Yesterday, today and tomorrow - that's ghazals for you!

Muhammad Zubair is Pakistan's rising talent. At just 22 years old, he strode ahead of grueling competition all the way to the grand finale of Asia's Singing Superstar broadcasted on Zee TV Middle East and Pakistan's own Geo channel in January 2016. The contest was open to all ages and thousands of hopefuls took part across the Middle East, Pakistan and India. A year on, I had the chance to listen to Muhammad at close quarters at a family function in Karachi and officially converted from someone who only listened to commercial music to someone with a great appreciation for ghazals.

For those less familiar, ghazals go back centuries to the time of Hafiz and Mirza Ghalib. Mostly written in Urdu or Persian, they are poetry personified and captivating with repetitive verses and traditional musical instruments like the harmonica and the tabla. Beauty is synonymous with a ghazal and true to it's Arabic origin - "talking to women".  Commons themes in a ghazal are love, devotion and wonder. As I observed the captivated room of men and women of different generations at this family function, I realized ghazals embody a level of spirituality that somehow have a hypnotic pull.

Muhammad's triumph at Asia's Singing Star rings even louder to me as he has a speech impediment, a result of a childhood illness. Amazingly enough, his powerful voice shows no signs of this, a hurdle he has overcome beautifully. In a televised interview, Muhammad proudly looks into the camera and says, "People often say you stutter - how can you possibly sing?". "Just watch me" he adds.  The world's doing just that! The famous composer, playback singer and judge of Asia's Singing Superstar, Shankar Mahadevan, called him a "young Mehdi Hassan", probably the best compliment he could have received.

The oldest of eight siblings, Muhammad was born in Karachi. His father is Ghulam Sabir Yusufi focused on naat's (poetry in praise of Allah), and his grandfather was Alhaj Khursheed Ahmed Khan, also not an uunfamiliar name. It is no coincidence perhaps that Muhammad decided to take the musical route. His musical aspirations started young where he sang national songs at school events. In 2008, he started to pursue music seriously. His teacher was Muhammad Hussain who he refers to as "saab" or "sir".

  
While ghazals can be considered a mature style for someone his age, Muhammad says that he had no interest in being a one-hit pop or rock wonder with a two or four year stunt. He realized early on that ghazals had longevity. I'll agree with him that Mehdi Hassan is relevant even today. Muhammad compares music to English and Maths, a subject that needs to be learned and nurtured properly. He has some tips for aspiring singers:

• Learn from an expert or "ustad"
• Practice every day
• Listen to experts who have already made their mark

His heroes in music include his father who taught him the basics as well as his "ustaad" and Mehdi Hassan. He draws his inspiration from folk music, namely Tufail Niazi's.

Asia's Singing Superstar is certainly a big feather in his cap, but he's not about to rest on his laurels. In a couple of months' time, we'll see more music from Muhammad, some original, others Mehdi Hassan covers with a touch of jazz for a contemporary sound.

I tried to dissect the ghazal and Muhammad was kind enough to explain the intricacies of a ghazal to me but I'll admit that they were lost on me and he may as well have been speaking Chinese. Don't think I should give up my day job any time soon. Some things are best left to the experts!

Follow Muhammad Zubair on Facebook and subscribe to his channel on YouTube.

Financial Analyst turned Dance Extraordinaire

I have always been intrigued by dancers - their ability to understand choreography, how they manage to pop and lock or thrust with complete abandon and the confidence they exude as they move effortlessly on the dance floor. Nothing beats the grace, posture and raw sensuality of a dancer. Then again, when I watch a dancer performing on stage, a part of me wishes my parents had signed me up for dance lessons from the time I was mobile. Dancing's just so liberating. Also, dancers seem to move in close-knit communities - I think I would have loved to be part of the dancing world. I'm pretty sure I don't understand the technicalities behind any dance style and I'm not interested either - kind of like what goes on behind the scenes to get ourselves ready for a date. It's all about showtime.

Photo credit: Ashish Medda

Recently I looked up a popular Bollywood song, Kala Chashma, and came across Bombay-based Melvin Louis. The man can move and his kickass style puts the gorgeous Sidharth Malhotra's moves to shame. His most watched video posted on YouTube crossed 1 million views in just a month. As with anything else that manages to grab my attention for more than five minutes, my curiosity pulled me to Melvin's dance tutorials and eventually to connecting with him. On a side note, having joined his live chats, I can let you in on a little secret - women are going nuts over this man! I think I just validated my previous point on dancers being perceived as being good in bed. If you're wondering how popular he really is, digest these numbers - legendary Bollywood dancing queen, Madhuri Dixit's Dancing with Madhuri e-school has 72,491 YouTube subscribers. Melvin is swiftly catching up at 55,072, gaining 1200-1500 new subscribers every day. Pretty impressive and that's why I decided to make him the subject of the first blog of my Around the World blog series, but first, some Kala Chashma to give you an idea of what I'm talking about ... 

After hounding Melvin for weeks (the man does not sleep), I finally got hold of him and I'm thrilled to share what I discovered. 

1: Hours it takes him to choreograph a new routine

2: The number of siblings he has. He's the youngest of three brothers

3: The cups of chaai he has to drink every morning 

9: The number of professionally trained teachers at his studio

10: His shoe size

7,979: His Instagram following

930,798: His 19th video uploaded on YouTube has had this many views in 1 month. Check out Beat pe Booty

I wanted to talk business and the start up scene in India today. Fortunately, Melvin's a thinking man. After all, he was once a financial analyst working in the Banking sector. He told me that founding a startup in India is uber competitive, calling it an "ocean of sharks". Doesn't sound very different from the corporate world. He added  that "the product and content has to be really good to survive the city. Mumbai has Bollywood and the city has a constant of everything". He's acutely aware of the digital wave that's transformed how we consume media. I myself have to turn on my TV once a month just to see if it's still working. 

His business, DancePeople Studios, has a special "drop in" format with a fresh routine each class, offering every newcomer an equal opportunity. Unlike other dance studios, Melvin says his studio's USP is offering dance happiness versus dance learning. A part of me is skeptical about professions solely pursuing happiness - maybe I'm also a little envious that he's managed to do what so many of us only dream about. I had to ask Melvin if he would give up providing this happy dance approach if Bollywood embraced him tomorrow. Here's what he had to say - "The only thing I like about myself is being consistent. If you start something you have to continue it. This place isn't about me anymore. It belongs to others".  Yes, Melvin envisions doing this growing old. I like a man with a plan. And is it all fun and games? He seems to be running on adrenaline, eating just one meal a day and dealing with operational hazards. He also admits to being an anxious person. I have to say it doesn't show in his videos. Check out another personal favorite of mine .. 

Being a huge Bollywood enthusiast myself - I think it keeps me connected to my desi roots living in Europe - I wanted to get Melvin's take on dance and how it's evolved from Govinda's pelvic thrusts to the Western club scene of today. He thinks that "Bollywood dancing is dying". I agree with him here.We 're both thankful for K-Jo's family films with the classic song and dance wedding scene. We may ape the West and we also need to in order to move with the times, but nothing beats tradition in arts.

Speaking of tradition, I learned that Melvin is quite the traditional Indian guy. He admitted that he doesn't cook and is supremely pampered at home. Which Asian man isn't;) Fortunately he showed interest in taking up cooking classes. Girls, there's still hope, but bring out that confidence which I know you have as he's surrounded by pretty girls all day. I also learned that he's sensitive at heart, confessing to have written daily poems for a girl he was once in love with. Now you're probably wondering what kind of girl Melvin is likely to fall for. Ladies, take notes. "I'm not looking for a person to run my business. She should be ambitious to understand my ambition and broad minded to accept me. She should be intelligent to teach our kids. It would be her responsibility to do that". Hmm, I'm thinking we may need another Gauri for this Shahrukh Khan. He's in no rush to get married though, admitting that his "career is more important at this particular junction". Are you picking up what I am ladies? He's single and plans to be for quite some time. Woop woop!

I was hoping to get some dirt on life behind the scenes but as it turns out I won't be living vicariously through Melvin - no sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll for this guy.  Let's end on a clean note then shall we ...