Ep. 265 - Artist, art and more with Mohammad Muneem Nazir (Alif)

If you want the truth,

I’ll tell you the truth:

Listen to the secret sound,

the real sound,

which is inside you.

-Kabir.

Today we have such a person with us on Audiogyan who has not only heard his inner voice but also share himself as a work of art. He happens to be born n raised in Kashmir. Would his work of art be any different if he was born raised anywhere else in the world ? I am pleased to have Mohammad Muneem Nazir with us on Audiogyan. He is a poet, singer-songwriter. His artist name is Alif. He is the winner of the IRAA Award for his single “Like a Sufi” and the Dada Saheb Phalke Award for the single “Lalnawath”. He conceptualizes and directs Alif’s videos. Muneem teaches Urdu poetry/songwriting at Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce in Pune and also conducts various poetry/song writing workshops.

Questions

1. Who according to you is an artist? What does art mean to you? Can you separate art from the artist?
2. Does an artist need to be always in pain? or seeking pain? How instinctive is “writing” for any poet? or for you?
3. In your DD Kasheer interview, you casually mentioned that you want to stay with a positive vibe - While your poetry seems to be dark at times. Could you talk about it a little more?
4. You often say, the Kashmiri language has a lyrical quality to it and the words feel musical. Even though your compositions seem soothing and melodic but the lyrical content has some undercurrent. Any observations you saw in your work?
5. This is in the context of your song, “Lalnawath”. There can be multiple takeaways from it. Is there any threshold of abstraction when you say what you want to say but still making it palatable to the listener/reader of your poetry?
6. I interviewed Varun Grover a long time ago and he said that a poet is creating art within the environment he or she is living. While few artists have done amazing work in exile. How and when can one reflect or zoom out to see the larger narrative? Is there a larger narrative while poets live in a utopian world?

Reference Reading

1. https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/music/mohammad-muneem-of-alif-on-their-unique-music/article25908501.ece
2. https://rollingstoneindia.com/alif-mohammad-muneem-siyah-azizo/
3. https://twitter.com/alifsmusic?lang=en
4. https://www.instagram.com/everythingisalif/?hl=en