THE JOYS OF SORROW

Pakistani Grammy Award-winner AROOJ AFTAB is helping us find pleasure in the plaintive

- Shreevatsa Nevatia

Arooj Aftab isn’t one to be awed by occasion. When invited by the White House to celebrate Eid ul-Fitr earlier this month, the singer had little idea she would be sharing the presidential podium with Joe and Jill Biden. Speaking to india today last week, she said her experience reminded her of the political satire series Veep. “It is exactly like that—the interactions, protocol, comedy, the dynamics. It is serious and also normal. I read a poem by Rumi. It was full-on. It was fun. It was also really crazy.”

This wasn’t the first time Aftab had been on the radar of an American president. Barack Obama’s 2021 summer playlist had included ‘Mohabbat’, arguably the most popular track from Vulture Prince, an album Aftab released last year. Written by Hafeez Hoshiarpuri, ‘Mohabbat Karne Wale’ wasn’t new—it was famously part of Mehdi Hasan’s and Fareeda Khanum’s ghazal repertoire—but Aftab’s rendition was strikingly novel. Rather than drawing attention to the words, it signalled to their mood. This interpretation was capacious, giving room to its few instruments—the guitar, harp and flugelhorn.

As the first Pakistani woman to be nominated for a Grammy, Aftab doubled her chances by making it to two shortlists—