Title: Sur Sansaar
Description: Pen sketches about some legendary music practitioners of India and Pakistan with a review of their artistic virtuosity and skills. The writer, Shahbaz 'Ali, is himself a vocalist, harmonium player, music teacher & musicologist. His main occupation is teaching Urdu language & literature. He is a senior lecturer at Gordon College, Rawalpindi. Though Shahbaz 'Ali does not belong to any family of professional musicians, he is one of the few amateurs (non-professionals) who with his hard work & practice made his niche as a solo harmonium player of classical, semi-classical & light music. With this background, the author has done justice in writing about the art of 21 great music artistes including his own mentor & guru (Qazi Zahoor-ul Haq). The author had close personal relations or acquaintance with most of the musicians and vocalists included in the book. The book is a sincere effort to pay befitting tributes to the legends of South Asian music.
Subjects: Biography, Pen Sketches, Indian Classical Music (ICM)
Places: Major cities of India & Pakistan including Lahore, Delhi, Bombay (now Mumbai), Calcutta, Rawalpindi, Karachi
People: The 21 legendary music artistes mentioned in the Table of Contents plus several other contemporary artistes & musicologists etc.
Time periods: 19th and 20th centuries