Rising star: Voice of the Pashtuns
By Sher Alam Shinwari Music is in the blood of the little Pashtun singer Jawad Hussain, who wants to follow his family tradition and pursue a career in singing. When his debut album Da Khkulo Badshahi was released in September 2008, it broke all previous records of Pashto music charts made by child stars before him. More than two million copies of this album were sold in the USA, the UK, Germany, Afghanistan, Malaysia, China, Dubai and Qatar where many Pashtuns live. One of the hit songs of this album is “Mala jawab raka” — the song became so popular that a film producer produced a Pashto movie under the same title and surprisingly enough, it made good business. ´´For me it was not that difficult to plunge into the field of music but somehow my parents were reluctant to allow me to sing in public however, I proved my mettle,´´ informs Jawad who is in grade 7 and studies in a private school in Peshawar. ´´I initiated it on my own. When I was in grade 3, I started participating in singing competitions in school. Impressed with my singing skills, my teachers encouraged me a lot,´´ expresses Jawad who, at such a tender age, has performed on stage, radio and TV and ultimately convinced his parents too of his talent. Jawad is a fan of legends like Khayal Muhammad, Shah Wali Ustad, Gulnar Begum and pop singers like Rahim Shah and Zeek Afridi. Jawad also played a minor role in a TV drama Da Watan Gul but his forte is singing. The talented and ambitious little star has been receiving proper training from popular music composer and singer Master Ali Haider. “I am also learning to play harmonium from my father because without proper training and practice, you stand nowhere,” observes Jawad. He has been thrice to Dubai and many times to Kabul for music concerts. Recently he completed work on two more Pashto albums for Eid release. ´´I like folk songs but light ghazal touches my heart. Mehdi Hassan and Ghulam Ali are my favourite ghazal singers. I want to do MA in music from abroad,´´ expresses the shining Pashtun star. Jawad Hussain narrates an interesting story which made him believe that his popularity being a singer really saved him and his entourage. “Two months ago me and my associates were travelling in a car to Kabul to participate in a music concert. As we reached Pul-e-Charkhi, a police check post near Kabul, our car was intercepted by four police guards and they asked us to get down. We did not have any legal documents as on many occasions where we are officially invited, we don’t carry travel documents with us. ´´The policemen said we must produce some legal papers otherwise we would be locked for interrogation but then fortunately, one of the policemen recognised me as he had watched my performance on an Afghan TV channel, Shamshad, and they not only allowed us to go but also escorted us to Kabul,´´ he recalls. Besides singing Pashto songs written by Laiq Zada Laiq and Malang Jan, Jawad also enjoys singing Urdu and English songs by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Britney Spears, respectively. - 
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