If you’re lucky enough to be in Lahore, the one event that you should make time for is LUMS’ Gurmani Centre for Languages and Literature’s Halqa-e Danish series, also known as Maestros of Raag (Fall 2018).
The thing about this event is that the people featured are all legends of music of the subcontinent. There’s no way to deny it. The first event in the series featured the iconic Farida Khanum, in conversation with Ali Sethi, where Khanum spoke about, among other things, the decline of music.
The second one featured the Niazi Brothers remembering Punjabi singer Tufail Niazi, with Ali Aftab Saeed as the host.
As Bilal Tanweer, who is the Co-Director of LUMS Gurmani Centre for Languages and Literature and an author and translator noted about the second event - that was held on October 12 - on social media, “The second in Gurmani Centre’s Halqa-e Danish series. We pay tribute to the music and poetry of Tufail Niazi.”
Halqa-e Danish series also plans to host a third event featuring a discussion on Nayyara Noor’s music with Arshad Mahmood and in the coming days, conversations with music legends like Tina Sani and remembrance of the late Mehdi Hasan. The Farida Khanum event was streamed live and plans to put out videos of these conversations are in the pipeline as well. Watch out for them. The evenings are not as publicized as so many other events but these artists represent the best of subcontinental music and each of their stories, struggles and dedication to music and poetry is worth reflecting on, learning from. Such conversations don’t come around every day so look out for them, in Lahore or on the web.
