‘Real joy to hear’: This qawwali evoking lord Krishna will make your day

The qawwali, which is often attributed to author Nawab Sadiq Jung Bahadur of Hyderabad, lovingly addresses lord Krishna as ‘Kanhaiya’ and talks about devotional longing for the god’s love.

On the eve of Ramzan and in the heart of empire- overjoyed to be able to sing Nawab Sadiq Jung Bahadur Hilm’s famous kalam ‘Kanhaiya’ holding his original diwan from late 19th century Hyderabad, Deccan which includes specific musical instructions for this poem! pic.twitter.com/RD8L25bM3c

— Wajiha Ather Naqvi (@tribalgulabo) March 23, 2023

While reciting this qawwali, Naqvi wrote, “On the eve of Ramzan and in the heart of empire- overjoyed to be able to sing Nawab Sadiq Jung Bahadur Hilm’s famous kalam ‘Kanhaiya’ holding his original diwan from late 19th century Hyderabad, Deccan which includes specific musical instructions for this poem!”.

In another tweet, Naqvi, who is a ‘South Asian music researcher and performer’, explains, “Kanhaiya is an ode to Krishna is also a metaphor for the Holy Prophet as was common in the Indo-Persian literary tradition of South Asia. It continues to be performed by the Qawwal Bachche and from whom I had the privilege of learning first-hand.”.

Her post has raked up hundreds of likes. Commenting on it, a Twitter user wrote, “This is a real joy to hear and so so cool to see the Diwan which connects what we hear today to the past.”

Many people also linked it to the performance of the same qawwali by Pakistani singers Farid Ayaz and Abu Muhammed from the Festival of Kabir concert that was held in Bengaluru in 2015.