Khuda Hafiz Shaukat Ali !
I was stationed as Producer in Radio Pakistan Lahore those days and assigned a weekly magazine Programme titled ‘Lahore Kisauti Tasveer’ (Audio visual of Lahore); a weekly assemblage of various socio-cultural events around town, when in the Spring of the year 1963 Khalid Abbas Dar called me to inform that a budding singer was to perform at the annual Engineering College Moghalpura, concert the following day.
In the hunt that I was for such events all the time, I got my EMI portable Tape Recorder ready on the day and reached the Campus to anchor alongside the Public Address microphone on the stage.
As the Master of ceremony introduced a young singer I saw a very lean figure of a teenager walk up the stage and make his stunning voice reverberate over the loudspeakers, making the crowd break into a spontaneous thunderous applause holding the audience spellbound.
It ran a shudder in my spine as Shaukat Ali’s voice emerged with such force from the slender frame starting in top gear resonating the words “Tu ne dekhi hi nahin garmi-e-rukhsaar-hayaat, mein ne is aag mein jaltay huay dil dekhay hain’, and then smoothly transcending into melancholy matching the words ‘Soz-e-gham de ke mujhay uss ne yeh irshaadkiya, ja tujhay kashmakash-e-dehr se azaad kiya.’
Only months earlier, Bekaner India-born Reshma had been discovered from the Pakistani side of the desert by Saleem Geelani; a renowned music buff and veteran of Radio Pakistan who had introduced her through an Alhamra Arts Council concert and subsequently stormed Radio, Television and the film world.
I was so much taken in by Shaukat’s performance that I couldn’t help making an analogy in my National Hook-up episode of the Magazine Program featuring discovery of another teenage singer in whose eulogy my vocabulary ran riot.
So enamoured and gratified was Shaukat Ali after this introduction, that he made it a point to honour me with his voluntary performances at occasions where ever I was stationed; Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad, without ever charging me anything.
As I reminded him later of his gesture, he laughed it off by telling me that unlike tons of money being offered and pocketed by pop singers those days, he grew up performing when his audience and sponsors would pay him back only with a bit of praise and thanks; and that my household was special to him as he found his identity through me, which he would never forget.
Although Shaukat Ali came to be known for his folk singing, devotional and patriotic songs which have warmed many a hearts, he was equally gifted in rendition of ghazal, which actually introduced him to the singing world.
Among his earlier ghazal offerings, was Siraj Aurangabadi’s ‘Khabar-e-tahayyur-e-Ishq sunn na junoon raha na pari rahee’, rendered in an extremely soothing and engaging tune which I personally consider one of his best ghazal renditions.
Strangely, though Shaukat entertained his fans with a bouquet of all three formats in his concerts, he invariably only took to the folk, devotional and patriotic domain whenever he appeared in the media; putting ghazal singing on the back burner.
A few might know that he invariably wrote his own lyrics, which is a rarity among vocalists.
Excelling in writing and rendering in his mother language Punjabi, his prominent renditions include ‘Kanwaan, kanwaan- maan jannat da parchchanwan’; a heart-rending tribute to the sublime relation of the mother, of which I have found no parallel in content and emotion on the subject, besides ‘kyun dur dur rehnday o huzoor meray kolon’, ‘Chchalla’ ‘Jagga’ ‘HeerWaris Shah’ and the immortalized rendition of Mian Mohammad Bakhsh’s Saiful Muluk in his unique personal style ‘Dushman marray te khushi na karye sajnan v marr jana’ which became his identity for the rest of his life.
His song ‘Kadite hass bolvay’ which he both wrote and rendered became so popular that Indian film ‘Love Aajkal’ was obliged to use it lending credence to the proverb that music had no boundaries.
Shaukat; jealously wedded to the roots of his motherland which honoured him with national awards as he fought his way to stardom, was widely travelled featuring in jam-packed concerts with his fans and audience especially in Britain, Canada and the US where an hour-long documentary on his life and musical contribution was produced; sadly none by anyone in Pakistan including the Lok Virsa which is supposed to be the treasure house of Pakistan’s folk culture.
Shaukat’s voice range in the upper octaves was so masterly that most high note portions in his duo renditions were allotted to him which he rendered with infinite ease, verve and energy, such as the heart-warming patriotic song ‘Saathio mujahido jag uththa hai sara watan’ which he sang together with the top songster Masood Rana those days reflecting the mood of the nation during the 1965 War with India.
With Shaukat’s departure like all of us fallible creatures, as a chapter comes to a close, unlike other contributors in life who we tend to forget as time goes by, performers like him live down the memory lane till eternity like Reshma, Alam Lohar, Tufail Niazi, Allan Faqir and Pathaney Khan, whose songs continue to enrich our personal treasures as well as the ever-evolving media.
I am sure that his three illustrious sons; among whom I have had the occasion to meet along with him in his house only the eldest when he was a small kid, would keep the torch of music alive as a continuing tribute to their legendary father.
I for one, who had for quite some time lost touch with Shaukat particularly after my retirement; as worldly vagaries cost me fond linkages, will never be able to forgive myself because the loss was entirely mine.
I hope nevertheless that if he is listening in the heavens he will forgive me as I look to continue re-living our moments together through his music here. Khuda Hafiz Shaukat!
—The writer is a media professional, member of Pioneering team of PTV and a veteran ex Director Programmes.
