Firdaus Gosh

The first live transmission of Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) took place on November 26, 1964. PTV started as a private television broadcasting company that had been established with the cooperation of Nippon Electric Company (NEC) of Japan and Thomas Television International of the United Kingdom. President Ayub Khan had appointed Obaid Ur Rahman, an electrical engineer, as the first General Manager and Chief Executive of the corporation. PTV has thirty employees at that time. The team included:

A. K. Mussarrat
Editor

Anis Ahmad
Cameraman

Muhammad Nisar Hussain
Program Producer

Kamaluddin Ahmed
Make-Up Artist

Kanwal Naseer
Announcer – Female

Nisar Mirza
Cameraman

Tariq Aziz
Newscaster & Announcer – Male

Yasmin Wasti
Newscaster – Female

Zafar Samdani
News Editor

In the early days, Pakistan Television used to transmit live between the hours of six and nine each evening, six days a week. There was no transmission on Mondays. The first two decades of its history represented the golden era of PTV. Aslam Azhar had assembled a team of exceedingly talented individuals who worked very hard on producing programs of outstanding quality. PTV programs produced during this period received acclaim at both the national and international levels and were used to educate students of television in several countries.

[quote]Some of the greatest musicians of the twentieth century performed in Raag Rang[/quote]

Programs of music were an integral, and arguably the best, part of PTV for several decades. These programs are a veritable treasure of music and provide a fascinating chronicle of the evolution of music in Pakistan.  The list includes extraordinary programs such as Jharnay, Kaliyon Ki Mala, Mehfil E Sama, Mehfil E Shab, Meri Pasand, Naghma Zar, Nikhaar, Raag Rang, Rang Tarang, Rim Jhim, Sargam, Sukhan War, Sunday Ke Sunday, Sur Bahar, Sur Ka Safar, Sur Sagar, and, of course, Tarannum. Raag Rang was the longest running music program in PTV’s history. This show was produced in the Karachi and Lahore stations on alternating weeks, and occasionally in the Rawalpindi station. Lovers and connoisseurs of classical music used to stay up late to watch Raag Rang, which was aired towards the end of the transmission on Wednesdays.

Some of the greatest musicians of the twentieth century performed in Raag Rang. Malika E Mausiqui Roshanara Begum, Ustad Shaukat Hussain Khan, Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, Ustad Nazakat Ali Khan, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, Ustad Amanat Ali Khan, Ustad Sharif Khan Poonchwale, Ustad Chotay Ghulam Ali Khan, and Ustad Ghulam Hassan Shaggan are amongst the musicians who participated in Raag Rang on a regular basis. The recordings of Raag Rang constitute the world’s largest collection of Hindustani Sangeet (the music of Pakistan and Northern India) videos. A better collection of classical music does not exist anywhere in the world.

The landscape of television in Pakistan changed tremendously in the fifty years that followed PTV’s launch. The corporation now operates eight channels – PTV Home, PTV News, PTV Sports, PTV National, PTV World, PTV Bolan, PTV Global and AJK — that are telecast around the clock. Additionally, more than one hundred televisions channels have started operations in the country. PTV is no longer the only player in town. Pakistani viewers now have a true abundance of choice and variety in television.

Sadly, the golden era of PTV is now a fading memory. The quality of PTV programs has been in steady decline during the last thirty years; yet, the only good programs of music on television continue to be the ones produced by PTV. None of the private channels have been able to produce music programs of higher caliber. The shows may not be as good as they were in the distant past but music continues to be PTV’s area of strength.

Firdaus Gosh is the latest in PTV’s series of venerable music programs.

The idea behind Firdaus Gosh is simple – educate viewers about one raag (melodic framework), in each program. The concept of the program was developed by vocalist Faheem Mazhar, with the help of the knowledgeable Parvez Paras who acts as an advisor and expert on the show. Hosted by Faheem Mazhar and Fariha Parvez, and produced by PTV’s talented Mohsin Jafar, the program consists of a series of segments, each one of which is designed to introduce the raag in a different manner.

A lakshan geet is performed in the first segment of each program. This is a simple song that describes the basic characteristic of a raag. It includes information about the raag’s aarohi (ascent), avrohi (descent), vadi (dominant note), samvadi (second most dominant note) and time of performance. In Firdaus Gosh, lakshan geet are performed by a group of talented young singers. These emerging vocalists are well-versed in classical music and students of qualified teachers. Parvez Paras’ student, Maqsood Ali Shah, in particular, stands out as a star in the group. The twenty-six year old vocalist sings with a surprisingly high level of confidence and ease. His voice has a rich timbre and spans a full three octaves. Sana Zulfiqar is another promising singer who sings lakshan geet in the program. Firdaus Gosh has provided tremendous opportunities for learning and growth to the two young singers who made their professional debut in the program.

A specific raag is the subject of each program but its exposition is not limited to khayal (modern genre of classical vocal music); the raag is also sung in genres of light and semi-classical music, such as thumri (genre of light classical music with romantic lyrics), ghazal, kafi, geet, lok geet, boliyan and qawaali. While the quality of classical music in Firdaus Gosh has been good consistently, it has been surpassed by that of lighter genres in the program. Employing a raag in lighter forms is more difficult and challenging, since mood, popular appeal, lyrics, orchestration and several other factors come into play. The successful performance of raags in popular, folk and semi-classical genres of music, and not just in khayal, has been a great achievement of Firdaus Gosh.

Two performances of light music, in the programs that have been aired so far, have been particularly noteworthy.

[quote]Shaukat Ali's Saiful Maluk may be the best song performed thus far in Firdaus Gosh[/quote]

The first is Shaukat Ali’s masterful rendition of Saiful Maluk that touches both the heart and the soul. The singer, known in music circles as raag ka sadhu (holy man of raag), combines Mian Muhammad Bakhsh Qadri’s powerful poetry with expert singing to create a true masterpiece. Shaukat Ali is known for his facility in teep ki gaiyki (singing in higher registers). In this song, he demonstrates his prowess in kharaj ki gaiyki (singing in lower registers) by skillfully rendering the end in mandar saptak (lower octave). The move adds a mysterious poignancy to the song and leaves listeners simultaneously sad and hopeful. Shaukat Ali’s Saiful Maluk may well be the best song performed thus far in Firdaus Gosh.

Nadeem Abbas’ brilliant performance of boliyan, in raag Aiman, is the second spectacular presentation of light music in the show. Nadeem’s voice is bright and has a great throw. He is the son of famous folk singer, Allah Ditta Lonay Wala, who started his career in music by singing in a circus. Abbas’ superior technique of vocal projection comes, most likely, from his father. He uses belting techniques to project his voice by singing high notes in the middle registers, with lower vocal placement, keeping his throat open and the jaw relaxed. A gifted vocalist, Nadeem has been singing for many years. Greater fame has inexplicably eluded the talented singer. Firdaus Gosh may prove to be the vehicle he has always needed to gain popularity, renown and recognition.

A large number of Pakistanis musicians, both senior and junior, have performed in the program. The list includes Ustad Bade Fateh Ali Khan, Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, Badar and Qamar Uz Zaman, Hamid Ali Khan, Hussain Baksh Gullo, Qadir Ali Shaggan, Shafqat Ali Khan, Chand and Sooraj Khan, and Muslim Shaggan. Unfortunately, the format of the program does not allow for comprehensive presentations of raags; most performances, albeit competent, have been short, and almost symbolic, representations of the complete khayal. Two performances of khayal, nevertheless, stand out as masterpieces of vocal classical music.

Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan performed a brilliant khayal in the episode dedicated to raag Des. The Ustad, known for his intellectual and scholarly explorations of raag, is one of the finest classical vocalists in India and Pakistan today. A student of Ustad Ghazanfar Ali Khan and Ustad Gajoo Khan, he is greatly influenced by Ustad Amir Khan and consciously follows his style. Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan’s approach to Des is meditative and thoughtful. He brings out the emotional facets of the raag with great sensitivity. His use of embellishments is restrained, the focus being on the systematic unfolding and development of Des. He begins his khayal with a short aalaap (introductory passage) and moves quickly to a saadara, which is a khayal composition, sung with an influence of the dhurpad (ancient genre of classical music) style, in madh lai (medium tempo), and set to jhaptal (rhythmic cycle of ten beats). This is followed by a bandish (composition) set to ektala (rhythmic cycle of twelve beats) in drut lai (fast tempo). Mubarak Ali Khan’s sincere, and almost academic, rendition of Des serves Firdaus Gosh’s primary purpose of educating listeners.

The second memorable performance of classical music in Firdaus Gosh was that of Ustad Bade Fateh Ali Khan. He is Pakistan’s greatest living musician and one of the very few who can trace their ancestry directly to the founders of a major school of music - the Patiala gharana. He sang a khayal in raag Miyan Ki Malhar with vocal support from his brother, Hamid Ali Khan, and son, Sultan Fateh Ali Khan, in the program. In spite of his advanced age, the octogenarian made a thundering presentation of the raag, moving with the grace of a leopard and roaring like a lion to assert his rank and status in music.

[quote]The raag is a musical prayer to God for the rejuvenation of life with rain and thunder[/quote]

Miyan Ki Malhar was created by Tansen. The raag is a musical prayer to God for the rejuvenation of life with rain and thunder. The raag uses both the shudh (natural) and komal (flat) forms of Nikhad (seventh note, B). The melodic movement between these two notes is said to bring about rain. While performing the raag, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan entertained listeners, and himself, by indulging the interplay of the two Nikhads, swinging the andolit (oscillating) Gandhar (third note, E), and creating impromptu rhythmic patterns with no noticeable planning.

The concept of ras (aesthetic expression of emotion) is fundamental in Hindustani sangeet. A total of nine different ras, known collectively as the nauras, are defined for the arts. Six ras are available to musicians.

These are:

Chanchalta        Playfulness

Gambhirta        Gravity

Karun                Pathos

Shanti               Peace

Shringaar          Beauty

Veerta               Heroism

                (Source: Ustad Salamat Ali Khan)

Generally, a single ras is assigned to each raag but some raags, like a few that are prevalent in the singing of kafi and thumri, have as many as three associated ras. A difference of opinion about the number and kinds of ras used in music exists amongst musicians and musicologists. However, everyone agrees that the proper aesthetic demonstration of the emotional essence of a raag is of paramount importance, in Hindustani sangeet.

Miyan Ki Malhar is a Veer ras raag. Ustad Fateh Ali Khan conjures up an image of bravery, heroism and valor in his rendition of the raag, creating an ethereal, almost magical, atmosphere for listeners. Now in his eighties, the Ustad is still the king of raagdari (knowledge of raag), laikari (rhythmic virtuosity) and roodari (aesthetic beauty in music) in Pakistan.

Three prominent instrumentalists – Shahbaz Hussain, Akmal Qadri and Haroon Samuel – have performed memorably in Firdaus Gosh.

Tabla player, Shahbaz Hussain performed both as a soloist and accompanist in the program on raag Puriya Dhanashri. A student, among others, of Ustad Shaukat Hussain Khan, Shahbaz is one of Pakistan’s finest tabla players and the best representative of Ustad Shaukat’s style of tabla. Shahbaz selected the fourteen-beat Aara Chautala for his solo in Firdaus Gosh. This is an ancient taal (rhythmic cycle) that was developed originally in Southern India for the mirdang (percussion instrument) and subsequently adopted in Northern India. The rhythmic cycle was originally called Champak and subsequently the Dhar taal, before the establishment of its current name. Shahbaz Hussain’s solo is serious and disciplined, free of artifice and gimmickry, and has a tonal quality reminiscent of Ustad Shaukat Hussain Khan’s rich sound.

Flautist Akmal Qadri performs regularly in Firdaus Gosh. An internationally acclaimed musician, he is the son of the great Sain Ditta Qadri and the only bansuri player in Pakistan who is proficient both in classical and popular music. Akmal is an intelligent musician who uses his keen understanding of the needs of the singer, and the song, to provide expert accompaniment in a helpful and supportive manner. He provides aesthetically beautiful, technically correct and structurally complete musical interludes in songs; and while the interludes are his strength, the hallmark of his accompaniment is the use of short melodious passages to fill gaps and pauses in singing. In Firdaus Gosh, Akmal has managed to elevate the quality of each and every song in which he has provided accompaniment. Oddly, he has not yet played a solo in the program.

Haroon Samuel provided expert tabla accompaniment to a number of senior musicians during the first several episodes of Firdaus Gosh. His move to the United States has created a void in the program that no other tabla player has been able to fill. His performances with Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, Badar and Qamar Uz Zaman, and Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan are valuable lessons in the art of accompaniment for tabla players all over the world. Crisp bols (tabla syllables), accurate timing, polished technique, clean style and incredible preparedness are the qualities of Haroon’s tabla. He complements a performance by correctly assessing the skill, temperament and mood of the primary musician, and adjusting his style accordingly. Haroon’s helpful, supportive and mannerly style of accompaniment, in addition to many other qualities, has earned him a prominent place amongst the finest tabla players of his generation.

[quote]The quality of the various segments in Firdaus Gosh is not consistent[/quote]

However, the quality of the various segments in Firdaus Gosh is not consistent. The largely unnecessary, and fundamentally irrelevant, segments dedicated to painting and dance are decidedly weak.

An artist is tasked with the job of creating a painting to depict a raag in each episode of Firdaus Gosh. The idea may seem good on the surface but fails gloriously when executed on television.



A raag cannot and should not be illustrated by using anything other than sound. It is true that the series of raag mala paintings, first created in the sixteenth century, illustrate the color, mood, season, time, image, and deity associated with major raags but these paintings are valued for their historical and artistic merit. They do not constitute a treatise on music. Paintings in Firdaus Gosh have consistently failed at depicting raags and have no historical and little artistic merit. They do not warrant the attention that can be garnered by a globally televised program.

[quote]Pakistan's résumé in the field of dance is pitifully inadequate and deficient[/quote]

Pakistan’s résumé in the field of dance is pitifully inadequate and deficient. The country has produced a few kathak dancers but none that rank internationally in terms of knowledge, skill and experience. Pakistan does not have a tradition of kathak performance and teaching; performers have never been able to move past mediocrity and teachers have always struggled with problems of limited knowledge and experience. Students have been unable to get the training required to attain competence in kathak. Shallow knowledge, weak technique and inadequate repertoire have prevented even the well-known dancers of Pakistan from becoming masters of the dance form. The core of kathak is telling a katha (story) through dance. None of the Pakistani kathak dancers, with the possible exception of Madam Azuri, have ever understood their role as kathakars (storytellers) on stage.

Firdaus Gosh makes the curious and flawed choice of including a segment on dance in each program. Dance is not the right vehicle to explore a raag and dancers capable of performing kathak capably are not available. As a result, the gratuitous dance segment of the program has been a recurring failure.

The young and energetic Umair Arif performed kathak in one of the early episodes of Firdaus Gosh. A sincere and dedicated student of dance, Umair rendered a surprisingly unexceptional performance in the program. He has worked very hard for years to learn kathak but, in the absence of proper instruction and guidance, his earnestness has forced him into areas alien to kathak. A good teacher can mentor him to greatness in kathak. Sadly, one cannot be found in Pakistan.

[quote]She struggles to maintain tempo during the execution of even the simplest of tukras[/quote]

Nighat Chaudhary’s kathak performances in Firdaus Gosh, in particular, have been singularly bad. Nighat does not have a grasp of rhythm and time. She struggles to maintain tempo during the execution of even the simplest of tukras and often fails to end her tukras, tihais and toras on sam (first beat of rhythmic cycle). Chaudhury seems to enjoy improvisation but her lack of knowledge and skill end up making improvised sequences clumsy and, at times, comical.

A young male kathak dancer from Sri Lanka, Domiet Guruvardane, has also performed in Firdaus Gosh. His energetic and spirited performances have been better than those of Umair Arif and Nighat Chaudhury but are not yet worthy of being presented on television. Guruvardane needs to find a balance between naritya (expressive dance) and nritta (pure dance) and focus on abhinaya (art of expression) in dance. As he gains more experience and knowledge, Guruvardane is likely to fulfill the promise demonstrated in his performances on Firdaus Gosh. As of now, he needs to focus on learning.

Vicky Samrat choreographed a few dances for Narmeen Butt and Mariam Ali Hussain in Firdaus Gosh. These choreographed pieces do not belong to any known genre of dance. A clumsy blend of mujrah (dance of courtesans), filmi naach (film dance) and kathak, they are quite tasteless. These dances are inappropriate for television and for all other platforms.

Muhammad Fayyaz and his troupe, known as the Versatile Dance Company, performed a simply choreographed dance based on Sufi whirling during a qawaali performance in the program. Substantially better than other dance performances in Firdaus Gosh, but equally out of place, the piece ended up competing with the qawaali and failed due to excessive cutting between cameras and no long establishing shots.

Firdaus Gosh will do well to remove dance segments from the program, since they have been embarrassing to watch thus far. Viewers deserve better.

The most valuable segment of Firdaus Gosh is the one dedicated to commentary and discussion. A number of distinguished guests – musicians, poets, cultural commentators, artists, musicologists and others – are invited to each program to discuss the history, theory and practice of music. Scholars of music, such as Badar Uz Zaman and Parvez Paras, referee the always lively, mostly healthy, often valuable, and occasionally confrontational discussion about music. This has never been done before, in Pakistan, and is the greatest achievement of producer, Mohsin Jafar, and his team.

Fariha Parvez and Faheem Mazhar, both singers of merit in their own right, act as hosts on Firdaus Gosh. They perform their duties in a cheerful and carefree manner, introducing artists and performances with studied enthusiasm and little, if any, preparation.

Faheem Mazhar contributes to the program as a singer, host, lyricist and composer. A number of songs presented in Firdaus Gosh have been written and composed by Faheem. He is an educated musician who has received training from three capable teachers – Ustad Chotay Ghulam Ali Khan, G. A. Farooq, and Parvez Paras. An ataayee (musician who does not belong to a family of musicians), Faheem has emerged as a competent vocalist in a career that spans more than three decades. As a lyricist, he concentrates on the geet, using simple patterns and meters, designed to evoke feelings of nostalgia and romance. His compositions have two attributes: a faithful adherence to the grammar of raag and a creative use of rhythm. These qualities add some academic value to his compositions but take a lot away from melodic charm and appeal. In order to make his mark as a composer, Faheem needs to make his songs hummable, tuneful and melodious. The value of raag and taal notwithstanding, a geet must sound pleasing to the ear and have popular appeal; otherwise, it fails as a composition.

Fariha Parvez adds a great deal of charm and charisma to Firdaus Gosh. The lovely singer has both gained from and contributed to the program. It is fascinating to see her evolution and progress as a singer, in the series. Each successive episode shows a marked improvement in her singing skills. A singer who had limited herself to singing in simple cycles of six and eight beats in the first twenty years of her career, Fariha is now able to sing comfortably in seven, ten and twelve beat cycles in her pleasing and melodious voice. Her vocal projection and throw are excellent. She understands how to place her voice in order to make it sound bright, strong and rich. Before the start of a song, she hums a great deal so that she can place her voice correctly after feeling the resonance of her sound in her face. It is great to see Fariha delighting in accepting challenges in music and succeeding in areas others deemed too treacherous for her. She has sung quite a few demanding songs in Firdaus Gosh with competence and aplomb. Fariha has been a popular singer for a long time, but thanks to Firdaus Gosh and, undoubtedly, due to her hard work and dedication, she now commands respect and admiration, in addition to popularity, in the world of music.

The lovely name of the program – Firdaus Gosh – means “having a voice that sounds heavenly to the ears.” PTV makes an error by calling the program Firdaus-E-Gosh. The correct word is not Firdaus-E-Gosh but Firdaus Gosh. It is a combination of two words: Firdaus of Arabic origin and Gosh of Persian origin. There is no izaafat (enclitic that connects a noun to a succeeding noun or adjective) between the two words and it would be best if the channel corrected itself, for the show otherwise has a high degree of intellectual rigour attached to it.

More importantly, the program needs to focus on music alone. Indeed, the adjective, Firdaus Gosh, is applicable to music and not to dance and painting anyway. Pakistan has the right people to do justice to a program dedicated exclusively to music. And music has always been PTV’s forte. The judicious move, if made by producer Mohsin Jafar, will elevate the level of the program to the truly excellent and lend it an air of respectability and seriousness. Until then, viewers will continue to enjoy Firdaus Gosh – but only in parts.

Ally Adnan lives in Dallas, Texas, where he works in the field of mobile telecommunications and writes about history, culture and art. He can be reached at allyadnan@outlook.com