Music rings

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Kapurthala, Oct 30 (UNI) Barriers broke as 'Mallika-e-Ghazal' Pakistani musician Farida Khanum's ghazals along with Pandit Vishwa Mahan Bhatt's mesmerising Mohan Veena gripped and invigorated a discerning audience on the final day of the Kapurthala Heritage Festival.

As the ghazal queen sang one ghazal after the other last evening, the message was clear: Music rings clear above the din of political rhetoric and knows no boundaries.

"Music is like a bridge between the two countries. I am very happy and honoured to be performing in a place, which has a legacy in the classical music of Mir Maser Ahmed, a descendent of Miana Tansen. I thank you all from my heart," Khanum told her audience in Kapurthala waiting eagerly to listen to Pakistan's Nightingale.

The legendary singer entertained the audience with 'thumri', and ghazals and went on to sing the all-time favourite, 'Aaj Jaane ki jid Na Karo.' Besides other accolades, the renowned ghazal singer has won the Ustaad Haafiz Ali Khan Award and also the title of Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Pakistan's highest civilian honour, in 2004.

Roman philosopher Boethius once said that music is "so naturally united with us that we cannot be free from it even if we so desired". The same thought was echoed resoundingly by Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. To an internationally acclaimed 'Mohan Veena' player; audiences vary from the ones, who listen to music only to enjoy it and the others, who feel it and understand it.

The Grammy winner could not have asked for more. He got both kinds of audience as he performed at the festival held at the magnificent Sainik School, Kapurthala, which is inspired by the French palaces of Versailles and Fontainebleau. Pandit Bhatt left the audience breathless with 'Kesariya Balam Aao ni Padharo Mahare des", a Rajasthani composition.

"Music is one thing that easily binds two strangers and can create a rapport between them. Music appeals universally, it does not matter which instrument is used to play it," said Pandit Bhatt.

The two legends from the music world were here as part of the Fifth Kapurthala Heritage Festival, which aims to promote the rich heritage of an undivided Punjab though a large share of it today lies across the border in Pakistan.

Organised by the Punjab government and Kapurthala Heritage Trust in collaboration with the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), the festival saw performances from musicians like Santoor maestro Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Hindustani vocalist Pandit Channu Lal Misra, a celebrated member of the Banaras Gharana.

Music can go a long way in healing the scars of two nations left behind by perpetual animosity and mistrust and was evident as people from all walks of life enjoyed the concerts of Khanum and Pandit Bhatt.

The ethereal atmosphere at the venue situated in the city of the descendants of Tansen left no one in doubt that there can be no enjoyment more distant and transcending than what music can offer.

Music of this kind prepares the very soul for something higher.