The Djinn of Aiman

April 13, 2016 8:26 PM

The Djinn of Aiman "IT WAS A DIM JANUARY AFTERNOON IN LAHORE, there was a power outage on Zahoor Elahi Road, and Farida Khanum had finally woken up. We were sitting among shadows on the floor of her living room: I on the carpet and she on a cushion that was at once a mark of her prestige (she is “The Queen of Ghazal,” the last of her generation’s iconic classically trained singers) and advanced age (she can no longer sit as she used to, like a mermaid, with her legs folded beguilingly beneath her). I had come to prepare Khanum for a concert she was to give in a week’s time in Calcutta, and was trying to engage her, in this fragile early phase of her day, with innocuous-sounding questions: which ghazals was she planning on singing there, and in what order?
posted by dhruva (2 comments total)

Oh, man, this is so rich and deep and deserving of attention. Excellent post. Bravo.
posted by y2karl at 4:56 AM on April 14, 2016

Cool, thanks for opening that door, dhruva !
posted by nicolin at 6:04 AM on April 14, 2016