Many species have died out. Many animals that once roamed the Earth are no longer with us. Many plants don’t exist anymore. But the main painful extinction is of a certain language or a certain type of music. It’s when we lose art that it truly hurts. Hence, festivals like the Mushtari Begum Festival need to exist. “In this day and age, traditional styles of singing such as Ghazal, Khayal, and Thumri are becoming increasingly rare. Cassius Khan felt a personal responsibility to ensure the survival of the various art forms (Indian Classical Music and Dance), especially in Canada, as stated on their website. Live music and dance were a huge part of Indian royalty, then slowly, with the introduction of TV and radio, the entertainment industry adopted this and showed specific styles of dance and music through those media. But performing them live also continued alongside, only this time it was available to everyone. In Canada, though we have a huge Indian population, sometimes, immigrants are pulled in two directions. To assimilate within this new culture so completely that they forget their own cultural traditions. But Surrey has been becoming a hub for South Asian entertainment and progressively giving out more space and funding for different cultures to thrive.
(Mushtari Begum Festival / website)
On October 4, you can witness Massey Theatre turning into a beautiful courtyard, where a rhythm and movement will be felt. As the Fiji Times hailed, it’s “Canada’s most elite festival of Indian classical music,” a cultural gem in BC’s diverse music landscape.
I love writing about smaller festivals that are continuing to do such great work that they have reached double digits in the number of years they have hosted them. This is their 14th annual festival, and the story of why it was started is just so wholesome. Cassius Khan and Amika Kushwaha started this celebration honoring Khan’s guru, Mushtari Begum, who was awarded the Queen of Ghazal by the Indian High Commission in Fiji. At her prime, she won numerous awards as her extraordinary vocal capabilities were close to four octaves, which, for people who are not from a musical background, is the same as Ariana Grande’s vocal range. She’s responsible for bringing Ghazal to Vancouver after ruling Fiji’s music charts. Khan “initiated this festival in her memory as a tribute to her contributions in classical Ghazal in Vancouver,” as mentioned on the website. What a tribute to an amazing singer. Her voice was truly captivating, and somehow, the crackle in the recordings due to the equipment at the time only enhances the listening experience.
The evening will unfold, with instruments like Dilruba, Tabla (all instruments that aren’t really used outside of South Asia), and Dance forms that are some of the hardest to do in the world, such as Kathak will be performed with grace. From the first note, your whole body will lean in for the experience. Your ears will hear the slightest notes, your feet will feel the rhythmic footwork, as ancient art forms ignite the stage. You don’t need to understand the history of the instruments or dance forms to completely surrender yourself to this extraordinary experience. On October 4th, let the music and dance of India carry you to a whole new world.