Urdu poetry enthusiast Amitabh Baghel and Hindustani Classical vocalist Ghulam Siraj Khan Niazi enchanted the audiences with their performances at Chowmahalla Palace at a cultural event recently. CE speaks to these notable figures on classical performance art and literature
The captivating Chowmahalla Palace became even more exquisite as it played host to a cultural evening called “Izhaar,” featuring Urdu poetry enthusiast Amitabh Baghel and Hindustani classical vocalist Ustad Ghulam Siraj Niazi. The event was organised by RAGA, an initiative of the Vaaradhi Foundation, which is passionate about conserving and promoting classical, folk and rare performing arts of India. Headed by Dr Mohan Kanda, IAS (Retd) it has been engaged with the education departments and government schools in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The event was also supported by the Department of Language and Culture, Government of Telangana.
Amitabh Singh Baghel, a resident of Nainital, Uttarakhand, is an exhibited and published photographer, a poet and a social researcher. He started the Koshala Literature Festival in November 2022, the second edition of which is scheduled to be held from February 09-11, 2024. He founded the Aaghaz Poetry Movement, which aims to take poetry to the masses. His contributions to conserving and presenting Urdu poetry have been highly appreciated.
Talking about the Koshala festival, Baghel said, “Koshala was one of the 16 Mahajanapads during the Jain and the Buddhist period. You may have heard of Kashi, Vaishali and Takshila. Koshala was the region corresponding to Awadh, in present-day Ayodhya. This festival embodies the culture and geography of that region, the name itself.”
Last year’s festival hosted some popular names such as Farhat Ehsas, Ashwin Sanghi, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Shobhaa De and Devdutt Pattanaik to name a few. The upcoming edition plans to host authors John Zubrzycki and Gurcharan Das, actor Naseeruddin Shah, singer Malini Awasthi and more.
Despite holding ‘poetry-appreciation sessions’, Baghel does not consider himself a poet. “I read a lot of poetry that has been written by others. A shayar (poet) once said, ‘There are so many beautiful poets in the world that it’s a sin to write poetry,” he said. Among legends, his favourites are Ghalib, Makhdoom Mohiuddin, Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Majaz Lakhnawi.
At the event, Baghel presented poetic glimpses of Sahir Ludhianvi, Makhdoom Mohiuddin and Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah. He informed the audiences that Wali Dakhni was known as the father of Urdu poetry. He added that the poets of Deccan brought this courtly art to the common people. “I am an outsider among Urdu lovers. I read Urdu in Devanagari script. I wanted to make this abode of poetry accessible to those who cannot read Nastalikh. Hence, when this process of learning poetry began for me, I decided to spread it to others,” he said.
Baghel also founded The Talk Series this year, a shorter format of a literary festival where speakers are invited to discuss art, literature and culture.
Ustad Ghulam Siraj Niazi belongs to the Rampur-Sahaswan Gharana and is the grandson of the late Padma Bhushan Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan (the first recipient of the Padma Bhushan and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award), and the son of late Ustad Ghulam Husain Khan, a legendary Hindustani classical vocalist. Niazi is skilled in ‘Khayal Gayaki’, which highlights the systematic badhat of the raaga and graceful taans. He has been performing for the last three decades, all over India and abroad - particularly in South-East Asian countries and has been awarded numerous accolades. In the year 2007, he was invited to perform at the Rashtrapati Bhavan for former President, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. He has been based in Hong Kong for well over two decades.
On being asked about his views on classical music being supported by cinema, he said, “The art will get affected by the atmosphere in which it grows up as a child gets nourished by its environment. Our music is connected to cinema. Although I don’t say that the music is very good. It is a little bit dull. I would like to keep the old music as it is. This is because you don’t listen to everything. You like new clothes, new cars, and new houses but the value of music is enhanced as old as it gets. New music is good too but you forget it after listening to it for a week or two.”
He added that although fusion is good as it shows the creative side of the artistes, the essence of classical music is in its purity. However, with changing times, some changes have to be made to connect with the audiences. “I wish there is greater recognition of classical music and governments take initiatives to support the artistes. We get awards but financially, we all struggle,” he concluded.