As I prepare to fly to Pakistan and do a concert in Karachi, songs of the Sindh area echo in my mind. It's time to mention one of my absolute favourites, and although he is no longer alive, even the youngest generation of Sindhis would agree that he is the greatest icon of Sindhi folk.

This person is none other than the legend Alan Faqeer, who sang the most beautiful Sufi songs in the velvety Sindhi language, and who had the ability to joke with his audience with as much ease as he could make their eyes well up with tears. In the following video he does the latter, although he cannot hide his naughtiness either. This video also teaches us how to tie a Sindhi turban... Alan Faqeer presents songs in a very typical, Pakistani Sufi style, which to me is reminiscent of the somewhat further away located Azeris and Turks... more specifically, the ashiq singers... the ones enamoured with life. 

So, here is the song Tiri pawanda tarien... and the performance speaks for itself. I don't only mean the rough vocals, but the revealing of the white of the eye, a sign of ecstasy.

To make the picture more complete, let me introduce you to Alan Faqeer's son, a true nurturer of this heritage. We immediately sense that he is a completely different personality, but sometimes the tone of his father's voice glitters through his vocals. 

Let me also add a happier song performed by the father. It's about falling asleep... hence the reason he is seen pretending to snooze. The audience always expected him to do this "stunt", which made the performance quite unique. (The most interesting part of the show starts at 1:57.)

As a conclusion, here is the same song performed by representatives of a younger generation... a Sufi rock band, The Sketches. Falling asleep in this version is not so keenly accentuated: