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instep
overview

Salman Ahmed preaches to the choir

 

Salman Ahmad promotes his book Rock & Roll Jihad, which is a "social commentary" on the way he sees the world and delivers a speech to students at Aga Khan University about his life, music and Culture without Borders. Instep was on hand for Salman's sermon.

Out of breath and panting like an Olympic sprinter, a result of a combination of smoking and parking atop a hill, I take a seat inside a packed Aga Khan University (AKU) auditorium where the provost of the prestigious institution, Dr. William Doe, is delivering an introductory speech for their guest speaker of the evening, Salman Ahmad. Salman, who likes to be known as Sufi Sal or even Soulman, is making the rounds promoting his autobiographical book Rock & Roll Jihad: A Muslim Rock Star's Revolution. Today he is invited to speak to a young room full of aspiring doctors as part of the Special Lectures Series (SLS) conducted by AKU.

Dr. Doe (who is blessed with the coolest doctor name) hands the podium over to Sufi Sal, who embraces the stage adorning his beige jacket which covers his blue tee-shirt and brown khakis. With an appearance of a rock star rather than a lecturer, wearing a furry hat which resembles a member of the family of squirrels that once resided in my backyard; he clears his throat to speak. 

Apart from plugging his book, he is there to enlighten the majors in medicine about the healing powers of music. Many rock stars, hippies or music aficionados have often preached the unifying experience of music and its ability to bridge the gap created by the divisive nature of traditions, ethnicity and religion. In that sense the message he tries to convey is not unique, just scarce.

A quote by the 13th century Persian poet Jalalud'din Rumi, "follow the music and it will show you the way," was the crux of Salman's lecture. "No matter where we come from, whatever race, ethnicity, language, male, female, child, we all hear an inner music in the heart," he elaborated before he began to recite his own insightful journey to the righteous path of music. During this recital however he came across as a little self-righteous, which is a by-product of stardom here and abroad.

The story of a struggle between priorities and passion is the story of many a creative mind who have been pressed to pursue a conventional career rather than turning their passion into profession. Experiencing a multi-cultural environment when he moved to New York, the epicenter of various ethnicities and religions in the United States is the aspect he should have shed more light on.

Instead the majority of his speech was on his first experience with music as a child and an adult. He recalls a wedding in a shamiana (tent) on a chilly Lahore evening where, after dinner, he first heard 'Lal Meri Pat' and how it "touched" him. To hold the audience's attention he picks up his acoustic guitar and starts strumming the D, A and G chords which lead into him breaking out into song, singing the aforementioned tune. Much to my dismay his guitar skills seemed average and the less said about his vocals the better.

As he shrieked the chorus over the less than adequate speakers (which were unnecessary given the size of the room and his willingness to yell rather than croon the tune) the absence of Ali Azmat was clearly evident. However, Salman didn't think so as he broke out into song again after reminiscing about his first concert. As he attempted to play the opening few chords of 'Stairway to Heaven' (evidently Led Zeppelin was his first concert) one could feel Jimmy Page and Robert Plant cringe in their respective homes.

After a painful rendition of the opening few lines of 'Stairway', Salman relays how he was inspired by classic rock stars such as Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, and aspired to be just like them. A conversation with his uncle and his parents later, he moved back to Pakistan, which was under the tyrannical reign of General Zia-ul-Haq and enrolled in King Edward Medical College.

He spoke of how under Zia's regime music was forbidden and recollected an incident when he had his guitar smashed by an extremist faction who had gained knowledge of students meeting at an undisclosed location to practice arts. However, that did not deter Salman to play music, "There will be physical danger to you pursuing your passion. And I realized either now I can conform and say this is stupid I don't want to die in order to pursue my music, but there was another voice from my heart and that voice said to do this even more." Luckily for all the Junoonis out there, the second voice prevailed as Salman then jammed with Junaid Jamshed and later joined Vital Signs.

However this danger is not unique to Salman's experiences. In essence it is the same dangers any aspiring or accomplished artist has faced since. Security situation, civil strife and political uncertainty have plagued Pakistan for a long time. They have confined voices within our borders and prevented any outside influence to seep in on a broader scale.

Between versions of Saeein and 'Dil Dil Pakistan' (by which time I had lost hearing in one ear from the incessant sing-song and sitting under the auditorium speaker) Salman finally started to relay some relevant information regarding Culture without Borders, the topic of the evening.

First was his theory of the four C's, and how they can unite people from different backgrounds. The four C's, which are the basis for interaction and understanding between people, starts with communication. Through communicating you can illustrate your theory and beliefs to others.
Compassion, the second C, invites you to gain knowledge and understanding through the experiences and thoughts of others. Creativity and Collaboration, the third and fourth C's, allow us to create new ventures through the amalgamation of the ingested ideas.

He relates this to music and how "jamming between two artists is a way of starting a dialogue, it could be two human beings, it could be nation state to nation state, civil society to civil society but it's a very simple formula," one that is surely needed in present times.

Before he could begin his second, and last, relevant point, Salman again started to divulge to the crowd on how and why he finished medical college amidst scrutiny from family and pressure from his mother-in-law so that he could marry wife, Samina. Gladly he did not start practicing medicine as those incentives wouldn't exactly comfort a patient under his care!

He used AKU as an example of how Pakistan can strive to be a first world nation. Of AKU he said, "Everything works, people are disciplined, there's high expectations of students high expectations of faculty." When he said, "There is no tolerance for mediocrity," pertaining to the institution, he surely must have meant the academic faculty, since there are many horrific stories that surround the medical care at AKU.

After the compulsion of propping up his hosts for the evening, he moved onto his second and last relevant point of the evening. He promoted the Salman and Samina Global Wellness Initiative, a more than worthy and charitable cause.

"My wife Samina and I we started a non-profit called Salman and Samina Global Wellness Initiative and through it we use arts and culture, music, poetry, documentary films, music videos, to tackle different questions, issues that are difficult for society," he explained.

One such issue in the sub-continent, and one that is profusely ignored in Pakistan in particular, is the issue of HIV and AIDS. Salman told the story of a lady in Lahore, Shukria Gul (the mother of two young Junoonis), whose husband had AIDS. He told of how she took care of him "despite the fact that she knew the stigma attached to this." Soon enough the neighborhood found out and asked her to leave worried that they might breathe in the deadly virus. Shukria Gul could have given in to their demands, but instead she stood tall and started an NGO for HIV and AIDS in Lahore, for which she is secretary general. He also went on to speak of how he wrote a song after being inspired by Shukria Gul and the video of said song sparked a conversation.

However, the point he was trying to get across was a good one regarding the lack of knowledge that our society often displays. Just because of certain stigmas and beliefs, people tend to overlook the consequences of their ignorance. "People living with HIV and AIDS are people like you and me. They deal with the same issues, same emotional problems… Just like TB or malaria, HIV is an issue which has to be scientifically tackled," he elaborated.

Even though the evening was littered with personal stories rather than relevant or revelatory messages, the two points he did make were substantial and should be noted. Junoon and Salman have done plenty to bring forth controversial issues, be it political or social, which is commendable. And though some may say that he is a rock star striving for social justice, a more apt portrayal of Salman would be of a social activist striving to play the guitar while he sings.

This depiction stood true when he was asked who he sees as the heir apparent to Junoon, or his own work, to date. He simply replied that he hasn't listened to any new local music, which sounds strange coming from a guest faculty at Queens College in New York, where he teaches a class on "Islamic Music and Culture of South Asia". Clearly he hasn't heard Mekaal Hasan Band's proficiency for world music which fuses culture and traditional Pakistani poetry and music with western sounds, or the quality being produced over at the Coke Studio Sessions. Social activism is clearly the forte for Salman, a UN Goodwill Ambassador for HIV/AIDS, and it is something he shouldn't swap for the confines of a classroom or a return to stage.