Despite being a self-proclaimed atheist I find my
favorite genre of music to be Sufi devotional. It is not surprising considering
the staple diet of such songs that I have grown up on. Though not strictly
Sufi, here is a small list of Indian devotional/spiritual songs that are my
favorites.
1. Madari (Coke Studio Season 1)
MTV has, over the years, produced several seasons of
Roadies and Splitsvilla and depicted our generation as that of hormone-junkie
dumber-than-thou individuals. However, Coke Studio (along with Sound Tripping) absolves
MTV of some, if not all, of its crimes. This song, composed by Clinton Cerejo and
sung by Vishal Dadlani & Sonu Kakkar, is arguably the best one to come out
of Indian version of Coke Studio so far. It merges elements of rock with traditional
Punabi devotional lyrics to produce one of the most addictive songs I have come
across in a long time.
2. Ha Raham (Album: Amir)
A fusion of Sufi and Qawwali styles, this song is a
prayer for safety and complete subjugation to God’s will. I find Ha Raham
particularly interesting because of the irony of a man turning to God to escape
from religious fanatics. Also, this song gave us the earliest glimpse of caliber
of Amit Trivedi, who got the recognition he deserved only once the music of
DevD and Udaan became popular.
3. Tumhi Se (Album: Sunoh, Artist: Lucky Ali)
Lucky Ali, for me, defines the beginning of an era
of more versatile music than we traditionally had. But by the time his fourth
album, Kabhi Aisa Lagta Hai, came out, he had already become a shallow and
commercialized imitation of his earlier self (his last decent work being Sur). However,
much before that he had produced two albums, Sunoh and Sifar, which showed us
the genius artist that he was. His exceptionality lay not only in his husky
voice but also in the simplicity of his songs which, unlike the other popular
music of 90s, depended on their spiritual lyrics more than their soothing
melody. Tumhi Se is one of the songs that exemplify this.
4. Kun Faya Kun(Rockstar)
This homage to Nizamuddin Auliya, the 13th
Century Sufi saint, is third of its kind by Rahman. While the first one, Piya
Haji Ali, was a bit rough the second one, Khwaja mere Khwaja, a dedication to
Moinuddin Chishti, was too polished to be soulful. With Kun Faya Kun, as with
the whole album of Rockstar, Rahman finds the right balance. Rockstar marked
the comeback of a genius at his creative best and this song shows why.
5. Naiharwa (Album: Kailasa, Artist: Kailash Kher)
Largely overshadowed by other songs in the album,
Naiharwa is Kailash Kher’s rendition of Kabir’s poem and was never a song meant
to get large scale popularity. As in many other works by Kabir, God is described
as a beloved and Kabir wishes to be united with Him, not out of fear or any
purpose but as a natural tendency of lovers. Kailash Kher alone has the voice
that could have done justice to this song and it has.
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