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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

Kicking for success

17 year old Priyanka looks delicate with her lean frame and sharp features. But shake hands with her and you can see she is tough as nails being a wrestler and a kick boxer.

Priyanka began her sports career by practicing to be a belt wrestler and a free wrestler ever since she was in high school but of late she is into kick boxing. And has become a champion at it.

Born to poor parents Priyanka lived in the Rainbow Home run by APSA (Association for promoting Social Action) an NGO that works for children and for community development in Hyderabad and Secunderabad. 

Rainbow Homes program is part of Association for rural and urban needy (ARUN) under which there are homes for children who are underprivileged due to poverty, children living on streets, orphans, lost, trafficked and have no access to basic care. The Rainbow homes shelter these children and provide them with all the basic amenities, education, care, love and guidance molding their future and encouraging to dream of a future where they can be secure and happy.  There are 45 such homes across the country and 19 of them are in Hyderabad.

  Priyanka’s father who worked as a bus conductor met with an accident that made him incapable of working again and her mother took up a job as security personnel in a mall. Bringing up 6 children single handedly was a huge task for her mother so she enrolled 4 daughters, Priyanka included in the APSA (Association for promoting Social Action) Rainbow Home in 2009 when she was a 10 year old kid.

Priyanka and her sisters adapted to their new life in the Rainbow home and were cheerful all the time. Priyanka showed more inclination towards sports and so her teacher at school began to coach her in belt wrestling and free style wrestling. The director of the organization Srinivas Reddy engaged a coach for her when he saw the spark in the girl’s eyes

Priyanka worked hard getting up early mornings for the exercises and training. The care takers and mentors at the Rainbow Home encouraged her at every step. Waking her up in the mornings, with her diet and boosting her spirits in her small defeats and victories.  

 And the hard work paid off when Priyanka was selected to play for the state. And Priyanka won first place at the state level and went to Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh in 2016 and then again in the next year she qualified for the National level at Maharashtra.

But both the years she could not win gold in the wrestling competition. However it was still a victorious moment for her when Mr. Akramullah from the Sports Association for Telangana State saw her wrestling skills. He immediately contacted her guardians at the Rainbow Home on his return to Hyderabad and after the initial formalities of seeking permission; he took her under his wing and coached her in kick boxing where her real potential lay.

Just after 2 months of rigorous training the state level competitions for the ‘under 19 category’ came up and Priyanka won the gold medal and qualified for the national levels – WAKO India National Kickboxing championship.

WAKO India (WAKO – World Association of Kickboxing organizations) event was held from January 25^th -28^th 2018; for the first time in Telangana State with nearly 1600 participants from 23 states of India. And our girl Priyanka was one of them.   

 Priyanka participated in the National level WAKO India National championship and after defeating her opponents from Haryana and Madhya Pradesh she entered the final round with a girl from Maharashtra. After a tough match Priyanka emerged the winner.

It was a moment of pride for all of us from APSA when she won and the gold medal adorned her neck. And as she lifted her trophy and posed for photographs her mentors gloated with pride. It was not just Priyanka but all the girls who lived with her in the Rainbow home who had won that day. She was an example to them and the junior girls had always looked up to her. And she had not failed them this time either. 

Her mother cried in happiness hugging Priyanka. The sacrifice of keeping her daughters away from her had not gone in vain. Priyanka did them proud.

Priyanka wants to ease the burden of her mother by taking up a job as soon as she finishes Intermediate 2^nd year and turns 18. She wants to become a police constable although her ultimate goal is to become an IPS.

Says she, “I can’t afford to wait that long to support my mother. So I will first join as a constable, support my mother and pursue a degree through correspondence. And once I finish my degree I will appear for the UPSC exams. I want to join the IPS.”

But right now she is gearing up for the WAKO Asia International level the venue of which is yet to be declared. But Priyanka says she is ready and rearing to go beat or get beaten. Though we all hope she beats all her opponents and emerges a champion.  

All the very best to Priyanka Mankar.

with the staff and director of APSA