Farida Mir a hit at Amreli garbas

RAJKOT: “Kanuda ne joi ne hoon to shaan bhaan bhuli...� croons 22-year-old Farida Mir, dressed in a resplendent ‘chaniya-choli’ at Forward High School in Amreli. She will continue regaling young crowds with her garba tunes for every one of the nine nights of Navratri festival, as she has been for the past eight years.
It is not important for her as to who she is, all that is important is to propitiate Goddess Jagdamba and Lord Krishna with her soulful songs.Mir, who has scripted as many as 50 ‘bhajans’ of Bajrangdas Bapa — a famous saint of Saurashtra, falls in the league of great Muslim ‘bhajan’ singers such as Kavi Ras Khan, Kavi Rahim Ram and Kavi Malik Mohammed, each remembered for their compositions based on Hindu gods.
And just like them, she hasn’t had to learn the tenets of secularism at school, which she left after finishing her SSC. “Being a Muslim has never stopped me from loving or revering Hindu culture. I do not even eat non-vegetarian food. And like other Hindus, my mother and I both observe fasts during Navratri,� she said matter-of-factly. Born in Porbander and raised in a predominantly H i n d u neighbourhood in Rajkot, Farida has internalised all facets of Hindu idiosyncrasy, including ‘ras’, garba and ‘bhajan’.
An instance of this is the name of God Ramdev Pir engraved on the wall of her house or that her family deity is Khodiyar Mata. In the backdrop of the religious turmoil that the state witnessed in recent times, Farida stands out as somebody who with inordinate ease sends out the message of harmony and brotherhood.
“Why can’t everybody respect each other’s religion? The communal disturbances will stop only if we learn to give due regard to other religions,� she remarked. Thanks to the legacy of her father — who was a folk singer — and the encouragement of her mother, she continues to spread the message of peace through her songs.