1. Going to Sindh - 2. Emperors New Clothes and Sites - 3. Fun Days and Tipping Point - 4. Time Running Out - 5. All Good Now?
The Emperor's New Clothes
While in Hyderabad, I stayed in a really interesting building where musicians came and performed and ate together every night.
Yet it became apparent that my contact, a musician from a traditionally musical family (that had apparently skipped a couple generations), was not interested in connecting me to musicians. Instead, he went on about their big plans for my film. He told me that what I needed was very complex and they would bring in all kinds of musicians from remote areas to do the work. I kept asking about cost as well as some rough indications of what he imagined. He provided nothing. On top of that, he was very disparaging to the Sindhi folk musicians that I had brought music samples of. This was another red flag. If you need to put down others to prove your own self worth, and don’t offer any musical proof of it, something is very wrong.It was these very folk musicians who had inspired me to take this journey. One of the central purposes of using authentic Sindhi folk music, was to pay the musicians for their work and in my small way promote the incredible music they make. To be there at the gates of Sindhi culture and music, with a musician who was no good, and used his position as a literate man of means to keep down excellent musicians who lack those benefits was really disheartening. Here was a man who could promote Sindhi music and earn well not only for himself, but for these wonderful musicians who lack resources and are thus at the mercy of others.During the days of waiting and talking, I tried to enjoy some of the beautiful architecture in the city and various cultural institutions, to see if I could find another way, but every day was dragged out with the promise of some answers to my questions the next day, and some more delays that kept going. The people who took care of the building were music students, and most of my days were spent with them.My time was running out and I was very angry at getting the run around. This second music contact wanted my time to run out and then have me pay them a large, unknown sum, for music that they would create after I was gone. He could not even play something basic to indicate what he had in mind. It was only thanks to Suffi sahib in Lahore, who kept calling his old college friends in Sindh to come and meet me, that I did not turn back empty handed.1. Going to Sindh - 2. Emperors New Clothes and Sites - 3. Fun Days and Tipping Point - 4. Time Running Out - 5. All Good Now?