by shabbir sheikh
It was almost dawn. I was sitting in the drawing room of my flat situated at Rewaz Garden, Lahore. My family was sleeping in the adjacent room. Though I love to read in such moments, I was not having an urge to open a book and read something. Then I switched on the TV and started changing channels in search of something interesting.
After some moments, I found what I was looking for. It was the PTV and Ustad Hussain Bakhsh Gulloo, the maestro who hailed from the renowned Shaam Churasi family of Hindustani musicians. He was singing some Raag of the dawn. The tunes were alluring as they had been composed as per the requirements of that time and atmosphere.
Suddenly, I felt amused as the rhythm coming out of the TV had started elevating my soul. I started listening to the Bandish which added colours to the emerging dawn. Ustad Hussain Bakhsh Gulloo was upping and downing his crescendos and it all was mesmerizing. I was spellbound. Though I didn’t know the details of that Raag, the thing I felt was soul-capturing.
The combination of vocalist and instruments was praise-worthy and I started feeling the impact of classical music both on the soul as well as body of mine. The TV volume was normal and the time started moving past in harmony. The boring moments turned into happiness. My mood turned joyous and I felt quite comfortable in the company of Ustad Hussain Bakhsh Gulloo’s harmonious presentation. I got immersed in each and every note, whether it was from the singer or instruments.
Unexpectedly, a rhythmical but strange voice added to the music already running on the TV. I noticed it as a beautiful addition and felt it as it was as captivating as Ustad Hussain Bakhsh Gulloo. But this sound was not coming out of the TV, I noted. Yes, it was not from the TV, I realized after a gap of some moments. From where was it coming? I wondered. It was the sound of Chee’n Chee’n, Chee’n Chee’n and was in rhythm with the TV music. I was surprised and looked here, there and everywhere in the room, but there was nothing. Then I looked at the window of my drawing room that opened into a lawn. There was a tree close to the window that I liked much because of its fragrance and colours. My look passed through the window and captured a sparrow sitting on a branch of that tree. The harmonious Chee’n Chee’n was coming from the beak of the sparrow which was singing along with Ustad Hussain Bakhsh Gulloo. The sparrow had forgotten its routine business and plunged into the godly domain of music. It was following the maestro’s beat and singing along with him after forgetting all around.
Yes, it was the sparrow which had added harmony to the TV music, I decided. I kept watching and feeling the scene for almost a minute. It was a surprise as I had never seen such a marvelous musical combination of humans and birds. Then I thought I might be wrong. I thought the bird was not in sync with Ustad Hussain Bakhsh Gulloo and it was just a coincidence. Let’s check it, I talked to myself and picked the TV remote device. To know the reality, I pressed the mute button and the TV went soundless. The TV went mute but it was like a bomb shell for the bird. It appeared to be a shock for it. The sudden closure of TV sound had agitated the bird. At the spur of the moment, it appeared quite perturbed and took a jerk and flew away, leaving behind the sound of Chaa’n Chaa’n, Chaa’n Chaa’n.
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