REMEMBERING A SON OF SANDDUNES

I expected my son to have a different taste of songs having sent him to a reputed heritage boarding school. But such was the spell of this Punjabi rapper that not only my child, but his entire generation was mesmerized by him. One day out of sheer curiosity I tuned in to listen to one of his popular numbers: "295". For a change I enjoyed the lyrics, which had a subtle message. In strange twist of fate, Sidhu Moosewala was murdered that same evening; it was 29th day of 5th month last year.

The sheer volume of mourners following his death goaded me to know more about this man. Starting his career as a songwriter, his debut album in 2018 made him a star overnight. He won best lyrist award for "So High" at Brit Asia TV music awards. Another song "Bambiha Bol"' came in top 5 on Global YouTube music charts. The Guardian named him among 50 upcoming artists and Spotify included him in the list of most popular artists from Punjab. He was the first Indian singer to perform at wireless festival in Canada; an impressive curriculum vitae indeed.

As he muscled his way up the ladder of success, controversies surrounded him as a byproduct. His lyrics and themes were often accused of promoting gun culture and challenging religious establishments. He would often get embroiled in confrontation with other singers taking a dig at them during live performances. He had huge fans following as well as critics in large proportion. His admirers saw him as down to earth person with traditional mindset while his detractors criticized him for bragging about his meteoric rise within a short span.

But there was another facet to his personality much different from the one projected by his songs. Even in stardom he remained rooted and chose to live in his village Moosa, which he brought on world map by suffixing its name to his. He was extremely reverential towards his parents and his love for them figured often in his songs. He may have antagonized the religious leaders, yet he influenced thousands in adorning a turban, an important tenet of his faith. In many ways he was a walking contradiction of himself.

I also noticed that he often spoke of an early death in some of his songs. Call it premonition or sheer coincidence, his death ironically was a déjàvu of his final song, ‘The Last Ride', released days before death. There was also an uncanny similarity found between Moosewala and American rapper Tupac Shakur, his role model. Both rose to stardom very quickly with a huge fan following and both brought attention to issues faced by public. Both met a brutal end in youth under strikingly similar circumstances.

Unfortunately justice has eluded this legend's family even after lapse of one year. Moosa village was once a hamlet amidst the sandunes (called Tibbey in Punjabi). The sandunes vanished decades ago post the Green Revolution, but this ‘Tibbeyan da Putt' (son of sandunes) will continue to live in hearts of his fans; I too being one of them now.

Col HP Singh, is a prolific writer and based at Mohali, Punjab