Chorus singing bespeaks bonhomie between two communities.
Based on new melodious tunes and rendition of Kashmiri folk songs, ballads and sonnets, Abha Hunjura’s open concert in the lawns of Sheri Kashmir International Convention Complex (SKICC) on Saturday left the audience enthralled.
“She left everyone spell bound with her performance. We appreciate her connect with her moorings and where she is rooted even after a gap of nearly three decades,” said Manzoor Bhat, an employee with a private organization.
Abha whose forefathers originally belonged to village Hanjura in Badgam district, shifted to Bangalore with her family as a child after an armed secessionist struggle erupted in the valley in early 90’s. She did her engineering in Computers. After serving in an IT company for a brief period she switched over to her first choice- online Music.
Her ballads, foot tapping notes and musical tunes based on Kashmiri folklores are already an online success. Despite Abha’s departure from the valley, she continues to have a strong bond with her culture and wants to churn it further to take it (local music) to new heights.
Her band ‘Satisfaction’ held nearly 2,500 music lovers captivated. Zabarwan mountain range in the backdrop and shimmering waters of Dal Lake in front, Abha’s concert titled ‘Saaz e Kashmir’ played Kashmiri folk songs in Western style which impelled young girls (mostly students) to dance on the tunes of these songs. They were joined by some Kashmiri Pandit girls present in the audience and both of them sang songs from popular Kashmiri folk to modern wedding melodies.
“Her performance mesmerized all of us here and helped to bridge the gap between the two major communities, Muslims and Kashmir Pandits,” said Nazir Ahmed Malik, an orchardist from Baramulla. “This is a real Kashmir that we had been brought up since our childhood. There was no difference between the two people, total bonhomie between the communities, “he said, adding “we have been witness to each other’s joy and grief for centuries together.”…
