HYDERABAD : Women are not allowed to sing inside dargahs, and that is why, Shahnaz Khanum sits outside the Hussain Shah Ali Dargah in Shaikpet with her harmonium. Since she finds keeping the pallu of her sari fixed on her head a bit irksome, she ties a green cloth around her head. She sings outside the dargah on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. She is always dressed in green when she performs.
It is unusual to see a woman who sings qawwalis. The mutawalli of the dargah informs that she was once allowed to sing inside the dargah, but had to be relocated when devotees raised objections.Now 65, Shahnaz speaks in a low, husky voice about the days she used to perform inside the dargah with her husband. It has been 23 years since her husband passed away and the family, which is full of accomplished singers, now lives hand to mouth.
“I was married at 11, and had my first child at 12. My husband and I belong to a family of singers. I never went to school, but started singing in Telugu, Urdu, Hindi, Marathi and even Tamil from a young age. My mother was my teacher and she used to teach me ghazals. She was a big fan of Begum Akhtar. My husband used to play many musical instruments including the tabla and harmonium. My association with this dargah goes back 40 years. In those days, we used to live beside the dargah so that we could perform here.”
When asked to sing her favourite qawwali, she deftly runs her bony fingers on the harmonium and breaks into the famous, ‘Mere Dil Mein Hain Yaad-e-Mohammed.’ Her voice has pathos and she is a tad out of breath. But again, she has been sitting outside in the summer sun for the last three hours.
Shahnaz continues reminiscing about the good old days and says, “Earlier, there used to be many qawwali competitions in which both men and women used to take part. I used to travel to various parts of South India to take part in these soirees. But now, these gatherings are not held often. Also, I had to stop performing after my husband’s death. I earn anything between `200– 600 per day. I need to do this for my grandchildren. One of them has haemophilia and she needs an injection that costs `6,000 every month.”
Her son, Qadir Ayaazi, sings qawwalis, ghazals and bhajans. He performs with his two brothers in various dargahs, and has also sung bhajans for Satyanarayana puja. He laments that getting work in the age of YouTube channels has become a Herculean task. “We do not know how to record and upload our performances. For recording, we need a studio and equipment which are costly. That is why, we do not have much visibility. Also, the competition is intense. There are plenty of other parties who agree to perform taking half the amount we charge. At the end of the day, we earn a pittance.”
Picking the thread of words from her son, Shahnaz says, “This vidya is of no use if there is no backing or platform. My dream is to educate all my grandchildren so that they can come out of this cycle of penury.”
If you want to help/contact Shahnaz for any programme, you can reach her at 9849365164.
kakoli_mukherjee@newindianexpress.com @KakoliMukherje2