A song for the soul

Radhika Sood Nayak

The Coronavirus outbreak might have brought concerts and physical performances to a standstill, but that's not stopping artistes from using their talent for a humanitarian cause. Vocalist Radhika Sood Nayak has teamed up with NGO Goonj to come up with Asan, a kalaam by 16th century Sufi mystic Shah Hussein, which Sood has composed and sung to raise funds for the distressed.

"I first learnt of Shah Hussein when a friend recommended a translated work called Verses of a Lowly Fakir | Madho Lal Hussein by Naveed Alam. The title itself intrigued me; how a 16th century Sufi mystic and his young disciple Madho Lal came together to be known as Madholal Hussein, blurring boundaries of religion."

Nayak's knowledge of Gurmukhi prompted her to pick out nearly a dozen poems from there to work on. AsaN turned out to be the first. The song talks about love and the decimation of the ego. Interestingly, she was set to launch her first music video last month. "I had invested savings from my corporate job and was poised to make my debut. Then COVID-19 struck. I felt I had to make the song more than just my launch vehicle, which is when I contacted NGO Goonj."

She hopes to raise Rs 10 lakh through the project.

Log on to: https://www.radhikasoodnayak.com/asan

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