Rock and sufi come together

The Capital is considered a cultural melting pot where music, dance, art and other creative forms collide effortlessly. The city also has an audience that is all ears to listen to experimental musical genres.

The Capital is considered a cultural melting pot where music, dance, art and other creative forms collide effortlessly. The city also has an audience that is all ears to listen to experimental musical genres.

A similar experiment in music will be on display in the city, as Bhakti Sangeet, an event organised by Sahitya Kala Parishad, will aim to showcase devotional music, albeit in a contemporary way. In it’s ninth edition, the three-day event will include performances by varied artists including Delhi-based band, Astitva, musician and composer Vidya Shah, singer Hans Raj Hans, and Pakistan-based sufi singer Sanam Marvi. The showcase will include Buddhist chanting, a performance which will constitute Kashmiri bhakti traditions and rendition of poet Kabir’s verses.

Vidya, who will be performing on the first day of the event, says, “This music for me is about the lyrics, the word. The themes that Bhakti addresses have a universality and appeal that is still relevant in today’s time. This, combined with music and rhythm makes it very appealing to people. I will be singing Nirgun Repertoire. I enjoy it very much, passionately so, because it rests on metaphor, on ideologies and values of peace, of a humanity that we should not ignore.”

Sufi-singer-Hans-Raj-Hans

Zaman Khan, lead guitarist and vocalist of Astitva band, says, “We have seen love for music growing in Delhi, across all age groups. From youngsters to the elderly, everybody has a different taste but the soul remains the same — love for music. From ghazals to bhakti sangeet, from sufiana andaaz to rock, music keeps everybody bound together. It’s always a pleasure to perform here.”