Sufism or tasawwuf (Arabic ) is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a Sufi. Another name for a Sufi is Dervish.

This is what you get to read when you Google Sufism, though it is one to each and each to one. What thoughts you share with your heart or what it shares with you, in your heart you have faith and that faith speaks to you.

Moreover, a lot of people are getting closer to Sufi music : Sufi music, wonder what it is!? Well to me it’s the music in the poetry.

To be honest I sure don’t have all our compositions which we truly justify, there are moments when we connect to what we speak, though the moments when it connects/speaks back to us are few. It’s a master of its own. One sure cannot take away the poetry aspect out of the composition which you want to categorize in this genre.

At times this whole “kayanaat” seems to be nothing but fake , but I can’t take away the fact of our existence because of it. The “Justuju” of living and making a foot place for oneself puts us through a lot of tests in life.

Lots of deviations, lots of lustful thoughts occur to me. Sometimes I bypass them and at times I fall into them. What remains with me is that feeling of being strong, feeling of being weak. These tests to me paint a picture which is no less than a mystery. Why do I feel what I feel, how do I feel what I feel.

Happy, sad, dejected, angry, lost, hurt, pain, aggression, calm. I have no idea why at times I can’t speak a word even if I want to after performing “mazhab” with Highway 61. There is a sense of lightness in my head at times like that. This mystery is nothing but the connect to my Almighty, be it anything, thanking him, praising him. I sure don’t have the experience to feel what others have already felt, from “Sham su tabrezi” to “Abida parveen”. They all have gone through the cycle. I hope and pray I feel what they have in time.

In time I say, because nothing happens before time.

Coming back to Sufi Poetry, I found a very interesting paragraph explaining the forms of poetry. The Sufi poetry is implicitly understood to be spiritual in its meaning, even though the lyrics can sometimes sound wildly secular, or outright hedonistic. Qawwali is profound form of Sufi music. The central themes of Qawwali are love, devotion and longing (of man for the Divine).

Qawwalis are classified by their content into several categories:

• A hamd, Arabic for praise, is a song in praise of Allah. Traditionally, a qawwali performance starts with a hamd.
• A naat, Arabic for description, is a song in praise of the Prophet Muhammad. The opening hamd is traditionally followed by a naat.
• A manqabat, Arabic for characteristics, is a song in praise of either Imam Ali or one of the Sufi saints. Manqabats in praise of Ali are sung at both Sunni and Shi’a gatherings. If one is sung, it will follow right after the naat. There is usually at least one manqabat in a traditional programme.
• A marsiya, Arabic for lamentation for a dead person, is a lamentation over the death of much of Imam Husayn’s family in the Battle of Karbala. This would typically be sung only at a Shi’a concert.
• A ghazal, Arabic for love song, is a song that sounds secular on the face of it. There are two extended metaphors that run through ghazals—the joys of drinking and the agony of separation from the beloved. These songs feature exquisite poetry, and can certainly be taken at face value, and enjoyed at that level. In fact, in Pakistan and India, ghazal is also a separate, distinct musical genre in which many of the same songs are performed in a different musical style, and in a secular context. In the context of that genre, the songs are usually taken at face value, and no deeper meaning is necessarily implied. But in the context of qawwali, these songs of intoxication and yearning use secular metaphors to poignantly express the soul’s longing for union with the Divine, and its joy in loving the Divine. In the songs of intoxication, "wine" represents "knowledge of the Divine", the "cupbearer" (saaqi) is God or a spiritual guide, the "tavern" is the metaphorical place where the soul may (or may not) be fortunate enough to attain spiritual enlightenment. (The "tavern" is emphatically not a conventional house of worship. Rather, it is taken to be the spiritual context within which the soul exists.) Intoxication is attaining spiritual knowledge, or being filled with the joy of loving the Divine. In the songs of yearning, the soul, having been abandoned in this world by that cruel and cavalier lover, God, sings of the agony of separation, and the depth of its yearning for reunion.
• A kafi is a poem in Punjabi, Seraiki or Sindhi, which is in the unique style of poets such as Shah Hussain, Bulleh Shah and Sachal Sarmast. Two of the more well-known Kafis include Ni Main Jana Jogi De Naal and Mera Piya Ghar Aaya.
• A munadjaat Arabic for a conversation in the night, is a song where the singer displays his thanks to Allah through a variety of linguistic techniques. It is often sung in Persian, with Mawlana Jal?l-ad-D?n Rumi credited as its inventor.

Sufism is more about poetry and Sufi music is more about the music in that poetry. The vocals being little pinching than the normal it should take you deep within seas .

To begin with one should for sure listen to “raks se bismil” by Abida parveen.

I m just a human, not perfect but yes I have faith: so please don’t ignore the mistakes, read for yourself, do the research and stay blessed.

                                                                                                             Mohammad Muneem

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Galib, what creature he was, once said “A drop feels happy when it loses itself into the sea”.

Drop or sea.

What do I want to be when I am living music?

When I am on stage a strange thought talks to me. Is the person in front of me, feeling what I feel? The bridge created by air between him and me, is that intact?

Never the less “roses” do have “thorns”

It seems just like split second on the stage, when things do not match the expected & the whole thing is over. You step down the stage, wonder what went wrong. Shying away you smile, as if nothing went wrong, but you know something did.

Trust me, at that time the adrenaline in your veins would not help. All you hear is the guitar solo of “comfortably numb” repeats in your mind like a record. And you start to wonder what “Pink Floyd” was. How could they do what they did…

We have a bad day we have a good day. We have a bad gig we have a good gig.

What do we take away from a good gig – Confidence about what to do.

What do we take away from a bad gig – Confidence about what not to do.

And we rest in Peace. Not.

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Yes!

Finally!! Levi’s has announced it – Highway 61 is your fave band!

The “Change Your World” contest was organized in May-June 2010 by Levi’s where bands from all over the country uploaded their songs on the Levi’s website. Users had to listen to the songs & vote for them.

And thanks to all the support of our fans and the votes they gave us, we’ve managed to bag the “fave band” title!

We want to thank all our ‘Bandits’ for their support & love!

So what can you expect as part of this win?

Highway 61 gets a 3 city tour and a video of one of the songs!

We’ll soon be playing in a city near you & we can’t wait for the tour to begin!

More info on cities & dates as we find out.

Keep checking!!

Peace.

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Hum aaghaaz hai
Hum anjaam hai
Hum aafaak hai
Hum aawaaz

Hum khud apan aayeena
Jo sahi vo hai raasta
Jaago ab to tum zara
Jaago zara

Jaago Zara —- (3)

Hum khuddaar hai
Hum andaaz hai
Hum azaad hai
Hum aawaaz

Hum khud apan aayeena
Jo sahi vo hai raasta
Jaago ab to tum zara

Jaago Zara —- (4)

Kiska hum to khauf hai
Apan hi to desh hai
Phir dil kyun khamosh hai
Jaago

Jaago Zara—- (4)

                                                                           – Mohammad Muneem, Highway 61

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It was a trip of sleeper classes and stolen mobile phones, of 104 fevers and cold & coughs, of radio and jingles, of street foods and photo shoots, of cramped rickshaws and a Detour, of back to back shows and some awesome time with fans!

The trip starts with all of us taking a bus from Pune to Mumbai. For the first time, all band members arrive at the destination (Parihar Chowk) before time! So we had to wait for the bus at the roadside with everyone staring at the 5 huge instrument cases we are carrying. To top that Muneem bhaiya is wearing his typical “terrorist” stole. All the more reason to stare!

One constable who was feeling very “responsible” took this as an opportunity to finally do some duty and started questioning us about the big-black-bomb-look-a-like-instrument flight cases!

Finally we had to show him a guitar and tell him “hum log band baaje wale hai” so that he would believe

Owing to the “low travel budget” for the show & last minute reservations, we all were now perched on the dingy berths of the sleeper class of the train from Mumbai. This is where our dear Hardik’s precious mobile phone gets stolen from right under his nose! Ironically his last tweet from the phone was “The amusing inconveniences of the sleeper class…”. Bet it wasn’t amusing for him after this incident.

When we reach Ahmedabad in the morning, we find Anant is running high on fever! Damn the sleeper class and it’s mosquitoes!

So we all hurriedly cramp ourselves (along with still-being-stared-at-big-black-bomb-look-a-like-instrument flight cases) in 3 rickshaws and head to Anant’s place.

We leave Anant to rest at his place (but not before we hogged the awesome gujju snacks her mom had prepared ) and head to Luxuria on S.G road where we are supposed to perform in the evening.

We thank our dear friend Aditi Anjaria for brilliantly organizing everything we needed for the show and also playing the band’s official photographer for the day!

Check out some snaps taken by her!

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Also all Amdavadi people should check out the two restaurants in Luxuria, HSF (High Street Food) and Haute Peppers. The food is excellent! All vegetarian though, much to the disappointment of Muneem & Rahul.

After checking out the arrangements and an excellent lunch (and some awesome snaps by Aditi), we head to 94.3 myFM for an interview. We meet the over excited RJ Krupa, we compose a jingle for myFM, record the jingle and an acoustic version of Mazhab, say bye and leave.

The rest of the afternoon is spent in crossword reading books and sipping coffee waiting for the sound guy to set up for the evening.

Anant arrives in the evening but is still running high on fever. We tell him to go home but he says in Raj Kapoor style “The show must go on”.

And he plays! And what a brilliant show it was \m/ We all had a blast playing, jumping, breaking stuff and making people sing along.

And the Ahmedabad public is as supportive as always which is why we jump at every opportunity to play in Ahmedabad.

And which is why we had another show lined up for the next day at our friend Mrugank Shah’s activity center – Detour!

Fun Fact: Mrugank used to play guitars with a 4 member band in Pune called Overdrive. The other 3 members were Highway 61’s Hardik, Rahul and Anant! Overdrive’s original song “Cocaine give me life” composed by Mrugank is still fondly remembered.

The crowd at Detour was super awesome! Detour has a capacity of around 40 people and more than double the people had turned up of the show! Oh! how we love Ahmedabad

With Ranjit Negi’s awesome sound arrangement and our friend Kshitij Saxena jamming with us on his heart warming flute, it was an evening to remember.

Special thanks to Rahul Mansur for taking some brilliant snaps at the event. Check them out below:

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All in all, a rocking trip! We are eagerly awaiting the next chance to perform in “apnu Amdavad”

Cheers & Peace!

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As we have said in our post on Jaago Zara:

It is a short song with a valuable message – Take a stand, Make a choice, Vote!  Not just for a political party or the government or because it’s your duty, but vote for the things you love, value and cherish! 

Jaago Zara is all about speaking your mind, and we want to hear what you, our Bandits, have to say!

For the uninitiated, Highway 61 is  recording the song “Jaago Zara” and we will release it as a single in the near future. And if you have heard the song live, there is a part in the song where we shout out the things we vote for. These are any random things that come to our mind at that particular moment which we feel the junta should hear and think about.

Now, for the official recording of the song, we want our fans & supporters to record, in their own voice, what they vote for.

The most innovative and thought provoking recording will be embedded in the Jaago Zara track & will be part of the officially released song!

Here’s what you need to do in simple steps:

1. Think what you’re gonna say. The format we recommend is: “I vote for _”. Fill the space with whatever you wanna vote for.

Some examples:  “I Vote for My Guitar”, “I Vote for Music”, “I Vote for Peace”, “I Vote for No Smoking”, “I Vote for Beer”……

2. Write it down on a piece of paper so that you don’t forget.

3. Now record it in your phone/PC/laptop/home studio/professional studio. Make sure the words are heard clearly and there is no other background noise. The better the quality of recording, the easier for us to convince our sound engineer to use it in the song.

4. Save the recorded file in .mp3 or .wav format.

5. Send the file to contact@highway61.in with the subject: “Jaago Zara – Let your voice be heard!” (without the quotes)

6. Remember to mention your full name and city you are from in the mail.

That’s it!

We’ll select the best entries and put them in the song. And you’ll be able to hear yourself in the song when we release it!

Send in your entries before the 27th of September 2010.

Disclaimer: This is not a singing competition!

So what are you waiting for… start recording! Let your voice be heard!

Music – Expression – Freedom 

\m/

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Every "big name" in this world has had a phase in his/her life where he/she felt unsure, insecure or confused about life. Be it Albert Einstein, who spent two years of frustration in his early years securing a stable job for himself, finally getting one as an “assistant examiner”. Or Bob Dylan, one of the greatest song writers ever, who dropped out of college with no idea about what to do except music. What they were searching for is satisfaction.

Most people are always in search of this satisfaction. And in the process they might lose one thing that defines them. This "one thing" is like the Constant and everything else are the Variables.

Every equation has a set of Constants and Variables. The Constants have a fixed value, while the variables can change from time to time. The solution of the equation can be "satisfactory" if and only if we have the right Constants in place. Similarly, we need to find the right Constant in our life. That is what defines us.

For Highway 61, that Constant is Music. We are six different individuals, with six different mindsets. What binds us together is that one Constant. Everything else in our lives is a Variable.

Starting off with “conventional” careers, music is something that we discovered on the way. Things have been tough on us, making difficult choices are part of what we make of ourselves. It’s not fair on a human being to let go of one thing he/she loves for another. But, when we look deep within ourselves, we find the answers.

Social constraints stop us from doing what we want to, but with a little dedication each one of us can do what we like. Sleeping only for two hours, cops coming to stop us rehearsing, are only some of the stuff we deal with on a regular basis.

All of us are professionals in the corporate environment. However, with faith, trust and belief on each other and on our Music, we were able to get this far.

Love, Hate, Anger, Sorrow, Happiness, Frustration, Confusion are different emotions that we live, and to express them the one medium of expression is music. We grow with our music, working towards taking it to a level where music can heal.

We think it’s time to move to the next level. And the journey begins now…

Highway61 – Music, Expression, Freedom

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This post is dedicated to the heavy metal legend Ronnie James Dio who succumbed to cancer just two days ago… RIP Dio m/

Well, so it happened that we finally got our chance to perform in front of the rocking Mumbai crowd again! After the win at RAIT, and the kind of response we had received, we were dying to perform in Mumbai once more. So this was a rocking day for us!

The idea behind this event is to do something for that class of the society who will normally not go or will not be able to afford to go to a rock/music concert; the Aam –Junta (Mango People ) youth!

The crowd that had gathered at the venue was varied… from small kids to 80 year olds. Looking at this crowd, we thought it would be really tough to get them to rock & jump to our music (specially our originals they have never heard before). We took this up as a challenge and gave our best shot! And man what a response! We saw small kids dancing to Umeed and old people clapping along with Mazhab!

It was one of a kind experience!

Check out some snaps below!

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Click Next & Back to browse through he pics.

We would like to thanks Bombay Chambers & Hindi Rock Circuit for giving us this opportunity.

Signing off with a video:

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Reputation what he created of himself should not dust him to ground.

Its he who knows what he  is, of all the things that he cant be,are visiting him more often now.

They open a window for him to look through,the door is locked, he has the key to walk through but thin layer of his belief is stopping his feet.

Some thing has started without beginning. And it seems to end without ending completely.

Midst of all he is “AAWAARAH”. Vagrant and destitute he is smiling.

Warmth of fresh wet path, is driving his way.

Should he walk carefully/watch out for cracks. Path tells him. Let go of all that you fear, for in the end one does not live enough to be satisfied. Be unrestrained of what they want out of you.

Be “AAWAARAH” once before eternity takes you way for ever.

- Mohammad Muneem

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Heard the fade of grand piano in my ears

Those high notes hushed me and the low notes spoke to me,

I may disturb the note therefore I must not touch—I thought to myself.

A leaf flew by, it was still wet, I think it had rained not long ago.

My shoes has dust, the soil is still warm.

Is it dawn or so, I’m not sure is it dusk.

I’m walking holding hands with reflection which I think will walk me to end.

My eyes are open but I can’t feel what I see.

I think I should close my eyes and let it be.

- Mohammad Muneem

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