Beyond Borders

While Pakistan and India attempt a difficult number at the political level,Track II diplomacy is still on the peace track. The latest effort was by Pakistani ghazal singer Tina Sani,who aims to build a bridge between the two countries using a medium that has bound us for decades — music. At a performance held in association with the ICCR at Siri Fort auditorium on Thursday,Sani started with a soulful rendition of a Faiz ghazal in her velvet voice. “I have always loved Delhi. This is Ghalib’s city and the audience understands the shayari that I sing,” said Sani,who was accompanied by Indian ghazal singer Penaz Masani. The singers regaled the audience for two hours with famous ghazals like Dashte-e-tanhai and Raaz-e-ulfat,each being rewarded with a hearty applause by the audience.

Karachi-based Sani shot to fame in the mid-1980s when she became the youngest musician to set Faiz’s poetry to music and sing it at the Faiz Mela in Pakistan in 1985. She interacts with her audience between ghazals,stressing on peace and amity. “If we can make music endorse our friendship,a positive change is bound to happen,” she said. Masani and she ended the evening with a jugalbandi on two ghazals Ranjish hi sahi and Damadam mast kalandar. Throughout the downpour of ghazals,music transcended all barriers. “That is exactly what it is should do,” said Sani.