Brian Bond is a researcher at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Hailing from the department of Ethnomusicology, his research is centered on Sindhi-language Sufi poetry performances.
By Ummara Sheraz
When an American researcher took such a keen interest in the music of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, the Government of Sindh felt compelled to laud him.
An American Ph.D. student was so enamored by the works of the Sindhi poet, that he turned it into his life’s work. Otherwise known as the research topic for his Ph.D. It’s impressive enough that someone chose music as a Ph.D. research topic. To add to that he did so with the works of the Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai.
So who is this person? Mr. Brian Bond. A researcher at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Hailing from the department of Ethnomusicology, his research is centered on Sindhi-language Sufi poetry performances.
His work is region specific, in the borderland region of Kachchh, Gujarat (western India). With particular emphasis on the poetry of the 18thC poet-saint Shāh Abdul Latīf Bhiṭtai, he also sings covers of his Sufi mystic’s poetry.
His works also focus on the storytelling and Islamic preaching aspect of such musical works.
Of course, his works have caught everyone’s attention and we had to say ‘we appreciate it man’ somehow. So Sindh Minister for Culture and Education Sardar Shah presented Brian Bond with the ‘Latif Awad’.
This is one of the prestigious awards in Sindh. It’s only adequate that a man dedicating his research to Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai’s music and its different genres at Bhittai’s Shrine Bhit Shah should receive that award.
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Courtesy: Pro-Pakistani
