Music
I was born in 1975, the youngest son in a non-musical family. I personally do not remember having had any affinity to any sort of music till the age of 13—this was when I started listening to pop/rock music with growing zeal.
My first musical instrument was the guitar which I picked up in 1990. I played and learnt with friends at school, eventually composed songs and instrumentals, and occasionally performed at local concerts in Rawalpindi and Islamabad till 1996. Vivaldi and Paganini were the only decent musicians I genuinely appreciated. I will avoid mentioning the jokers I admired because the list is just too long.
I also developed an interest in all sorts of stringed instruments, especially ones belonging to the subcontinent. After having experimented with the rabab, sitar and violin, I finally bought a sarangi in April 1996, when I heard it being played by Ustad Nazim Ali in a recording of Roshan Ara Begum’s Jaunpuri. This was the first time that I approached Indian classical music seriously. As I was studying medicine in Karachi, it took me more than a year to find an ustad with whom I commenced sporadic lessons in Rawalpindi, in July 1997.
I returned home after my graduation in October 2002 and intended to resume taleem with my guru, but unfortunately, Ustad Mubarik Ali died in December 2002.
In January 2003, I became the student of Ustad Mehfooz Khokhar and continued my pursuit on a daily basis. I also benefitted from the study of invaluable recordings, texts, images, and commentaries put together by Rajan Parrikar. In April 2004, I became the student of Ustad Allah Rakha, the last living master of the sarangi in Pakistan.
Presently, I continue to broaden my knowledge and technique of classical music and the sarangi with daily practice and regular lessons with Ustad Allah Rakha. Alongside private gatherings, I perform at Radio Pakistan, Rawalpindi, and at events arranged by The All Pakistan Music Conference, Lahore.
