To a different beat

Jawad Ahmad,keen to clear the air about his country.

Sitting in conversation at the UT Guest House,Ahmad,best known to Indian music fans for his song Bin Tere Kya Hai Jeena in Mahesh Bhatt’s Woh Lamhe,is at pains to state that Pakistani society is not maimed by the near-daily violence erupting there. “Take the extremist groups out of Pakistan and you’ll see how modern,progressive and liberal the country is,” he says. “We,too,face terror. There is a blast every day,but that doesn’t stop us from developing or moving ahead,or,tuning into rock legends like Def Leppard,Bryan Adams,Guns ‘n’ Roses,Eagles or,[into Bollywood music,” says the singer,whose second album broke all records by selling 4.5 million copies in Pakistan alone.

Ahmad’s fourth album is soon to be released in this part of the country – “Now I feel the Indian market,too,should get a taste of my music,” he says – and he is in town for a performance at the Big Punjabi Music Awards.

A mechanical engineer by training,Ahmad began his journey as a musician in his student days in Pakistan. “It was 1992,and our university rock band Jupiters was a sensation. My brother and I and a couple of other guys formed this outfit and rocked for a year with live gigs. That’s when I realised how deeply attached and moved I was by music,and requested my parents,both professors of political science,to let me pursue music as a career.” They relented,with the rider that Ahmad should get his ME degree.

He did qualify an as engineer,but with his very first song making waves,there was no looking back.

His achievements are remarkable in Pakistan,a country that he describes as “news-conscious” more than entertainment-oriented,thanks to the political turmoil. But Ahmad remains down-to-earth,speaking instead of his awe-struck admiration for Indian artistes like Lata Mangeshkar,Daler Mehndi and Kailash Kher.

He wants to collaborate with the Indian entertainment industry more as a singer-composer. “ Artists don’t judge each other on religion,nationality or borders… they connect at a much higher,peaceful level,” says Ahmad,hoping to be a harbinger of hope and peace.

This side of his personality finds expression in his philanthropic work – he is the US-Aid and Unicef ambassador in Pakistan for the eradication of polio; is involved with the British Council Beyond Borders project on drug addiction; and runs 14 primary schools in the most backward areas of Pakistan under the programme Taleem for All (Education for All). And he has also raised funds for Pakistan flood victims.

His motto: “Only literacy,employment,health benefits,[and awareness can eradicate war and extremism.” For more,visit http://www.jawadahmad.biz and http://www.taaleemforall.org .