Violin & Kanjira cover of Pasoori. Originally performed by Ali Sethi & Shae Gill on Coke Studio

Pasoori Instrumental Cover

poem by kartar singh sarabha, set to raag jaijaiwanti in rupak taal (7 beats)
my original composition, i also played and produced the vocal, violin, and khanjira (percussion) tracks.

translation: 
if they ask you who you are
tell them that your name is "rebel"
that your occupation is to wipe out tyranny
that your work is to create ghadar (tumult)
that this is your namaaz and your sandhya 
that this is the way you worship
that this is your only true religion
that this is your khuda, that this is your Ram

https://www.instagram.com/voicesofbhakti/p/CV_8TmDsBHp/?img_index=1

tell them your name is rebel

This was my set for Queer Mubarak!, an art exhibition in NYC, "celebrating queerness from the Balkans to Bengal & Beyond." I presented a collection of three songs called "Ragas of Resistance."  They are all original songs which set anti-imperialist Urdu poetry to music using the Hindustani style of raga music. Conventionally called “North Indian” “classical” music, which associates it with caste-privileged elites in one particular country, it was born out of music practiced by artists of various castes and religious traditions across the Indian subcontinent. In fact, the work of people who have spoke against caste and religious divisions dating back hundreds of years is still widely performed by raga musicians. These problems haven’t gone away though, which is why I wanted to focus on poetry from the 20th century in particular.

If you liked this music, please support a queer Dalit friend's gender affirming care! https://gofund.me/09ca24402


Timestamps are for each song, I also provide a short explanation before. For more information about the history behind each song, please click the links for the description & translation.

"Palestinian Martyrs Who Could Not Come Home" - 5:48
Poet - Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1980)
Raag - Kirwani
Instruments - voice, violin
Description (Hajar Press), translation (Asad Haider) - https://x.com/hajarpress/status/1859284008787419632
Faiz wrote this when was exiled by Pakistan’s dictatorship to Lebanon and spent time with writers like Mahmoud Darwish and Edward Said, and other supporters of Palestinian resistance. The poem describes the feelings that come with what are now over 75 years of displacement, nostalgia for the land like the smell of the orange blossoms, and asserting the strength of Palestinian identity, especially in spite of the ongoing genocide. 

"Hands of Empire" - 16:10
Poet - Makhdoom Mohiuddin (1968)
Raag - Todi
Taal - Addha Teentaal
Instruments - voice, violin, tabla
Description (Voices of Bhakti), translation (Ali Husain Mir & Raza Mir) - https://www.instagram.com/p/C5Uy9C6rB5e/?img_index=2
The poem was written after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. It emphasizes that it is not just the killing of one man, but the death of truth, wisdom, and honesty. It ends with a statement on how the hands that have oppressed Black revolutionaries here at home were also at work in Vietnam and Palestine (the Valley of the Sinai).

"Tell Them Your Name is Rebel" - 27:07
Poet - Kartar Singh Sarabha (1900s/1910s)
Raag - Jaiijaiwanti
Taal - Rupak
Instruments - voice, violin, kanjira
Description (Voices of Bhakti), translation (Ali Mir) - https://www.instagram.com/p/CV_8TmDsBHp/?img_index=1
Sarabha moved to the United States in the early 1900s, with the intention of attending UC Berkeley, but soon became involved in the Ghadar movement, organizing workers and students from British India up and down the west coast of Turtle Island. He was martyred at 19, but inspired countless other activists like Bhagat Singh, who championed armed resistance not just to colonialism, but to Brahminism and other oppressive structures. This poem, emphasizes the need to fight oppression as one’s central duty, linking it to prayer and worship in different religions.

sath

Popular tracks