SUFI, FOLK TAKE CENTRE STAGE TONIGHT AT #FRIDAYJAM6
Music lovers in Delhi-NCR, are you ready to immerse yourself in soothing Sufi notes and folk melodies, tonight?
Soul-stirring, heartwrenching, calming — singer Lakhwinder Wadali’s music is all this and more. So, music fans in Delhi-NCR, get ready to immerse yourself in Sufi notes! The singer, who belongs to the famous Wadali family (Wadali Brothers) of Patiala gharana from Punjab, will perform tonight at the third week of Hindustan Times Friday Jam Season 6, which will be as rocking as the previous weeks.
Lakhwinder will be rendering hits such as Tu Mane Ya Na Mane, Mast Nazro Se, Saheba, and Charkha. Trained extensively in the art of folk music under the guidance of his father Padma Shri Ustad Puran Chand Wadali and late uncle Ustad Pyarelal Wadali, he says, “Humari virasat ko sambhaalna mere liye bahut badi baat hai. It’s very difficult for me to match up to them... Mujhe unka support bahut hai. But dar lagta hai unke saath gaane mein. Now I’ve opened up and also joke with him (his father) on the stage.”
The singer loves the charm of open-air performances, and is thrilled to perform tonight along with his band. “My father once told me, ‘We perform live and if people aren’t happy at the end of it, then there’s no point’. When you perform wholeheartedly, it connects with the audience. With live audience, one has to capture the interest with peppy numbers, folk songs. I’ll give my best and we’ll have great fun tonight. My father has always said that Sufi ek ibadat hai, ek bhakti aur meditation hai. Sufi apne guru ki tareef mein likhe gaye shabd hain. Usko romanticise Bulleh Shahji ne kiya tha,” he says.
Most people grow up with toys, but the singer has grown up with musical instruments. He shares that, growing up, he was surrounded by musicians who would visit his home Guru ki Wadali village in Amritsar, Punjab. “Phir chahe woh Hans Raj Hansji ho ya Golden Temple mein jo kirtan karte hain... Mahaul waise hi bana rehta tha. I didn’t want to take up music professionally. But like they say, it was destined,” he adds.
He concludes with an advice for budding musicians where he urges them to work hard, take inspiration from senior artists, and never miss riyaaz (practice). “Apne riyaaz aur badon ki respect zaroor rakhein,” he says.