<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s funny, apart from Karachi, Ustad has not been officially invited to play shows in even Islamabad or Lahore, yet here we are in Europe, set to play 25 shows,\u201d said the manager, Daniyal.<\/p>\n
When I met Ustad Noor Bakhsh with his bandmate Doshambay and manager Daniyal Ahmed in Berlin this June, the three were in deep thought admiring a sculpture on the ground. This was a day before kicking off Ustad\u2019s European tour in Prague. In true European fashion, we sat at a table in Berlin outside a cafe to talk about their journey from Pakistan to Europe.<\/p>\n
Benju expert Ustad Noor Bakhsh and damboora player Doshambay had been signed for a European tour to perform in 25 cities across 10 countries. The benju is a one-metre-long instrument, with both strings and keys, and is a vital component in Balochi music composition. It has been described as a customised version of a Japanese toy instrument called the Taish\u014dgoto<\/em><\/a> and is also likened to the akkordolia<\/em> of Germany<\/a>, the Swedish nyckelharpa<\/em> and the Indian bulbul tarang<\/em>.<\/p>\n Yet each instrument retains its own unique qualities, sounds and cultural significance. In the 20th century, the Baloch community modified the Taish\u014dgoto<\/em> into their own version of a folk music instrument.<\/p>\n This was the duo\u2019s first time performing outside Pakistan, taking them to various parts of Europe to represent Balochistan, including the Roskilde Festival<\/a> in Denmark \u2014 one of the biggest music festivals in Europe.<\/p>\n \u201cI went a little distance to look for him, and now he and his music are taking us halfway across the world together,\u201d said Daniyal in an Instagram post introducing the tour.<\/p>\n The tour was planned and managed by Christoph Linder from the booking agency Planet Rock<\/a>. During our interview, Daniyal shared how shocked he was by the number of shows they got, considering that apart from a handful of Qawwals<\/em>, most traditional Pakistani musicians are not typically in high demand within the European music scene.<\/p>\n In 2018, Daniyal came across a video of Ustad Noor in which he was playing the tune of a Jingul<\/em> (sparrow), a bird that often frequents Ustad\u2019s house \u2014 Jingul<\/em> also happens to be the name of Ustad Noor\u2019s debut album<\/a> released in 2022. The viral video wrongly stated that Ustad is a fisherman from the Makran coast, but the truth is that he dedicated his entire life to playing the benju. \u201cBecause I live in Pasni, it was assumed I am a fisherman. When he (Daniyal) met me, he realised I am Balochistan\u2019s renowned Benju player,\u201d Ustad shared.<\/p>\n Daniyal had left no stone unturned in his search for Ustad Noor Baksh and by 2022, it became an investigative search to locate Ustad Noor\u2019s residence within Pasni. \u201cFor four years, Ustad was on my mind,\u201d said Daniyal. And in between, as the world turned topsy-turvy due to Covid-19, for Daniyal it became a passion of preserving Ustad\u2019s unique musical prowess as the world slowly faced demise.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Daniyal and his friend set out to find me, even the kids in our locality were familiar with my name, but they couldn\u2019t figure out where I was residing,\u201d said Ustad.<\/p>\n When asked how he feels about Karachi, Ustad said: \u201cKarachi just feels like a place that Daniyal had to bring us to. We are people of the jungle, cities do not bring us joy.\u201d<\/p>\n In September 2022, in collaboration with Daniyal and veteran music producer Nizar Lalani, Ustad\u2019s first album \u2018Jingul\u2019<\/em><\/a> was released.<\/p>\n \u201cThe album was recorded live on location, over a memorable sunset on the Shadi Kaur creek, close to Noor\u2019s village, near Pasni, Balochistan,\u201d specifies the album page on Bandcamp.<\/a> Eight months on, the trio arrived in Germany \u2014 where I met them \u2014 to kick off their tour around Europe\u2019s big cities and small towns.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s funny, apart from Karachi, Ustad has not even been officially invited to play shows in Islamabad or Lahore, yet here we are in Europe, set to play 25 shows,\u201d said Daniyal.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can just get a feeling that over here, there is respect for music. Where we are from, there\u2019s no respect for music,\u201d Doshambay remarked about Berlin.<\/p>\n \u201cI always knew that there is not much respect for performing music in Balochistan but what do they know, what Benju music means? I was once asked by a traveller what this instrument is and I just feel that, if you are human, you would just have respect and understanding for such things [music]. People with respect within themselves understand respect for music. People respect the struggle of being a shepherd, eating stale bread, and eating and drinking bitter fish and water, but what do they know about this instrument and what it can achieve?\u201d Ustad questioned rhetorically.<\/p>\n But considering the political turmoil in Pakistan and the painful divorce of the people from their leader, entering European soil from a country that is considered a restive and economic risk in international mainstream media was no smooth sailing. The paperwork for their visas was a perpetual run between Karachi, Quetta and Pasni.<\/p>\n Documents that both the musicians didn\u2019t have needed to be issued, including new marriage certificates due to the fact that when Ustad and Doshambay had gotten married to their partners, they were minors. Pakistan\u2019s bureaucratic nightmare had them waiting for hours at Nadra\u2019s office one day, with both Ustad and Doshambay\u2019s wives and kids, trying to get their new family registration certificates issued in time for an appointment at the German Embassy in Karachi.<\/p>\n Daniyal stayed up every night until 3am to refresh the visa applications website, because that is when the German Embassy makes new appointments available. It was only with the help of one of the German festival organisers that an appointment was finally secured.<\/p>\n For Daniyal, being in limbo about whether the visas would be issued or not so close to the tour dates was a source of agitation.<\/p>\n \u201cBut when the visa officer saw that we have invitations from 25 venues, he was shocked. He started asking us how we know each other and what their [Ustad and Doshambay\u2019s] story is,\u201d Daniyal laughed.<\/p>\n But the most worrying experience proved to be at Karachi airport itself when the trio arrived to check in and board their flight to Germany. The most suspicion they received was at Karachi airport where they were stopped by security three times because seeing new passports belonging to men in ethnic clothing carrying musical instruments raised alarm bells in their minds. They were almost prevented from boarding the plane. The tense situation took a sweet turn when the duo performed at the airport for the staff and carried on towards the gate.<\/p>\n On June 24, Ustad Noor and Doshambay arrived in D\u00fcsseldorf to play an open-air show next to the River Rhine. The show continued for over an hour and the music evoked all sorts of emotions and camaraderie among the audience, the majority of which was the Pakistani community in D\u00fcsseldorf.<\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t help but wonder why we rarely see each other in our daily lives in the city. The grind of life divides us but music unknowingly brought us close.<\/p>\n At one point, it didn\u2019t matter anymore how familiar you were with the Benju or the raags. The only thing that mattered was the here and now and the transcendental power of Ustad and Doshambay\u2019s performance.<\/p>\nPreserving the present<\/h2>\n
From Jinnah International to Berlin Brandenburg<\/h2>\n