HYDERABAD: Come December 23, and the verses of a 12th century poet will reverberate in a gathering of Sufi music lovers. Participating in this tribute to Amir Khusrau will be Anita Singhvi, a ghazal and sufi singer who has performed in over 300 concerts all over the world.
Ahead of the festival Jashan-e-Khusrau to be held at Taj Deccan, Anita tells us her learning years and her love for Urdu and Persian. “This is a sufiyana evening. All the kalaams of Amir Khusrau will be sung, both Urdu and Persian. Most of the verses by Khusrau or Rumi are written in Persian, and understanding them helps me render them better. I was blessed to have started my training under the guidance of Pandit Khirsagar ji of Gwalior gharana.,” she says.
This versatile singer quit painting to concentrate on music solely. “Sufi music and ghazals are my forte. I have been trained to sing in the style of Begum Akhtar, who incidentally inspired me to take up ghazal singing,” she shares. She has recorded 125 ghazals on YouTube, and shares how she was drawn to Urdu. “Till I was 18, I was clueless about Urdu language, though I was trained in classical music. One day, I heard a ghazal by Begum Akhtar and I decided that I had to learn to sing like that lady. I happened to come across great gurus who trained me in genre.”
Speaking about the genius of Khusrau, Anita says: “He is the one who invented musical instruments like the tabla and sitar.” Saying that the essence of Sufism is love, Anita shares: “Sufism tells everyone to be a pakeezah (pure) soul. He must be in love with every vibration and being of this universe. You have to love all the creations of God, and religions have no role here.”
Explaining the difference between ghazals and Sufism, she says, “All things related to the love for human beings are included in ghazals, but Sufism talks about love with a higher being.”Anita, who does riyaaz for four-five hours every day, gives a very interesting example of using Sufism in everyday life to control pollution. She says: “If every person decides to keep his soul pure and love every aspect of nature, there is no way s/he will litter roads and rivers. Sufism teaches us to cleanse our hearts and our surroundings too.”
— Kakoli Mukherjee
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