Singing, he walks with a message through Indo-Pak cultural corridor

Singing, he walks with a message through Indo-Pak cultural corridor
CHITRA SUBRAMANYAM

NEW DELHI, FEB 8: India may not be music to Pakistani ears but that hasn't stopped the ``nearing-30'' pop star from across the border, Ali Haider, from getting air time on Indian networks. The trained engineer who made the 1994 hit, Purani jeans aur guitar, his signature tune, is in India again to promote his new album, Saaiyan and sing at Ansal Plaza, Delhi's bowdlerised answer to Harrods. If you listen to him, you would think there was never anything out of tune in relations between India and Pakistan. ``For the last two years,'' he says, ``singers like Daler Mehndi, Sukhbir and Baba Sehgal have come to Pakistan to perform.''

In fact, while singing at a charity show recently, Haider met pre-Water Shabana Azmi with husband Javed Akhtar in tow. ``They joined in and were on the floor dancing with the rest.'' Besides, Haider believes that ``an artist can't think of things like war. After all, in the end, the common man will suffer and people want to listen to our music.''

It has, as he puts, ``noboundaries. And our governments must keep the cultural doors open.'' After all, Pakistan is no different from India. ``The Western media often projects Pakistan as a country which doesn't listen to Western music. Where women live in perpetual purdah. But this isn't true. The masses are just like Indians, there is a middle class and an elite. And though people listen to Western music, thanks to the satellite invasion, they still prefer folk music and enjoy listening to Junoon and me.'' But turn to Pakistani film music and Haider has something different to say.

Though he has had a lot of offers to sing in Pak films, Haider hesitates when it comes to accepting them. ``The Pakistani film music standard is very different from Bollywood. The standard of production is so low that there are very few musicians who actually want to sing for them. People prefer Hollywood or Bollywood.'' Haider has not always had it so good. His foray into music with his debut album, Chaahat, which was released by HMV in 1990,didn't win him any points from his family.

``When I decided to get into music, I got a really wild reaction from my parents, especially, my father who was totally against it,'' he says. Haider rushes in to explain: ``I am the only son in my family (``I have four sisters who are all married and I am still a bachelor,'' he adds as an aside) and my father wanted me to become either a doctor or an engineer.''

When he's not performing, Haider composes. At least in the night. He says: ``More privacy and it's much more silent. My musicians come over and we make music and party all night.'' And of course, there is nothing worse than ``people coming to the door early in the morning and announcing, Saab, gaadi aagayi.'' And when he isn't singing purani jeans, Ali Haider designs his own clothes. An engineer, a musician and now a designer. What next?