When Nusrat came to Slough

Virinder Kalra joins the Bookclub in conversation with Pritpal Singh to explore the ways in which Nusrat’s Qawaali engaged with other spiritual music texts.

Virinder Kalra

Virinder Kalra is Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick and specialises in several areas including racism and ethnicity in relation to popular culture and policy. He has published numerous books and academic articles including 'Sacred and Secular music: A postcolonial approach'. Having grown up in Bradford, and being raised within the Sikh scholarly ‘Nirmala’ tradition, Pritpal Singh spent a number of years advising U.K. academic institutions on Sikh sociology-religious issues. Currently residing in the Middle East, Pritpal has contributed to a number of projects to revive Sikh musical traditions.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was undoubtedly one of the most popular Qawaali singers of South-Asia and thus in 1989, Nusrat performed at Slough Gurdwara singing texts from the Sikh tradition. Virinder Kalra joins the Bookclub in conversation with Pritpal Singh to explore the ways in which Nusrat’s Qawaali engaged with other spiritual music texts. He will look at how the space of diaspora enabled interactions across religious boundaries and created the conditions to re-imagine a nineteenth century Punjab in which the role of musicians was not delimited by their religious identities.

Buy ‘Sacred and Secular Musics: A Postcolonial Approach’ here >>

Marina Wheeler

In this gripping memoir, Marina Wheeler tells the story of her mother’s early years shaped by the Partition and her subsequent search for personal and political freedom.

Kevin Bacon and Jody East

Why did George IV's seaside pleasure palace become a hospital for Indian soldiers? A talk and Q&A with Kevin Bacon and Jody East from Brighton's Royal Pavilion, exploring the myths and realities surrounding one of the most unusual hospitals of the First World War.

George Morton-Jack

Historian George Morton-Jack, author of 'The Indian Empire at War' - drawing on long-lost Indian veteran interviews and oral memories in India and Pakistan to explore neglected personal stories of 1914-1918

Prof Nikki Guninder Kaur Singh

Prof Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh drawing upon her work on the Guru Granth Sahib will discuss how the female was exalted by the Gurus to ensure equality.

See All Events

UKPHA VIRTUAL BOOK CLUB