laptop pe bhi ek singer ka wallpaper hai.Me. Accha, kaun ? W. Justin Bieber.  …………………………………………………………………………….. Conversation [...]

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What follows is a series of small erm, discourses on anumber of topics that interested me but weren’t deemed suitable for furtherelaboration because, let’s face it, I’m the laziest fella this side of theIndus. They don’t have a common thread running through them and have beenhastily jotted down as I unpack my bags after heading [...]

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In my five years of surreptitiously visiting and then a year and a half of actually living in Lahore, I had pretty much defined what were, for want of a better phrase , my ‘places of interest’. Now that I’ve returned to square one in that my status has reverted from resident to occasional visitor, [...]

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2012 is here. A new year calls for New Year’s resolutions. Instead of making my own (lazy bum that I am) I figured I’d borrow some from the king of the troubadours, Mr. Woody Guthrie. All things considered, it’s the finest set of rules-to-live-by since the Ten Commandments. Happy New Year everyone !! Woody Guthrie’s [...]

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The year that started with so much promise is ending on the worst possible note. The untimely death of my Mamoo, followed in the next few days by two more untimely and violent deaths in the family has left everyone close to me in a state of profound shock and grief. We’ve all gone through [...]

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