For younger practitioners of the traditional form of gaiki like kheyal, dhrupad and even thumri, the present times are extremely challenging. The general atmosphere is antagonistic or unfavourable to the classical forms and the younger generation does not see any promise or prospect in it. There are so many other forms readily acceptable that the temptation is great to switch to those popular forms more in synch with the times. The general tendency is to share the pickings of these forms and rework them in a more a fancy setting -- the emphasis shifting from creativity to packaging.

Thus it was refreshing to see and hear Mohammed Muslim perform at the Alhamra last week with his uncle Qadir Shaggan in an hour long rendition of raag darbari in which they were accompanied by Dhani on tabla, Zohaib on sarangi and Aslam on harmonium. The performance showed great promise and restored some faith in the desire of the progeny of hereditary musicians to continue with the musical forms of their forefathers.

Music, especially, the higher forms of classical music were not always meant for public consumption or as a form that brought in rewards. There are many an instance of great musicians refusing to be patronised by the monarchs because of the fear of some kind of compromise in the unfolding of their expression. This music was supposed to be an expression of the self and it was considered to be sufficient and complete unto itself, not requiring any recognition from an outside source, whether the patron or the audience. This attitude or approach has linked music, as indeed the other forms of the arts as being close to the sufia, the mystics, who decried worldly glory, recognition and response and dedicated their lives to contemplation, meditation and an artistic pursuit that was more other worldly in character.

Almost the same spirit has to be rekindled if the higher forms of music have to survive to be a living art form in this society. Total dedication and hundred percent commitments to the cause can ensure excellence in an age that has other concerns and priorities. This age is driven more by the indices of rating, glamour and hence monetary kickbacks than the inner satisfaction derived from saying something or doing something that is close to the calling of the heart. Such talk and values are usually dismissed as an alibi of failure, maladjustment or of espousing values that do not chime with the times.

But the demands of everyday living and the expectations of the age are very tangible pressures that few can resist or resist for long. One has seen over the decades so many falls to the compulsions of earning a living, supporting a family rather than playing the valiant last figure on the barricades insisting on following and doing what is close to their heart. The pull of sacrifice is very great and requires the temperament of a great individual to resist all this.

It is hoped seeing the talent and the commitment of young Mohammed Muslim that he will have the courage to resist the temptations of the popular forms of music and insist on doing that he thinks is worthwhile artistically. In the last few years of Ustad Ghulam Hasan Shaggan’s life, Mohammed Muslim was very close to him attending and looking after his grandfather in those difficult last years and picked up as reward the finer aspects of kheyal rendition. He benefited the most especially as the grandfather saw in him the desire to learn which may have been fazed in other members of the extended family.

Of the children of Ustad Ghulam Hasan Shaggan, the eldest Qadir Shaggan often accompanied him in vocal performances. Qadir Shaggan has also composed music for films, television plays and radio. While Mazhar Shaggan, the father of Mohammed Muslim has been playing both the mandolin and the rabab in the classical ang. His early posting was in Radio Pakistan, Peshawar where he picked up the niceties of the rabab, an instrument that is endemic in that region. He had learnt the mandolin and it is easier to play it when in an orchestral formation because the possibility of the meend is limited; so in the rabab he incorporated greater possibility of the meends and glides than used in the Central Asian region, Iran and Afghanistan from where the instrument originated from or became acceptable as the major and representative string instrument.

Mohammed Muslim now about eighteen and an undergraduate student was much younger a few years ago, about fourteen when he made his debut on stage and then next year won an award in a competition at the Alhamra. Since then, for a number of times, he performed with his grandfather and uncle on the platforms of the Lahore Music Forum and the All Pakistan Music Conference.