KATHMANDU: On the occasion of the 70th Independence Day of India, the Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) and the Embassy of India organised a musical evening ‘Sham-e-qawwali’ — a qawwali performance by Indian musical group Zafar Nizami and Troupe on August 14 at the City Hall, Bhrikuti Mandap.

President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, who was the chief guest, inaugurated the event lighting the on panas and was accompanied by Indian Ambassador Ranjit Rae.

And what followed was an energetic qawwali performance — the main singer was accompanied by seven qawwals on tabala, dholak, harmonium, chorus and banjo. Their caps and sherwanis also gave a powerful impression and the group mesmerised the audience with a powerful and elegant qawwali performance.

Lead singer Mohammad Zafar created a pleasant atmosphere with his songs as well as shayari that dealt with humanity and human emotions. His songs praised the Almighty as well as the most powerful human emotion — love. On the spot, instantly Zafar created romantic shayari looking at the activities in the audience which was appreciated with a huge round of applause. The songs performed were Ali Ali, Jo Mushibat ke Mare, Nayana Milat, Pagal Najaren Dil Diwana Lagata hai Masatana Lagata hai, Lal Mere Ali Da Mast Qalandar, and ended with Kwahja Mere Kwahja Dil Me Samaja.

For Zafar, music is a way of prayer and after the performance he expressed, “It was good to perform in Nepal and this is our first time. The history of qawwali goes back 750 years where the songs reflect love for the Almighty or the beloved. We belong to the Hazrat Nizam-ud-din Durbariya Qawwali.”

The artistes were successful in keeping the audience in their seats till the end, and not even when the lights went out did it fade the lively performance on stage. Mohammad Azhar on tabala/dholak kept the audience captivated with his interesting music, not letting the audience drop their high mood during the load shedding.

About the event, Parmanand Chaudhary from the audience expressed, “I enjoyed the event and qawwali is entertaining. The songs and ghazals are sung by Muslims, especially in Urdu language, and the lyrics touch your heart as it is based on human experiences.”