Category: Performing
Country: Pakistan

About

Sanam Marvi is a Sufi singer based in Pakistan. She began studying music under the guidance of her father, Faqeer Ghulam Rasool, until the age of seven. Eventually Sanam visited India, where she trained under Ustad Fateh Ali Khan of Gwalior. While there, she felt that Indian audiences were more appreciative of her talent than those back home. She also observed that Indian audiences responded positively to Allama Iqbal, a famous Pakistani poet. Sanam often recited his poem Gesu-e-tabdaar ko aur bhi tabdaar kar during her performances in India.

One of Sanam’s goals as a musician is to make Sufi music more popular with both Indian and Pakistani youth. “I have never performed any pop song in my life and don’t even plan to,” she declared. “My objective is to perform at every Sufi festival across the world so that people of my generation and many more come (to be) familiarized with this culture. I am only 24, and if I can get fascinated by it, so can others.”¹

As an artist, Sanam is inspired by the women of Sindh who have a special song for every occasion that they sing to the beat of a dhol, or Eastern drum. She hopes to break new ground with one of her upcoming projects, a collection of Sindhi songs. ²

Sanam not only hopes to break new ground musically, but socially as well. In February 2011, Sanam performed with Indian singer Rekha Bhardwaj in a concert for Aman ki Asha, an India-Pakistan peace project which was initiated by the Times of India and Pakistani Jang Group news outlets in an effort to spread peace through music. Rekha seemed to sum up the central message of the concert, saying, “I do not believe in Islam, I do not believe in Hinduism, I do not believe in any religion. All I believe in is the power of love and humanity.” ³

[1] <"Sanam Marvi: taking the Sufi world by storm," Daily Times..

[2] ibid.

[3] “Rekha, Sanam Marvi to perform together,” The Times of India.