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Shan Ali Shah

18110023
SS 137
Assignment # 1

The artist I chose to listen for my assignment needs no introduction. Famously known as ‘The
kind of Ghazal’ or ‘The Shehanshah e Ghazal’, Mehdi Hasan is known by almost every South
Asian music enthusiast. I remember listening to his Ghazals at a very young age when I used to
travel with my father because my father loved Mehdi Hasan so much that he won’t let us to play
anything else on the car stereo. After many years, I again have the opportunity to not only listen
but also reflect on the voice of our legendary artist.
The first ghazal I played by Mehdi Hasan was written by Ahmed Faraz and composed by Nisar
Hussain in ‘Raag Yaman’ called, ‘Ranjish hi sahi, Dil hi dukhaane kay liye aa’. The ghazal starts
with beautiful sounds of harmonium and Sir Mehdi Hasan singing Raag Yaman swaras, ‘Ma,
Dha, Ne..’. That alone, is enough to bring any individual to the groove of classical music. It not
only gives a perfect introduction to the ghazal, but also changes the state of mind of the listener
to a more soothing and yet steady feelings that makes one wonder what is to come next. As soon
he starts singing the words of Ahmed Faraz, one can naturally feel the belongingness of oneself
in his voice. Not only the pitch, taal, laya and all the technicalities fall in perfectly together, but
they also work perfectly with the words. The words, assisted by the beautiful sounds, present a
mix of emotions. They involve sadness, pain and hope at the same time. The music is like a free
field where the listener can follow where his/her thoughts are leading to. In the video where Sir
Mehdi Hasan can be seen performing live, it can be seen that not just the audience, but also
Mehdi Hasan himself is indulged into the ecstatic experience of singing this ghazal. His eyes
would close to sing the raag and he would captivate the essence of this raag completely. As a
listener, you can feel the delight, the emotion and the amusement the words and the raag
provides. The ghazal was brought to conclusion by giving the perfect end to the tempo that was
set throughout and by the appreciation from the audience for the majestic Mehdi Hasan.
Even though Raag Yaman is known as evening raag, but after listening to Mehdi Hasan, I
believe his raag yaman is beyond the times of the day. The listening experience was not only
beautiful, but it also explains why there is a need to reintroduce our legends to the generation of
today. By reintroducing, I don’t mean that contemporary artists should make covers of this
masterpiece. I can’t imagine this ghazal to be sung in any other way and stay as perfect as this.
Therefore, our youth and millennials need to know that we have legends other than Nusrat Fateh
Ali Khan and Abida Parveen and they should rediscover the gems as now they are easily
accessible on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB6QUm6zXmw

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