The earthy kalaam of 16th century Sufi faqeer and poet Shah Hussain is an inseparable part of Punjab's soil, its consciousness, its "khalqat" - the people of ‘Sanjha’ Punjab. His unequivocal abdication of ‘peeri’ and all kinds of high sounding titles has assigned him the place of ‘faqeer nimaana’ (the lowly faqeer) in our hearts. To this day, Madho Lal Hussain commands great reverence as a poet-saint in Punjab.

This MELA, a confluence of his poetry, woven with music and narrative, brings out his journey as 'julaaha', 'malaamati', as 'Faqeer Nimaana'.

THE PERFORMING ARTISTS

Neil Mukherjee is a guitarist, award-winning music composer and producer from Kolkata. Founder member of Kolkata rock band Krosswindz, winner of LA Movie awards, Moondance film festival awards for best film score. Neil is trained in both Indian and western systems of music and has over twenty-five years of experience in Bollywood and Tamil film music industry, and has worked with leading Indian music directors which include the likes of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and AR Rahman. He currently lives and works in Mumbai as a music composer/producer and session guitar player for the advertising and film industry. www.neilmukho.com

Vinayak Netke Tabla artist Vinayak Netke began at 5, learning from Acharya Jialal Vasant and Suresh Wadkar. He has composed fusion albums, created music for TV/ads including MTV, Polo and Lloyd. His debut film 'Michael' was screened at Toronto, London, Shanghai fests. Rhythm arranger for National Anthem, Vinayak regularly jams with jazz pianists and Balkan bands in India and Europe. He is also a member of global fusion band RRC. He has accompanied Dr. L Subramaniam, Lata Mangeshkar, Ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali, Smt Kishori Amonkar, Dr N Rajam, among others. And played for composers Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Vishal Bhardwaj.

Radhika Sood Nayak Sufi kalaam vocalist & composer Radhika’s love for Sufi music was kindled by 17th century Sufi mystic Baba Bulleh Shah’s poetry. Starting her journey with Mumbai Kabir Festival, she has travelled with her songs to Kabir Yatras in Rajasthan, Malwa, Telangana, Delhi and several music festivals. Her first Music video 'Asan असां' which was poised to arrive in April 2020 when Covid struck became a fundraising medium through 'Goonj'. Radhika’s collaborations with Lahore based artistes has shaped two music videos woven around the poetry of 16th century Sufi faqeer Shah Hussain. This poet has also inspired a music video collaboration with handloom artistes from Kachchh in Gujarat. After an MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur, Radhika worked in Unilever and ANZ Grindlays for a few years before deciding to immerse herself in music.