Tête-à-tête
Sounds for the soul
Nonika Singh

ONE moment, he has masses swaying to his Punjabi pop. Yet another time, when he dons the mantle of a Sufi singer, connoisseurs swear by his power to make listeners transcend the material world. The shining star of Punjabi singing’s firmament, also a consummate Sufi singer, to whom devotional singing comes as naturally, Hans Raj Hans is God’s chosen child. People accept him in varied roles.

Still, who is the real Hans? Smiles the singer and quips: "Inside me I am sur and sur alone. When I hold the mike, whatever be the genre, singing just flows naturally, of its own volition." Blessed with a mellifluous voice, of course, the knowledge of saat sur did not fall like manna from heaven. He not only trained extensively under his Ustaad Puran Shah Koti but also stalwarts like Ustaad Salamat Ali Khan. Having sung for the maestro Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in the film Kacche Dhaage, he muses: "Watching such greats is itself is a learning experience."

Alas, he rues that today’s generation of Punjabi singers doesn’t care to learn, to know what and how they ought to be singing. Thus he proclaims: "Singers are born overnight and like meteoric flashes they vanish as fast." In fact, it is this tribe of singers who have made Punjabi singing an industry that he feels has diluted the essence of the genre. He quips, " Singing is not a business, rather it is a passion."

Jogging down the memory lane to the early eighties, when he began singing almost like a mast malang, he reminisces: "I sang, for it was an obsession, for I knew no better. Not because one day it would fetch me a National Sangeet Natak Akademy award or a Padma Shri." Now that he has received many more laurels—was appointed visiting professor in Sufism, San Jose University, California, even been "anointed" Raj Gayak (Punjab State Singer Award) of Punjab—how does it feel?

Surprisingly, he is not walking on cloud nine, never did and prefers to remain rooted to terra firma. That is the reason why despite many singing forays in Bollywood, in movies like Nayak, Jodi No 1 and Bichoo he found the make-believe world of artifice, where you say one thing and mean another, suffocating. The doublespeak of politics too didn’t suit him. A tryst with politics, when he unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections for the SAD seat from Jalandhar, has taught him a vital lesson. "In politics, especially in India, where you need to make a compromise at every step, an artiste just cannot survive."

But on platforms like the Qutub Festival, Delhi International Arts Festival and Sada-e-Sufi concert, etc he thrives and blossoms. Rare singing moments like those at Baba Bulle Shah’s dargah in Kasur, Pakistan, he hails as "an opportunity of lifetime when the world ceases to exist." Eulogising the legendary Sufi poet, incidentally Hans’s favourite too, he says: "Here was a singer whose devotion to his muse and to his ustaad finds a rare parallel in history."

So, does the wisdom of such greats seep in? He answers: "Make no mistake, there is a world of difference between a Sufi saint and a Sufi singer. I am the latter. Yet the mysticism of their kalaams cannot but influence you." Thus he carries the message of universal brotherhood and has been performing at the Wagah border for the last 13 years and has been involved in several fund-raising drives as well. While singing Sufi kalams, he confesses that there is a communion with the Almighty as well, not unfailingly though.

Seeking a connection with the spiritual world through Gurbaani, too, however he would never like to lose the link with mother earth. Singing dharti de geet, folksongs and taking greater pride in being a singer of the masses than the Raj Gayak award, he asserts: "Punjabi music is like the indomitable Punjabi spirit, here to stay." Only he intends to find new forms and set new trends in it and dreams to establish a sangeet ashram for the preservation of traditional tunes and Sufism. Sufi singing will remain the awwal Ishq.

Spanning the earth and the sky, the physical and the metaphysical, Hans discovers his meter. Whichever way he oscillates, sur remains both as his muse and his being. Ishq-e-di gaali vichon koi koi langhda`85 in the lane of music, too, only the blessed pass. And more fortunate like him not only inhabit it but rule it as well.

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