Hans Raj Hans Closes Rocking Festival With Mellow Brilliance Of Love
Zindagi di hai to jeene ka hunar bhi dena… rakho mori laaj’…the soulful rendition of this classic Sufi song provided a befitting opening of the concluding day of the nineday Times Ahmedabad Festival, on Sunday. Renowned Sufi music exponent Hans Raj Hans, who performed for the first time in Ahmedabad, humbly said, “I seek blessings from the city’s music lovers who have listened to many great musicians while I am just a student.”
After winning hearts with immense modesty, the performance of this popular Sufi singer was exquisite. The deep emotional quotient, which is a natural quality of his unique voice, and songs packed with love’s anguish made the audience applaud, cry out loud and even sob uncontrollably at times. Hans’ preface to his presentation of ‘Vaishnav Jan’ was charming. “This is the first and only Gujarati song I have learnt,” he said as the audience responded with deafening cheers.
Thrill and excitement was in the air when he moved on to ‘Ishq ki galion me khali dil liya’ from the movie ‘Kachhe Dhage’. Moved, Hans lovingly said, “To win claps from the audience of Ahmedabad is as much an honour as to be awarded a Padma Shri. Yahan ke log aise hi taali nahi bajaenge. Bhai, yahan ka to sassa bhi kutte ko dara jata hai.” (This audience will not applaud lightly; I have heard even rabbits can frighten dogs in this land.) Hans, impeccably dressed in a fully black formal suit, made an entry at the packed amphitheatre amidst loud applause. He was surrounded by eight instrumentalists playing the flute, harmonium, sarangi, and tabla.
The rendition of superhit Sufi song ‘Tera shehar’ from a recent movie ‘Mausam’ delighted the audience. He also sang Sufi songs like ‘Mose nayana milayke’, ‘Mithi hai to pal bhar me bikhar jayenge’, and ‘Hume naamon se na pahechan’. He bid the city goodbye with the gift saying ‘Yaron karna kuch ho to bus pyaar karo’.
