Sardar Ali Takkar English Interviews !! Sardar Ali Takkar New Englis Interviews

SK STUDIO

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00:00Hi, it's Border Crossings and I'm Larry London and today we have as a special guest in our

00:05studio one of my colleagues, a fellow broadcaster here at the Voice of America from Radio Diwa.

00:11We welcome a wonderfully talented radio host and I understand musician as well, Sardar

00:18Ali.

00:19Welcome, Sardar.

00:20Thank you, sir.

00:21Thank you very much.

00:22It's nice to have you in our studios and see you're right down the hall from us and you're

00:26hosting a program which is called what?

00:28What's the name of your show?

00:30I host three programs.

00:31One is about the mysticism and the other is the history, the music history and the third

00:37one is the literature history.

00:38Wow.

00:39All the three programs are on research basis.

00:42They are research programs.

00:44So for example, if I go to my one program, mysticism, it is an international idea.

00:55You see, this is the commonalities are there in this program.

01:01So this is very important for the present day that we should have the religious harmonies

01:06in the world.

01:07Yes.

01:08Yes.

01:09On that basis, this program is very nice.

01:10The mysticism and the other is the history of the music.

01:15So music is also an international subject.

01:17Yes.

01:18Yes.

01:19That is also very interesting.

01:20And the literature.

01:21So we compare our literature with the world literature and the history of our literature

01:25we present to the target region.

01:29So it is really very, all the three subjects are very interesting subjects.

01:32And you're a superstar, I guess, back in Pakistan.

01:36That's originally where you're from.

01:37Yeah.

01:38Yeah.

01:39I'm from Pakistan and from the province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan.

01:42I am Pashtun and I have one hundred and twenty five music albums in the market.

01:49Wow.

01:50I have that.

01:52And initially it was really very, very, very difficult for me because I was singing the

01:56poets who were progressive poets.

01:59They were moderate poets.

02:01And this Pakistan and Pakistan and Pakistan media, radio and television.

02:05I was not allowed to sing these, these, these, the poetry of those people.

02:10So I was banned all the time, maximum of the time I was banned on radio and television.

02:14Troublemaker, huh?

02:15Troublemaker.

02:17Can you believe it?

02:18That for recording, I have gone to Afghanistan to record these, these, these poets.

02:23Wow.

02:24And it was, it was, it was a very strange period.

02:28The Russians were in Afghanistan.

02:29You see, at that time, it was very dangerous to travel to Afghanistan.

02:33But there was no way with me to go there and just, just record the poetry of these people

02:38because even their books were not, we couldn't find their books there.

02:42Wow.

02:43It was really a big problem for us, you see.

02:45Now, are you, are you amazed now that you've lived here four years, I guess, four years

02:50ago now that you've lived here, are you amazed at, at the lack of knowledge Americans have

02:56about what goes on in the Middle East and the, you know, the naivety that people have

03:00here because you had to travel, as you say, from Pakistan to Afghanistan and, you know,

03:04to just to record some music and, and it's hard to get it played because of the nature

03:08of your music.

03:09That if you talk to people here in America, we're really not familiar with all of the

03:12struggles that people go through.

03:14Yeah, yeah.

03:15You are very right.

03:16You are very right.

03:17We, we, we, we have a lot of problems in the area, you see, for, look at this, when a singer

03:23cannot sing on his, on his national television, on his radio.

03:28Can you believe it?

03:29I got the presidential award from the president of Pakistan.

03:33And I supposed to speak on the radio, but I was banned on radio at that time even.

03:38It's a joke.

03:39See, and it's strange how it worked out because now you have your own program.

03:43You have several programs and you're on the Voice of America.

03:45So you had to travel 8,000 miles to get a program.

03:50Just to get the program and just to, to, to, to talk to my people.

03:55You're talking to your people.

03:57Sardar Ali is our guest here on Border Crossings.

04:01And I read an interesting story about you in the Tribune, which is a part of the New

04:05York Times.

04:07And they talk about a song that you have created and written, and it's becoming very popular

04:12in Pakistan.

04:13Yeah.

04:14And it's a song that is, well, it's dealing with a political issue, a sensitive issue

04:19that affects all nations, all countries.

04:22It's rights, women's rights, and right of education, and the story centers around, you

04:31know, the young girl, Malala, who is the going to be the youngest recipient of the Nobel

04:35Peace Prize.

04:36Yes.

04:37And so why don't you tell me, you know, why, why did you decide to make a song about her

04:41and about her, her plight?

04:42The problem is, we are, we are in the region that we are suffering these things, these,

04:47the education problems.

04:48They are, they are, our schools are damaged.

04:50They are damaging our schools.

04:52They are not allowing our children to educate.

04:55You see, all these are the problems.

04:57I am artist.

04:58I am very sensitive person.

04:59When I came here, I just established my home studio.

05:02I am doing all this recording from my home studio.

05:05I have recorded 22 songs for children.

05:09There are educational songs in it as well.

05:11And Voice of America is releasing very soon that the children's songs too.

05:14So that is also a big, you see, that will be a big thing for the area that I have collected

05:20or I have done research on that.

05:21And I have recorded 22 songs of the children's songs, the nursery, the rhymes type songs,

05:27you see?

05:28Yeah.

05:29And which we were singing in the streets in Pakistan and in Pakistan.

05:33So that I have recorded here.

05:35So, and along with this, I have recorded educational songs for the children, you see, for the male

05:42children and for the female, for the girls.

05:45So I have recorded that as well.

05:47And especially we are doing a program in the name of Bibi Sherina, in which we encourage

05:54the woman to talk to us, to join the mainstream of life, you see?

05:59So I just recorded this song especially for the woman rights and for the education.

06:06So I recorded this song and we were, on a daily basis, we are playing this song in Diva

06:11Radio program, recording the woman education and the woman should come up in the society

06:19and they should join the mainstream of the society.

06:21So the song is not about Malala, it's more about her message.

06:25This is about, we dedicated the song to Malala.

06:28Yes.

06:29Especially because it is also for the education.

06:31Right.

06:32Malala is also struggling for education, for peace.

06:34We are doing the same thing.

06:36So we are in the same boat, me and Malala, we are in the same boat.

06:39Yes.

06:40And for those that may or may not know, Malala is the young girl who has been, you know,

06:45dealing with the Taliban issues and her family has had to deal with, and then she was unfortunately

06:51the victim of a shooting innocently.

06:53She had published something on a blog and it resulted in a terrible tragedy.

06:56And thankfully, she's now healthy and she's speaking out about this and she's an ambassador

07:02for, you know, for human rights, for, you know, young people's rights.

07:06And that's wonderful.

07:07So I'm going to give you the chance to sing the song right now.

07:10What is it called again?

07:11It is Thibi Bishirini, You are a sweet woman.

07:14I have dedicated this song to Malala Yousafzai.

07:16You are a sweet woman.

07:18This is the title of the song.

07:19I love it.

07:21And I say to the society, look, if you give a chance to her, she will change the world.

07:27So these are the words of the song, different, different, different, but anyhow, these are

07:32the main things.

07:33The main point, the main points, that if I love her, that she should be educated and

07:40she will change the world.

07:41That's right.

07:42She spoke out.

07:43She paid a price for it.

07:44She spoke out.

07:45She's still speaking out.

07:46And she will be honored.

07:47And you'll be there at the Nobel Peace Prize.

07:48Yeah.

07:49I'll be there.

07:51I will be singing there on 10th and on 11th, two days I will sing there and I will pay

07:56my tribute in front of Malala.

07:58In one song, Malala says, I will stand with me.

08:03She will stand with me, along with her family.

08:05And we will sing together a song, an anthem-like song for our country, you see?

08:10Oh, my country.

08:11It's a song like this.

08:12Wow.

08:13That's fantastic.

08:14Has she heard the song, your song from her?

08:17She has.

08:18What does she say about it to you?

08:20She's listening to me all the time, you see?

08:25She told in the interview, in our interview, that I only listen to the music of Sardar

08:30Ali.

08:31Wow.

08:32What a compliment.

08:33Very nice.

08:34Yeah.

08:35And she has telephoned.

08:36She has directly called me, that you should come to the ceremony and just sing in front

08:41of the whole world.

08:43All right.

08:44Well, the world is listening right now.

08:46Sardar Ali, if you would sing us the song, we'd love to hear it.

08:49Sure, why not?

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