Editor's Note

The Path of Music

One of the icons through which we love to define our culture is Hason Raja. Hason Raja's mystical lyrics have long been canonical to our musical heritage. In fact, it has been all too easy to drop names of Lalon and Hason Raja when trying to piece together a coherent picture of our musical tradition. In spite of this, many of us know very little about these musicians, their backgrounds and where their philosophies came from. It could be argued that it doesn't matter- the music speaks for itself. That biography is unimportant and marginal to what really matters. But a simpler fact is that these guys- Hason Raja in particular- led pretty interesting lives. Our cover story describes Hason Raja the man and some his eccentricities.

From musician to musical education- in a country where the priorities of most usually involve food and the basic necessities of living, schooling in music is considered a bit of luxury. It is certainly not part of the core curriculum in our schools- after all- we simply do not have the resources for it; the opportunity cost is too high. But there's a story in here about an initiative to give training in vocal performance to poor village kids for free. There's a lot of talent out there and these kids love the chance to show it. It might not get rid of the poverty in their households, but at least it makes them feel good for a while.

Abak Hussain
From the Insight Desk

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