Love & Life, Connecting Through the Arts
The Mushtari Begum Festival of Indian Classical Music and Dance: A showcase of dedication for what was once a dying art, brought back to life in Canada by two devotees of the passion within the rhythm.
It’s not often that you feel someone’s soul erupting from every piece of themselves, as it is when you enter the home of Cassius and Amika. The love and devotion they have for the arts is visible in everything they do. As you step in, the essence of India lingers in the air, and the smile that Cassius and Amika give can light a burnt lamp.
From a constant searching and wandering through life, and to be able to play the tabla in whichever medium it must have been, wasn’t the worst thing for Cassius Khan. Instead, regardless of where, he was still playing his heart out at every performance. It’s true when they say that love never dies, no matter what kind; it is also true that passion always wins. Amika told us that she practiced Kathak growing up, but never fell in love with it until her early-teens. That was when she devoted herself to the art. She states that, “my Guru was the art, my Spiritual Guidance was the art.” One will always end up where they are meant to. As they say all throughout India, ‘Dane Dane pe mor,’ so its only right that that is reflected here in our society. Cassius says, that although he was much loved, he was also somewhat of a social outcast in the early 2000’s with his love of the arts. At that time, no one wanted their child to pursue the Indian arts as a career. Asked how he felt, “it never mattered to me, I was, am doing what I love.” Thought to be the black sheep of the society he knew, following his dreams, and not the societal norm of becoming a doctor or lawyer, Cassius was distracted while pursuing his university education by utilizing whatever time he could afford to practice his passion, play his music where he could, and devote himself to his art. Amika on the complete opposite scope, was doing her masters in Chemical Engineering. I know what you’re thinking, but it also makes sense. The person who can move every single part of her body, a being so complex, she should be the one who would also Master in the art of Science.
So, an English Major and Chemical Engineering Masters student end up in West Edmonton Mall one day, there’s no punchline, that was where Amika first saw Cassius; she followed the sounds that are carried through her; the sound of the Tabla. It would be months before they were introduced by mutual friends at a performance in Edmonton. Months again before they realized that beyond education, beyond the Dhun (tune) of the Ghazal or the Tala ( Rhythm) of Kathak, it would be their passion for a dying art in Canada that had alienated them from the community, that would eventually unite them.
This unification and lack of respect in our community for Classical Indian Music and Dance and its practitioners, was one of the strings of the sitar, so to use a horrible pun, which brought together these two souls resulting in the eventual creation of the Mushtari Begum Festival of Indian Classical Music and Dance. A stage for the ‘World Musicians and Dancers’ to showcase themselves on a reputable stage, where their hard work and dedication can be honoured, and appreciated.
The struggles that they were leading alone was what brought them together; the struggle to find Classical Indian arts in Canada, was what brought together the Mushtari Begum Festival. A unique platform for Classical Indian Music and Dance, to be showcased in a respectable manner, where the guest has the opportunity to be mesmerized by the lost sound. Long before the Mushtari Begum Festival would even be a fleeting thought, Cassius Khan, and Amika Kushwaha, were two young people, who after vast travels, studies, and experience with Latin bands, would find each other at the University of Alberta, doing what they both love; finding a way to support and promote Indian Classical Music in world which was trying to withdraw themselves from a land of rich culture, and colonize themselves. I suppose we have the year 2002 to thank for any exposure we have to the Classical Indian Scene that we see today.
The Mushtari Begum Festival was named after Cassius’s guru, the late Mushtari Begum, who was the force behind his training in Ghazal gayaki or singing style. After she died in 2004, Cassius decided to name his festival after Mushtari Begum, as she had fine taste in Indian Classical Music and Dance.
A number of local organizations who have come about have been inspired by the Mushtari Begum Festival, both in Canada and abroad. Voted New Westminster’s “Best Arts Festival” in 2015 and being mentioned in Via Rail’s brochure as a must see destination event, The MBF is making huge waves in the Classical music scene. From being classified, and thrown under the umbrella of World Music, Cassius and Amika are to us, as there Guru’s were to them; supportive, and encouraging. Allowing for the new artist to play for those who appreciate the work, dedication, and self-motivation is takes to compose the 6 minute dance and music art we see on stage.
Preet Dhaliwal
