Urdu is exceptionally expressive and it’s hard to ignore it: Singer Zeb Bangash of 'Highway' fame

The beacon of multicultural symphonies ndash Zebunnisa Bangash is a singersongwriter hailing from Lahore Pakistan Having worked on Imtiaz Alirsquos film lsquoHighwayrsquo she is remembered for her soulnourishing vocals for the emotive song ndash lsquoSooha Saaharsquo Fondly known as Zeb she is the first ever Pakistani artist to have directed music for the iconic Lipstick Under My Burkha which has received 18 film awardsA versatile vocalist Zeb has contributed to various genres including folk pop and Sufi music She has recorded in languages ranging from Urdu Dari Pashto Farsi Turkish Punjabi Saraiki and more Carrying forward the legacy of Hindustani classical music she has dished lsquoAaja Re Moray Saiyaarsquo lsquoDilruba Na Razi for Coke Studio Season 9Zebrsquos tryst with Hindustani classical music continues with her remarkable endeavor to revive and reintroduce Khayal a South Asian musical form associated with romantic poetry Titled Healing Khayal which is spearheaded by herself with Dr Homayra Ziad PhD Religious Studies at Johns Hopkins University Zeb is establishing this faculty as a healing practiceIn an exclusive interaction with this writer Zeb delves into the influence of Urdu on the craft of songwriting music as a medium of healing and her journey to revive Khayal as a transformative experienceHow relevant is Urdu language in current timesAs an artist and a lover of Urdu the language echoes with me because of its structure and poeticism Urdu is exceptionally expressive and thatrsquos why it is difficult to ignore it My mother tongue is Pashto and I grew up in Punjab so my second mother tongue or my friend tongue if there is such a thing is Punjabi Even so Urdu is very much alive and relevant for me personally as a matter of fact in my upcoming work Im looking more and more into the works of Urdu poets for inspirationGiven the emphasis being laid on English how is Urdu tackling the competition from other popular languagesYoursquore right English is everywhere now Thanks to a unified social media youth culture that expresses itself primarily in English or through English perspectives For instance I have noticed peoplersquos accents and pronunciation of Urdu change since a lot of young people write Urdu in the Roman script which is phonetically restrictive for UrduHaving said that there is lots more info on the literature history and roots of Urdu on social media blogs than ever before This kind of repository certainly didnrsquot exist when I was growing up Itrsquos become more accessible in a way Urdu as you know is derived from the Turkish word Ordu which means army ndash as it is a collection or a Lashkar of some very ancient poetic languages including Sanskrit Prakrit Arabic and Persian Now bits of English have also found their way into Urdu expression so perhaps its a good time for Urdu to be opened up again through social mediaI see blogs on Persian poetics that are quoting Urdu Shairi ones that are talking about the interconnectivity of the region In such blogs Urdu is always featured because many young people are researching root words taken from other languages Young artists and filmmakers in South Asia seem to be inspired by Urdu Novels short stories and poetry more than they did two decades ago In many ways this is an exciting phase for Urdu because fluidity and integration are what Urdu is best at In that sense it is most definitely a modern languageHow can music serve as a medium to healTherere some serious neuroscientists cum jazz musicians in the world who are trying to figure out the how of this because we all know music can affect your mindset Listening to a love song on a horrible day in the office can make you feel like you just went on a 4minute romantic vacation back to your deskIrsquom not sure how it does that but there have been people who have studied sound extensively a thousand years in the past people like Al Farabi and the Mousali family Their research and knowledge fed the 49note system that constitutes the Khayal system The intricacy and use of these microtonal notes can induce certain feelings or emotions and in some cases physical effectsPlease take us through the journey of conceiving Healing KhayalI was already in the pop industry when I started learning from Ustaad Naseeruddin Saami The first couple of years there wasnrsquot much conversation listening and repetition After being fed these sounds for two years my ustaad started making connections with aesthetics history poetry spatiality and pushed me towards finding my own voiceAs an adult student it was so much fun to be given all these touch points while singing I soon noticed changes in my voice expression and personality I was given so much more than ragas with ArohiAvrohis and vadisamvadi This system of teaching and music was for me and my betterment I must confess that this was at the time all guesswork and nothing was explicitly communicated by my teacherHis primary concern was and remains to be lsquoSurrsquo As I got into deeper conversations and research and understood the history better I discovered that Khayal has always been linked to spiritual spaces and spiritual practices and it was very deeply linked to the Sufi tradition and expression It was then that I decided to try and free it from its modern intimidating pedestal of technicalities and form and bring it to its original purpose of connection healing and selfactualization that I had experienced with my UstaadIn the meanwhile Grammy awardwinning producer Ian Brennan recorded Ustaad Saami and took him on tour to Europe the US and Australia at WOMAD and other wonderful festival stages The reaction of the crowd was a testament to the fact that Khayal sung in its original notes had an impact everywhere I started conversations with a number of organizations in The US and the Center for Cultural Vibrancy with Josh Kohn got on board right after COVIDDr Homayra Ziad and I have been childhood friends and when I came to Baltimore for a concert in 2018 we ended up reconnecting and having a conversation on Khayal She immediately knew what I was talking about as she was aware of its Sufi roots and became a key person in the projectWhat is your message to people who are unable to tackle pressure and need a creative outletTackling pressures in this world is so hard for everyone I would include myself sometimes Irsquom so overwhelmed I can only tell you what works for me and I realize that for some people that might not be the case Disconnecting from the world even if for fifteen minutes regularly to sing to and for myself Taking the performative out of my practice in those times and leaning into the meditative really helps Creative outlets help me nurture a relationship with myself and can be the best way I selfsoothe