Tufail Niazi on Lahore TV. 1964

My meetings with Tufail Niazi are far more exciting. I had the privilege of singing with him in late 1989 in Delhi.

Rajkumari Anita Singh of Kapurthala had organized his trip to perform at the wedding of Uma Vasudev's daughter. It was here that Anita Singh heard me sing for the first time and announced somewhat patronisingly that I too was by implication from the Kapurthala gharāna.

It was winter time. He had come to the wedding as a last minute replacement for Abida Parveen who couldn't make it. Aruna Vasudev, founder editor Cinemaya and the younger sister of Uma, rang me up in excitement as she knew of my absolute fascination for Tufail Saheb’s music. I was introduced to Tufail Niazi's music by Safdar Hashmi in the late 70s who had brought two of his tapes from his trip to Lahore.

I sang UchchiaaN LammiyaaN TaaliyaaN which he requested me to keep singing till he actually memorized the melody and verses. He finally asked me if he could sing it along with me. We sang it together – imagine the song from Parayi Kukh [Punjabi adaptation of Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle] sung by Tufail Niazi and Madan Gopal together.

Madan Gopal Singh.
Photo by Ram Rahman

His tabla player – sound engineer called Amjad from Lok Virsa – took me aside and explained to me the reason why he had asked me to sing the song three times over before singing it with me finally. Tufail Saheb could not read and write.

He was not keeping too well. But he sang with rare emotion. His saaDa chiRiyaaN da ChaMba made everyone cry that evening. He would ask Amjad to now and then press his shoulder muscles.

I'm greatly enamoured of his BedardaaN sang kaisi yaari', Ve tuN neRe neRe vass, RaNjha jogiRa ban* aaya, MaeN nayiN jaan*a, Maaye ni jad raNjhan* aave...also kade aa ve maahi gall lagg ve. His rendition of Heer along with that of Sharif Ghaznavi to my mind is the best ever that I have heard.

Much later my meetings with Javed and Bābar Niazi at first in Washington and later in Delhi brought a flood of memories back.

 

Tufail Niazi always remembered his Ustād Pandit Amarnath with great affection.

There is a lot in his gāyaki which is close to the lost Hindu contribution to the music of Punjab of which there was an important lot in the 19th century Punjab. It is not the same Pt Amarnath who was a shāgird of Ustād Amir Khan Saheb. His Ustad Pandit Amarnath is of a slightly earlier period. Harjap Singh Aujla ji could shed some light on this.

Photo courtesy Ayub Aulia

Tufail Saheb’s is a distinct style – slow, languorous, curving – which one doesn't get to hear even rarely in other Punjabi singers.

His music has never left me. He is the single most important influence on the kind of music I do. He treaded a most difficult path for a Punjabi singer. He tried to instil a sense of duration – of time spreading out like the early morning sun gently caressing earth – within the Punjabi melodies. I'm not trying to pull other musicians down. There are a few I adore greatly – Pathane Khan being one of them. But Tufail Saheb was unique. Pathane Khan was a hugely impassioned singer. I'm a bit – but only a slight bit – like him. Pathane Khan was not formally trained. That’s another similarity between him and me. He did something amazing with the Kāfi aNg and gave the likes of Salāmat Ali sleepless nights. He defied classicity. Almost fearlessly.

Home coming. Tufail Niazi in Jalandhar. circa 1978. On left is SS Misha – poet and
radio broadcaster.
Photo by Kapila

[From Madan Gopal Singh’s email chat with Amarjit Chandan on 30 November 2008]