Rejuvenation is what we experience in a spiritual ambience, especially when poetry and prose by well known Sufi saints are sung by a Hindustani classical or ghazal singer.
Rashmi Aggarwal indeed created that divine aura with her mellifluous voice.
She lulled the audience into a sense of ease and infused them with positive energy when she recently performed at the Osho World Galleria.
With Kabir’s Naiharwa hamka na bhave, a poem that narrates the connection with the Almighty by leaving behind the materialistic world, just like a lover who desperately wants to live with his beloved, Rashmi in her lilting voice touched the audience with her first song of the evening which was a slow paced rendition.
But as the artiste believes in experimentation, she presented her next composition – a mix of Kabir and Baba Bulleh Shah’s doha - a religious piece about Ram and Rahim being the same. She started with Kabir’s Hindu kahe Ram payara and followed it with Bulleh Shah’s Gal samajh gayi.
Kaun thagwa nagariya lutal ho, the third composition of the evening was once again picked from Kabir’s verses.
It metaphorically defined how spirit which is like a bride does not want to leave the body, the groom, when death is knocking at the door to take everything away.
As death is a celebration in Sufism, Rashmi had no intention to make the recital dull or morose.
She rendered it with unbridled enthusiasm and energy to create a positive feeling about nothing being permanent in life.
As the audience were taking a plunge into spiritualism, she artfully spread a bit of love in the air with the title track of her album Ranjhaa-
The Masquerader, a beautiful compilation of four of her favourite Sufi songs from her previous albums.
There was a sense of affection when the song narrated how Heer traced Ranjhaa even when he was in a different look. She also sang Tab tak jal jal haath maloon, a composition of Sheikh Fareed, making it catchy and interesting with the inclusion of jazz music.
The show, finally, ended with Hazrat Amir Khusro’s kalaam – Piya se naina, Chap tilak and Rang de maula, prompting the audience to give a standing ovation to the singer.
Some were even seen dancing – well that is the magic of Sufi songs!
“It was an amazing experience singing and watching my audience dancing and enjoying the melody and rhythm of my Sufi songs,” said Rashmi.
She is an empanelled artiste of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and is known for her emotive, expressive and soulful recitals.
