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configuration Kia Karimol (What Would the Father of the Bride Do?), in Hindustani and Kochor, recently arrived at Coke Studio Bharat. The disappointing series gained traction last month when 40-year-old musician Muhammad Munim Nazir, also known as Alif, created the piece in collaboration with Ashima Mahajan, a Dogra musician from Jammu, and Kashmiri folk singer Noor Muhammad.
In this disguise to expressA single acoustic guitar riff carries over to a furnished house in the valley, where a father is arranging his daughter’s wedding—emphasizing the feast, the quintal of rice, the addition of meat and raisins to it, and the adherence to social norms that will please the wedding guests. But after a rocky start, the song shifts to another part of the house, where gloom surrounds the bride, who sits in a dream, questioning home, identity, and belonging.
As Nazir takes the soulful first half with Noor, Mahajan sings the story of the bride through Wanwun – traditional Kashmiri folk, a mixture of prayers and blessings. It is usually sung by women at weddings and thread ceremonies. Interestingly, Wanwun has been sung for years regardless of caste and religion, and has been sung by Hindus and Muslims, with slight differences in the use of Persian and Sanskrit words.
And herein lies the master stroke of the musician. This satire on lavish weddings incorporates Eid duets And grief besides being a reminder of a collective consciousness. Paired with guitars, drums, and a string section, the piece forms a connection between past and present. Until now, Kia Karimol Heard more than 10 million times.
With his trademark Kashidakari shawl draped around the mic, “a constant reminder of home and the hardships of his journey”, Nazir put the cultural essence of Kashmir on a major platform.
“An artist is someone who makes your life easier or gets you from one point to another. Nowadays, storytelling is one of the most beautiful ways to do that. The melody is there, but the story is the one that will take your pain away and will probably allow you to feel happier.” says Nazir, who created the song Originally in 2018, it’s all about addressing pain.“With Coke Studio, we had the opportunity to extend the story,” he adds.
While Coke Studio Bharat has highlighted Nazir’s work as an independent artist, it has also highlighted the two decade career of an independent artist from the valley who has found prominence with his song ride home (2018), a collaboration with Noor Muhammad, which won him the Best Folk Song award at the Indian Independent Music Awards (IIMA) in 2022. The song talked about the state of artists in Kashmir and how many talented and not-so-famous like Noor Muhammad art has suffered so much because of Like his other songs, the lack of technical skills and years of discord in the valley for the nuth (2018), sect (2017) as Sophie (collaboration with MC Cash in 2016), and Gloom (2020), which spoke about women and their grievances, also garnered a lot of attention in the independent music world. his song Katyo Choco He also reached the movie Imtiaz Ali and Sajid Ali – Layla Majnu (2018).
Growing up in conflict-ridden Srinagar, Nazir began writing poetry when he was 14. But music and writing were just the professions in a very academically oriented family. My father was an engineer, my mother a professor, and many members of the extended family were doctors and engineers. in this atmosphere, sangeet sunne ki bohot ijaasat nahi thi (No one was allowed to listen to much music). But my dad brought Jajit Singh cassette tapes and I fell in love with his ghazals and poetry,” says Nazir. He was introduced to Western music through his father’s brother, RJ, who did a show on Sunday afternoons that played the English charts on a local radio channel.” That’s how I heard Queen and Michael Jackson. said Nazir, whose home radio often played songs by Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi and Mukesh too.
When he was eleven, Nazir was sent to Dehradun to study at a boarding school. In the early 1990s, insurgency was at an all-time high in the Valley. Civilian deaths became common. But nothing can replace one’s home, with all its pain and bloodbath. I was writing letters to parentsI keep it under my pillow and cry. I remember this sense of abandonment, which is also why my writing carries a sense of pathos. “People are holding on to it, and they feel it’s for them too,” says Nazir, who returned to Srinagar after one year.
Times were hard, and there were no friends, so he began channeling his thoughts through reading and writing. “Music helped me learn about who I am and how I am. There was no other way. In the end, art is something that reflects history,” says Nazir, who also teaches a writing course in Symbiosis. Since becoming a musician was not an option at home, Nazir joined the Engineering College, Pune in 2000. At this point, he was keen on vocal training. Meet Celia Lupo, the famous opera singer from the ’60s and ’70s, and the mother of choreographer Ashley Lupo. It was four sessions a week for 1000 rupees a session. “Since my family didn’t give permission, I had to somehow arrange this money for the week. On the day of the class, I start walking at 6 a.m. If she gets a lift, I’ll wait outside her house for three hours, and if I don’t, I’ll keep walking and arrive by It’s 11 a.m. It made me wonder, Do I really want to do this?” Nazir says. It’s the positive response that has kept him going.
Nazir formed a band in 2008 and for the first four or five years he played for food. “All day, we didn’t eat anything. The party was in the evening and we used to get our money and eat. We only had one condition – to perform the originals,” Nazir says.
In 2011 Nazir went on to open for Bryan Adams in Pune and appeared on Kappa TV in 2016. His latest single Vitor Fitna – “A Song About the Madness of Wanting to Overcome Chaos” – from Universal Music’s album Siyaah, which delves into notions of resilience, identity, and uncertainty already has a social media following.
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