Musings: Desert Rose of Umerkot

Musings: Desert Rose of Umerkot

Desert Rose of Umerkot

Nirmala Maghani doing the riyaaz

I first heard Nirmala on you tube - a video she had uploaded of her performance on a TV channel in Pakistan. I loved her rich soulful voice and the earnest expression she wore while singing.

I contacted her to find out under whom she was trained. And to my amazement I found out that this 19 year old girl had not one but three ustaads!!

But hey hang on..all the three ustaads are not your regular ustaads we know of.  They are her online mentors. And I was baffled because with online classes this girl was simply awesome. Imagine the talent that is still unexplored in this 19 year old girl.

I was curious and probed more (via internet). Nirmala then told me all about herself, how she got into singing, her online Ustaads, her family, her education and her dream.

Nirmala Maghani resides in the desert region of Umerkot, Sindh, Pakistan. She has just completed her Intermediate and will take admission for the B Sc course. Her father no longer alive so she lives with her mother, grandmother and her brother who not only runs the household but also nurtures Nirmala’s talent and is her mentor and career advisor.

Singing is a kind of taboo in our community, says Nirmala. But she was blessed with a golden voice that was waiting to be heard sooner or later. Nirmala sang in the school functions and her teachers saw a promising singer in her and encouraged her to sing. Her brother decided to make his little sister a singer and did not stop her when she practiced at home the folk songs from the local dholak players. A little bit hesitant at first, her daadi and mother later gave in and let Nirmala practice. Nirmala also picked up playing the harmonium from these dholak players whenever she got the chance.

One fine day her brother surprised her and got a harmonium on

 rent. But when Nirmala played the harmonium and began

 singing curious neighbours of their community wanted to

 know what was going on. 

Girls from good families did not go singing around, they said. And the elders of the community advised her against it.

After a few days Nirmala took to singing again closing all the doors and windows of their house she practiced singing and playing the harmonium which she had hidden away so that people visiting them should not see it.

 Things began to change when she got a chance to perform on TV in the morning show on the local channel and people in her community started noticing her. They still disapproved but now Nirmala did not shut the doors while practicing and soon her brother purchased a harmonium for her.

Anup Jalota ji making Nirmala officially his shagird

Nirmala then contacted Anup Jalota the ghazal and devotional songs singer in India through the social media and requested him to train her. Anup Jalota readily agreed to a request that came all the way from a teenager in Umerkot Pakistan. Seeing her interest and eagerness to learn classical music that he sent her lessons over voice recordings and these classes are still on.

In the same manner she also met Ustaad Raza Ali Khan the great son of legendary Ustaad Bade Ghulam Ali of Kolkata and was taking online lessons from him.

Nirmala got lucky in the year 2017 when Anup Jalota came to Sindh and Nirmala got to meet her idol who then officially made her his disciple.  Nirmala was overjoyed when she performed alongside her Guru whom she also calls papa because Anup Jalota ji has made her his beti the day she sent him request on face book.

And she couldn’t get luckier because in the same year Ustaad Raza Ali khan attended the Music conference in Karachi and Nirmala was thrilled to meet her ustaad.

With Ustaad Raza Ali Khan 

And during her visits to the recording studio in Karachi which is 400 kilometers from Umerkot she met Ustaad Murtuza Khan Naizi and became his disciple and takes lessons from him both online when she is in Umerkot and live classes when she goes to Karachi.

She works hard doing ‘riyaaz’ (practice) for 10 to 12 hours a day with no interest in anything else except singing unlike other girls of her age. Clearly Nirmala is not the typical teenager because her focus in solely on singing and singing alone. She does not want to perform in marriages and parties that would be losing my identity as a sufi and classical singer because in parties people want you to sing party songs and that is not my style.

The most memorable moment in Nirmala’s life is the time when she sang with her papa cum Ustaad Anup Jalota on the stage. It was something I never even dreamed of, she says.

Her favourites are Abida Parveen, Mehdi Hassan and of course Anup Jalota.  She dreams of performing in India one day. 

It would be such an honour to come to India and perform. And I will be able to meet both my Ustaads again.

And her only reward is having more and more people hear her sing. When people listen to me singing and appreciate it that is the greatest reward for a singer.

Like all singers Nirmala also believes that music can bridge the divides between people because music has no religion. She feels the music fraternity can help build improve the strained Indo-Pak relations. She has hopes that peace will prevail again. After all both countries were one before the axe of partition fell and there are so many things in common apart from music.

Hope Nirmala's dreams come true and she becomes a successful singer soon. :))

Nirmala's display page

You can hear Nirmala sing on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6Iea5C3CF8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wboAyw1kySA