By Jonaid Iqbal

ISLAMABAD: Baloch folk music reached its ecstatic peak on Sunday night as Shahayan and Daryan strung their damburas to interpret the Pashto meditative romance of Yousuf Sherbano and Prince Saiful Malook.

That came after compere Dr Fauzia Saeed and Farooq informed the excited crowd that Baloch womenfolk were together with men in exalting the new status of Balochistan, which was shown by Afsheen Qambrani singing a Brahvi song Soz kun.

Even otherwise, there were a number of folk songs dating back to thousand years. Each song was sung and rendered in the original flavour that has kept harmony with the old nuances which the people of the province have found difficult to forget even when developments of music technology makes inroads into their lifestyles.

Folk singers such as Nasrullah Mengal, Murad Pakori, Dil Murad, Manzur Buledi, Niaz Buledi, Bazid Bulledi, Basham Buldedi, Sal Mohamed Salork, Gul Lalai, Sim Istani and Baqi Khaya sang Baochi, Brahvi and Pushto folk songs with the audience demanding more. They were supported by nine folk instrumentalists such as Noor Mohammad Hussain (harmonium) Sultan Chamai (Rabab) Babi Gul (tabla), Iqbal Baloch (Banjo) Usman (Dholaki), Din Mohammad (Alghoza), Shayan and Daryan (dambura) and Khan Abdullah (Nar sur).

With a large number of Baloch people present at the Lok Virsa campus, it looked for a while that the federal capital had become Balochistan.

Secretary Culture Moinul Islam Bukhari on the occasion lauded the efforts of Lok Virsa and the Balochistan culture department’s initiative to present such a majestic show to the people of the federal capital.
Source: Dawn
Date:5/3/2010