sahraaon ki cheekh



There are two examples from the literature, I noticed, that both give surprisingly similar description of the way desert people sing:

1.Paul Bowles , The Sheltering Sky, Page: 62


“The train came slowly to a stop. Beyond the window it was black night; there was no light to be seen. Somewhere outside, a voice was singing a strange, repetitious melody. Always beginning high and wandering downwards until the breath gave out, only to commence again at the top of the scale, the song had the pattern of a child’s weeping.’



1.Shafiqur Rahman , Pachhtaave (Urdu) page 181.


‘ phir jab sahraaon mein pahli martaba Huddi khwanon ko gaate suna. Raat ke pichhle paher dafatan naghma buland hua jo cheekh se mushabehat rakhta tha; dil se nikli hui cheekh se. Yeh pukar mauseequi ke usoolon aur saazon kee madad se beniyaz thee. Jaise rooh kainaat se hamkalaam ho. Nagma maddham hua aur ajeeb sa fusoon chhorta hua door chala gaya.’

Translation; ‘Then when I listened to the singing of Huddi khwans (Desert dwellers) in a desert. It was late in the night that a song was being blown up, resembling a wail —– a scream emerging from one’s soul. Missing from this scream was any use of musical notes or instrument. It looked as if the soul is in conversation with the universe. The song reached a low pitch; it left a strange sensation in the atmosphere as it appeared to be drifting away.’