In this modern age where love is the best escape mechanism
it sure has lost its lust and glamour. Losing its sole meaning and purpose,
people are often going in search for the one love they’ve been deficient of. And
for those who remotely have found the meaning of the emotion are often termed
“Filmy” or being “Cliché”. The Modern mantras being so pragmatic has definitely
made the sweetness of the emotion much more bitter. We, Living in the shallow
times of mankind where a person’s judged better upon the clothes over character
has made the entire love issue so much more tricky and confusing to judge.
The most influential way of expressing this emotion has been
Music. This has always stood as the strongest influential force through man’s evolution
reflecting his personality. After the pre-historic times of musical evolution,
the GHAZAL came as early as the 6th century in the form of Arabic
Poetry. Ghazals as per the dictionary are defined as a “Poetic form consisting
of rhyming couplets and a refrain”. To most people this is a form of poetry
expressing love or separation. Few others appreciate it as any other musical
genre. And for the rest of them screaming “Change the sad, boring song!” is for
whom this article goes out to. Ghazals have indeed been an unspoken language of
love.
Since it’s earliest origins, Ghazals have been a deep
intense reflection of Emotions. Despite being delivered to a limited audience,
the poetry knew how to cut through skin to deliver what it to with the help and
influence of Sufi Saints. After being introduced to South Asia, the language of
Ghazals diversified helping us understand and appreciate the beauty of this
poetry better.
Ghazals in India, were the first origins of the romantic
songs in both Classical and Film Music. It was in the 70’s era where Ghazals
became the one of the most widely spread languages of love, romance, pain, or even
appreciating the beauty of love despite the pain. The complex yet simple lyrics
and the mellifluous tunes took people to new heights emotionally and
intellectually. Ghazal renditions became too famous when the renditions were
simplified through local languages. The Main Propagandists of Ghazal music were
artists like Begum Akhtar, UstadGhulam Ali Saheb, Ustad Mehdi Hassan,
UstadAmanat Ali Khan,PanditJagjitSingh,AshaBhosle,Mohommad Rafi, And the newer
ones being Hariharan, AlkaYagnik,PankajUdhaas,etc.
Unlike any other musical genre,
Ghazals had a very unusual appeal to people. Neither could masses easily relate
to it nor could anyone take it up as any other classical form to master it.The
ghazal singers wereas unspoken as the language itself. Only people who had an
elevated perception of the adversities in their life could relate to such a
genre. During the early times, the people couldn’t understand or relate to the
poetry because of its complex urdu literature. But sadly, even after being simplified,
people have become so shallow that this intense language of love is now being condemned
as just mere boring musical genre.
It was not only the poetry that made ghazals so intense and
powerful but also the instruments that voiced and complimented this poetry to
simplify it far better. The unspoken tunes of these musical instruments
established a better connect with it’s audience almost instantly! During it’s
propagation the main instruments were theSaarangi, Sarod, Harmonium, And Tabla.
It was this “Milan”(Confluence) of these magical music forces that uplifted the
magnitude of emotions in the poetry. Every musician who shared the stage at a
ghazal concert was deeply spiritual and so strongly rooted to their values that
every note and beat they played echoed the depth of their personality. Special
mention about stalwarts like Ustad Sultan Khan who got the world to sing to his
tunes of sorrow, grief and pain.Needless to mention about PanditJagjit Singh
who broke the tradition introducing modern instruments to amplify the appeal.
People these days often have so many new genres and
sub-genres of music to express their love that language like these are gone
unnoticed. Every Playlist personifies a person’s mental health. Most of his
personality can be decoded just by his playlist. Every song reflects his
thoughts, intentions and emotions. Mostly the playlist talks about the line of
emotions within him hence defining the depth of his personality. Very few
people these days use such a deep form of expression or even be aware of such a
thing.
Ghazals are now being repackaged into better , more
appealing genres so this unspoken language is heard far and wide across the
masses. Many music producers, literature enthusiasts, poets, and writers are
making every possible effort to keep the language alive and heard if not
propagated. But this Genre still craves better social awareness and acceptance
amongst the present masses. Ghazals have undoubtedly bridged the gap between
musical genres serving the soul purpose of speaking love and peace.
Every soul craves for this, every soul lives for this. “Ishq bina kya jeena yaara, Ishq bina kya marna..”.
