have to fi rst pick it up phonetically. It’ s a lot of work!” MODEST WAYS Even while speaking, Sethi displays his strong command over the two art forms: classical singing and writing. He has a steady voice; his pitch doesn’ t waver, speaking calmly and slowly. He does not stutter or is ever at a loss of words. He explains himself well, rather too well, but seems unsure of it as he asks on various occasions“ Am I making sense?” Modesty is another trait that is deeply entrenched in Sethi’ s personality. Following Khanum’ s advice, Sethi then bought himself a harmonium and found an ustaad, Master Moin Rafi, who would teach him in his summer holidays. He started listening to old songs and started to analyse the notes being used in them. All of this was happening side by side, as he was still completing his studies and was also in the process of writing his fi rst novel, The Wish Maker. After graduating in 2006, Sethi’ s passion for music took over.“ I went and became formally apprenticed to Ustaad Naseeruddin Sami sahab, the greatest classical vocalist in our country.” From this moment on, Sethi began his formal entry into the world of music. And since then, he has gone onto produce a number of hits such as‘ Dil Jalaney Ki Baat’,‘ Aah Ko Chahiye’ and‘ Kya Hoga( a duet with Zeb Bangash) with the latter two songs featured in Sarmad Khoosat’ s Manto. BACK TO THE FUTURE What everyone is buzzing about these days is Sethi’ s appearance alongside Abida Parveen in Coke Studio 9’ s first episode. His performance in‘ Aaqa’ is truly commendable for various reasons including the fact that he was able to hold his ground magnifi cently alongside a legend like Abida Parveen. Sethi explains that the producers of Coke Studio allow singers to bring in their own melodic improvisation to the song which means all the raags and surrs we hear in‘ Aaqa’ were up to Sethi’ s discretion. The experience of singing with Abida Parveen was both terrifying and exciting as he prepared for this performance of a lifetime.“ This opportunity came down to me from the divine,” he says.“ It’ s not something I had stimulated in anyway. Abida Jee was supposed to sing the lines‘ Mein faqiri mein bhi kitna hoon qalandar dekho, dekhnay walon zara mera muqadar dekho’ but at the very last minute she looked at me and said‘ tum gao’ and I sang it.” Addressing the challenge he faced when rehearsing for the song, Sethi recalls,“ Initially we were supposed to sing from a C. That is a pitch that I’ m comfortable with.” However, two months before the song was to be shot, Sethi was told that he had to sing from a G.“ This is essentially a female pitch. For me to sing the whole song on that pitch was very depressing at fi rst.” Doing what he does best, he overcame his obstacles by preparing, practicing and studying. Sure enough, Sethi sang like a professional on the fi nal day.“ My voice was
CHIT CHAT
on the top of my skull. If you listen to that shaer, you’ ll hear that my voice is coming from I don’ t know where!” The response to Sethi’ s performance has largely been positive.“ I’ m surprised to have been inundated with love,” he says of the applause he’ s been receiving since the song made its appearance. The surprise factor stems from the fact that when people have such high expectations, it’ s a diffi cult task to live up to them. But Sethi managed to satisfy everyone’ s expectations.“ I even read a comment that said that‘ iska baap mujhe nai pasand lekin yeh bilkul theek ga raha hai!’” Beyond public perception The one-million-dollar question that comes to mind when one thinks of Ali Sethi is how has his father’ s career impacted his own? Being the son of Najam Sethi, an infl uential journalist and Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, who has also served as Chief Minister of Punjab, may mean that people assume that things must have been made easy for him. However, Sethi explains that there were no doors that were opened or closed to him because of his father. Just like any other musician, Sethi is making ends meet.“ It’ s more about luck in this profession, more than anything else,” he clears the air. Sethi also adds that there is nothing to be gained by knocking on the doors of the government because the state’ s involvement in preserving our culture has shrunk to nothingness. Having faced criticism from an unlikely source for his performance on Coke Studio’ s tribute track‘ Aye Rah-e- Haq- Ke Shaheedo’, Sethi explains his stance for doing the track in a sensible manner.“ A bunch of these super academic laptop warriors in the West wrote to me saying‘ how can you, with your education, sing something so militaristic?’ It’ s a song, not a weapon. Look at what the song is saying. It’ s encouraging hope. It isn’ t mobilizing people for war!” The song is also metaphorical as it extends to anyone who walks in the path of truth. It isn’ t just for martyrs who have lost their lives in the line of duty. All this further demonstrates how Sethi is unrelenting in his passion for traditional music and has made it one of his life’ s missions to carry this art form forward.“ If we build institutions that teach music, anyone can learn it. It only requires focus and practice, and I’ m committed to building something at some point in my life.” Sethi is deeply ambitious, juggling with advancing in his musical career as well as struggling to fi nd the time to fi nish his second novel. Has he considered acting?“ I’ ll die of exhaustion if I attempt one more thing,” he laughs. As the interview comes to a close, it’ s clear that Sethi doesn’ t do anything half-heartedly. He takes no short cuts and that refl ects in the fi nesse of his work, whether he is singing, writing, or just having a regular conversation on a very ordinary day. So here’ s hoping we hear more from this powerhouse artist and may his drive and energy never slow down.
17 | BOOM