Gauss Shivani/New Delhi
Music has the power to unite people involved in conflict. It could have a positive impact on the situation in Kashmir, where violence has decreased and life has returned to normal, but there is a key element missing, which is the bond between Kashmiri Muslims and Hindus. The latter left in droves three decades ago to escape violence and killings, one of them being Dhananjay Kaul, the famous Kashmiri singer whose concerts sparked outrage among the community spread across the globe.
Dhananjay Kaul sings ghazal, Sufi and thumri, and his concerts are organized in different locations around the world. Tabla player Nawaz Rasheed Zafar, who accompanies him, is also a master of the instrument, having taught at several music institutions.
However, Cole's singing journey began with a traumatic accident. It is still present in their memories and a cause of constant pain. The memory of his picturesque village, Safapur, located on the banks of Lake Manasbal. He was playing in the hillsides filled with lush green trees and picturesque peaks. The magic of the environment was highlighted by the beautiful songs of the Hindu-Muslim brotherhood.
His father was a singer and taught music to the Muslim children of the village.
“I came to Delhi in 1990 after passing my high school exams,” says Dhananjay Kaul, who lives in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida district in Delhi-NCR with his wife, actress and writer Anjali Ada, and their son. Soon he ran out of money and left for Jammu. “I wanted to go home when I learned that near our house there had been a bomb explosion. There was something I was not aware of and found out later, which was that my father was also on the list of targeted terrorists.”
Dhananjay Kaul with Nawaz Rasheed Zafar
In the early 1990s, terrorism was common in Kashmir. Terrorist organizations have described prominent Kashmiri Pandits as anti-LTTE (read terrorism) and prepared hit lists with their names at the locality and village levels. The same lists will be posted on walls or electricity poles for everyone to read. It was assumed that the names mentioned would be targets of terrorists, many of whom would leave Kashmir immediately.
“My father’s students tried to warn him. Father taught music to about 250 students. At that time there was no distinction between Hindu and Muslim in Kashmir.”
Talking about his village Dhananjay, he says there were only five Pandit families in the village, which has a population of 10,000-12,000. My father, who had returned from sannyasin (the state of renunciation many Hindus go through to live an ascetic life), took over the responsibilities of caring for the vast tracts of farmland that our family owned. So, when Dadaji died, the people elected my father as sarpanch and he remained in office for 20 years.
Taking a trip down memory lane, Dhananjay Kaul says everything in his life was linked to Manaspal Lake. “Mansbal is one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. We had a library in our house. All the students also came to study,” he says.
Almost all of his father's followers were Muslims. They warned him not to leave the house because terrorists from other villages might monitor his movements. “The wall of our house was high and they could not spy on it. However, one night, they planted an explosive device and caused an explosion. Fortunately, everyone survived. At the time of the explosion, my brother, my aunt, my father, and our neighbor Ghani Sheikh Sahib – who looks exactly like my father… The youngest – he was there.”
Everyone was asleep on the other side of the wall when the explosion occurred. Everyone fainted from the sound. It happened on April 2, 1991, and I read about it in the April 4 newspaper in Jammu, 300 km away.
He says that this incident led to all his family members leaving their highland home, village, peaks and lakes. “However, they picked some basics and thought they would be back soon, but now it's been 33 years and we haven't come back yet,” he added.
Dhananjay Kaul says he joined his family in Jammu and later they moved to Delhi where life as a displaced family was difficult. He started singing but did not get support from any institution. However, he got assignments from All India Radio, Doordarshan, Punjab Academy, etc. He was growing as an artist.
He remembers his excitement when the Punjab Academy invited him to Chandigarh and he was interviewed and published by The Indian Express.
“It was a time when I had to earn money from my singing and also do a lot of sports (training the vocal cords). If my life circumstances had been better, I might have spent more time in Riyadh,” says Dhananjay.
He wanted to go to Mumbai where one could become commercially successful. Somehow it didn't happen. He recalls that he once went to actor Govinda's house where he was welcomed by actor Kriti's brother.
He treats Govinda's mother as his teacher. “I knew my father through letters.”
Dhananjay Kaul says he did not stay in Mumbai for long as he did not find any support from any quarter and returned to Delhi.
“For the past ten years, I have been able to survive as an artist thanks to the West. I found work in America. I got work from Gujarat in India where a company supported me in 2004. The owner of the company in Ahmedabad is a millionaire, and he is just like my brother. .. So I came to Murari Babu Ji’s ashram. After 2004, I rediscovered myself.”
The classical singer who is very popular from Kashmir to USA says he enjoys singing Sufi songs and these songs are very popular in Kashmir. People who work in the fields also leave their work and come to listen to him.
He says he tried to make some changes in Kashmiri songs and singing, and this initially attracted criticism. However, people soon accepted his idea.
Dhananjay Kaul explains that his grandmother was fond of singing and remembered many compositions. He remembers three Kashmiri women who revolutionized Kashmiri poetry. The first is Lala Ded, also known as Pandit Laleshwari or Lala Arifa. Her poetry revolves around love for God and philosophy of life. The second is Heba Khatun, a woman who belongs to a poor family but got the chance to become the Queen of Kashmir. The third was Arnimal.
Coincidentally, these three women went through a lot of suffering in their lives which made their poetry influential and relatable to all Kashmiris.
Commenting on the current situation in Kashmir, Kaul says the situation has changed for the better, but I believe that artistic and cultural renaissance is only possible with artists, poets, Sufis and saints. It's very easy to do: people in positions can do it. “In my village there is a dargah of the Sufi saint Rahim Sahib. His sajjadhan (caretaker) has been telling me for two years that I should return to my home.
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Two years ago, after July 2021, he was scheduled to hold a concert in the village, and about 20,000 people registered as an audience. “I have no idea why it was canceled at the last minute. People like me very much as their own person. This is because I belong to a family whose generations have lived in the village. People leave their plows in the fields and come to listen to my songs.
