In memory of more than a million Indian soldiers who served in the First World War, but are remembered – if ever – only for their valour and loyalty to the British crown. 70,000 Indian men died in the war and didn’t even make it as a footnote in the Imperial War Museum’s World War One exhibit. 'Memorial to lost words' gleans from soldiers letters that were censored and never reached India, and songs sung by women a hundred years ago, that stopped being sung. The song is an homage to the young men who serve as human fodder in this jingoistic, blood thirsty world.
The song was conceived off by Bani Abidi and is a combination of two texts. The first 'Na Wanj  Na Wanj Dholan Yaar', an old Punjabi folk song. The second, a poem especially written for this arrangement by Amarjit Chandan based on censored letters written by the soliders.

Arranged by Saad Sultan and Ali Aftab Saeed
Male Voice: Ali Aftab Saeed
Female Voices: Harsakhian
Commissioned by Edinburgh Arts Festival 2016

Memorial to Lost Words

Bani Abidi