Laal Meri Pat

The Story Behind Laal Meri Pat

Laal Meri Pat is Coke Studio Season 10's ambient rebuild of the dhamaal for Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, led by Quratulain Balouch. Akbar Ali and Arieb Azhar share the track with her, and Strings produced, directed and music directed it for the season's third episode on 25 August 2017.

The arrangement trades the dhamaal's usual sprint for something hazier. Shehroze Hussain's sitar circles beneath the melody, Joshua Keyth Benjamin's keys widen the room, and Arieb Azhar's baritone spoken word hands over to Akbar Ali's high alaaps before Quratulain Balouch takes the refrain, the Sabri humnawa answering in chants of Jhulelal over a traditional groove. The kalaam honours the thirteenth century saint of Sehwan Sharif, the most revered Sufi figure in Sindh, and came to Coke Studio after decades of celebrated versions by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Abida Parveen, Aziz Mian and the Sabri Brothers.

Meaning & Translation

The title is a plea rather than a description: laal meri pat rakhio bhala asks the red robed one to keep the singer's honour intact. Laal, red, stands for Lal Shahbaz Qalandar himself, whether for his red dress, his legendary ruby glow, or his youth, and the same figure is hailed as Jhulelal, a name Sindhi Hindus have long used for their own Jhulelal, an avatar of Varuna. The refrain then names him plainly, the generous Shahbaz Qalandar of Sehwan in Sindh. The line everyone waits for, dama dam mast Qalandar, means every breath in the ecstasy of the Qalandar, which is less a lyric than an instruction for how to sing the rest.