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Last Friday was special. I always had the dream - and to watch as dreams unfold in front of your eyes is always special. Not many times in life we get the chance to be among the most privileged. I was on the said day. The ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali was to perform in Hyderabad, and there was nothing that could make me miss it. So I was there - well before time - waiting eagerly for the Master to take over as the accompanists tuned their instruments.

The sound was tested out and the evening started with his son singing two ghazals in his own composition. On a different day, I - and the crowd - might have liked them. But not on this one. People were there to listen to the God's own voice and they were not ready to settle for anything less. Soon, he took to the stage and - it seems he does not like to speak if the words are not set to tune - with a brief introduction started off with Ghalib's 'Har ek baat'. I sat awestruck for the next two and a half hours as he picked and served ten back to back gems from his endless treasure. Time stood still and all senses stood rapt in unison as Music sang itself on the stage in front.

The evening was sublime as only he could have made it. Interspersing his timeless ghazals with references about the poets, the underlying ragas and the meaning of difficult portions, the Ustad took us back to the days of poetic celebration and musical triumph. The best ghazals were presented in pure classical form - and one could never declare either words or the ragas victorius. It is this perfect blend that makes him inimitable. No one hums along in a Ghulam Ali concert, because no one knows what he is going to do next. You never know which notes in the five octaves he would use for a particular line - and that too with the same smiling face. I lose myself in trying to analyse how he manages to sing like that impromptu; ending up concluding that God has been highly partial and selfish when it came to making his own voice. So here are the songs he sang in sequence -

Har ek baat pe kehte ho ke tu kya hai
Tum hi kaho ye andaz-e-guftagu kya hai
- Mirza Ghalib

Bheed mein ek ajnabee ka saamna achha laga
Sabse chhup kar wo kisika dekhna achha laga
- Amjad Islam Amjad

Jab tasavvur mera chhupke se tujhe chhu aaye
Apni har saans se mujhko teri khusboo aaye
- Qateel Shifai

Ye baatein jhooti baatein hai, ye logo ne faylai hai
- Ibn-e-Inshaa

Ye dil ye paagal dil mera, kyun bujh gaya? Awaargi
Iss dasht mein ek shaher tha, wo kya hua? Awaargi
- Mohsin Naqvi

Mera shauq da nahin
- Punjabi ghazal translated from Ghalib's Persian ghazal.

Ni chambe diye band kaliye
- Punjabi geet

Dil mein ek laher si uthi hai abhi
Koi taazaa hawa chali hai abhi
- Nasir Qazmi

Chupke chupke raat din aansoon bahana yaad hai
Humko ab tak aashiqui ka wo zamana yaad hai
- Hasrat Mohani

Hungama hai kyun barpa thodi si jo pii lii hai
Daaka to nahi daala, chori to nahi kii hai
- Akbar Allahabadi.

As I mentioned just ten ghazals in two and a half hours and keeping the audience in awe is a feat that only Ghulam Ali can achieve. He sang each one of them perfectly - encouraging the musicians to take over in the interludes. When everyone shouted for Chupke Chupke, he calmly said 'Pehle ye suniye' and started off with the nazm 'Ye baatein jhooti baatein hai' - going to point out that it is actually a Muqaddas Ghazal, a unique form that has 5 lines to come back to the Sthaayii. And then did his usual variations of the word Laher in Dil mein ek Laher Si like only he can do. He created at least 20 waves - each different, difficult and sublimely divine. Again, you could actually visualise a lady rotating her bangle in when he sang - 'Kangan ghumana yaad hai'. When he said 'Tanhaiyaa' in Awaargi, he sounded as if he really wiped out all traces of life in front of him. He pointed out how the word 'Jahaan' is actually the start of the second line and why it is difficult to sing this couplet to convey the correct meaning of -

Logo bhala is shaher mein kaise jeeyenge hum? Jahaan
Ho jurm tanha sochna, lekin sazaa Awaargi.

All said, it was one evening that I am not going to forget.

A Rare Purchase

I don't usually visit music stores to get my music - and normally rely on MP3s and online music sites. Youtube has been a recent addition to my musical destinations. It is because of this site that I could witness Ghulam Ali and Mohd. Rafi singing live, and also could unearth some very rare Rafi gems like this one.

9 out of 10 songs I listen to are either by Rafi Sahab or by Ghulam Ali. I have formed a decent collection now - 500+ Rafi and 100 Ghulam Ali numbers. If you want to know more about them, do a simple search in google or look up the wikipedia entries for MR or GA.

Opinions may vary and everyone is entitled to one's preferences, but in my book Mohd. Rafi will remain the best playback singer ever and Ghulam Ali the best ghazal singer ever.

Coming back to what I started with, I don't visit music stores often. But whenever I amble into one, either with my friends or just to pass time, I browse the Ghazal and the Old Hindi sections. In one such recent visit to Planet M when I was in India in December, I chanced upon this double CD Ghulam Ali collection called Kohinoor. I decided to take it at once, solely because of this one ghazal spanning 23 minutes - Apni Tasveer Ko Aankhon Se Lagata Kya Hai. I am simply speechless each time I hear this one. Smooth, soft and elegant - the rendition leaves me wanting for more despite the unusually long duration. Vintage one.

Kohinoor also has Dost Bankar Bhi Nahi Saath Nibhanewala which is right up there in my favourite list, mainly because of its maqta -
Tum takalluf ko bhi ikhlaas samajhte ho 'Faraaz'
Dost hota nahi har hath milanewala.

takalluf = formality
ikhlaas = sincerity

I paired it off with a different CD by the Ustad - one on classical raagas. I do not have a critical assessment of the CD as I don't understand the Raagas and their intricacies. But I love listening to this album as well.