Bulleh Shah & Chutney : Raagas and Rythm

Indus Voices is a group of musicians and singers led by Amar Ramessar who want to promote the classical Indian musical traditions. This was their first public live production.

The programme started off with the powerful rendition of " Ekadantaya Vakratundaya" and continued with an amazing repertoire of nostalgic and contemporary film music, sufi renditions, ghazals, qawali and 'folk music' music with tribute to Baita/Chutney/Chatney.

The accompanying musicians included players of tabla and dholak from India, djembe from Africa and a wooden drum from China. The five singers and the musicians kept the music flowing through the different genres.

Hard work must always be praised and in a country which is increasing the import of talent and not nurturing local talent, Raagas n Rhythm is a tribute to the artistes who are committed to their work and to development of their craft.


I was looking forward to the segment on the Sufi music - because even with Youtube, the live performance also helps to connect the performers and the listeners in a spiritual way.

The Sufi segment started with musical renditions of the poetry of Bullen Shah whose work sought to unite the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs of his time. While the music is important, the words of the poems are also important and some of Bullen Shah's poetry might be relevant now in a week when Guyana's political madness will resume with the 'Budget' debates. 

Next time, Indus Voices might want to find creative ways of including the English translations or explanations of the songs. This was done for a few of the items in the introduction of the items. 

The Theatre Guild proved to be a perfect venue for enjoying the music.. for being able to have a connection with the performers while also being able to contemplate on your own.

The chutney/folk section was a poignant reminder of how our ancestors who came also had to create (because they did not have access to the imports from India) and that these creations became genres in themselves.

I can only dream that Indus Voices will continue to grow .. that they will now compose ghazals and qawaali which can be rooted in Guyana and which take advantage of the musical diversity here.
Congratulations and thanks to Indus Voices.. for doing what one woman said at the end ' making living in Guyana bearable'