Performing for THE SOULS

As Puranchand Wadali and his son Lakhwinder Wadali settle down to start singing for the audience, the senior Wadali runs his eyes through the crowd and smiles as he figures out the songs he and his team are about to perform. For years now, this is how the Wadali Brothers have been no matter where they perform – fixing a list of songs as they set up on stage, after a brief interaction with the audience, trying to read their minds and faces before commencing with the performance. “The Almighty knows what they will want to listen to,” exclaims an ever-smiling Puranchand. “We sing for love, God, relationships, mankind – we will sing for the audience as well!” 

Yesterday, at the opening night of the Dhaka International Folk Fest, the Wadali Borthers mesmerised  the crowd with their melodies, enthralling them with their words and style.  The audience was absolutely in love with the rhythm and spirituality that they created with their music. 

Photo: Sheikh Mehedi Morshed

Sufi singers and musicians from the gharana of  Guru Ki Wadali in Amritsar, Punjab, the Wadali Brothers initially consisted of the two brothers Puranchand Wadali and Pyarelal Wadali. On March 9 this year, Pyarelal Wadali, the youngest of the two, passed away due to a cardiac arrest. The older brother now is performing with his son, Lakhwinder Wadali, who used to accompany his father and uncle in many earlier shows as well. Lakhwinder is an established performer himself.

“I wanted to become a wrestler, not a singer,” Puranchand says, talking about his father Thakur Das Wadali. “I was a pehelwan for 20 years, until my father forced me to take up singing. It was only because of him that I got the opportunity to train under great musicians. Pyarelal, my younger brother, took his lessons from me.”

Puranchand Wadali spoke of how grateful he is to his father for changing his life with music. “There is a saying – where the body does not reach, the soul reaches,” he says. “That is what happens when we perform music for others. Music can change the hearts and minds of so many people belonging to all walks of life. While we perform on stage, people ranging from a simple day labourer to the president of a country come to listen.” 

Photo: Sheikh Mehedi Morshed

Singing freely and with the heart is what the Wadali Brothers believe in. That is what they did last night while performing their gurbani, kafi, ghazal and bhajan genres. Free from electronic gadgets and the worldly materials, the moments listening to the Wadali Brothers seemed to pass by rapidly, leaving everyone with a desire for more.