What Would Morris Say to Famous Qawaali Singer NFAK?

What if Ustaad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and William Morris had a Conversation? 

 

William Morris's utopian world from News from Nowhere (1890) and Ustaad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, although born centuries apart, would likely have a meaningful conversation if they ever met and it would revolve around Morris's shared vision of an artful and a meaningful world, a world that rejected mechanisation in favour of beauty, and spirituality. 

WM: Dear NFAK, I once envisioned a world where labour was no longer a toil but a joy and beauty was part of daily life. I wrote this in my book too, where people lived in harmony and were unburdened by greed. 

NFAK: Haha! What a great thinking Saheb! Your world is so much like it is my music and songs. You talk like poetry- where soul is free and unchained from hunger, no poverty, no forceful labour. 

WM: The world we live in sadly does not allow such freedom. I wrote NfN to dream of a society where craftsmanship would replace mass production and people would find meaning in what they create. What if in future, music too would become mechanised? 

NFAK: Music is already facing these trials. Once, qawwali was considered an offering- an act of faith and devotion in a dargah. Today, people wish for speed. They forget that true art needs time and devotion. 

WM: Yet, in my utopian world, I imagined these people would rediscover the lost art of patience, beauty of handcrafted labour and satisfaction of creation. Machinery wouldn't dictate life. 

NFAK: What you say Saheb, is the truth of art itself. Today the music has been turned into a commodity- people are seeking shortcuts, they demand instant entertainment. 

WM: That is precisely what I feared. I wrote NfN as a rejection of the mechanical world of industry, where even human effort had been reduced to mere production. 

NFAK: When I sing, I do not perform; I surrender. People now consume music without feeling it. They wish for short songs, quick fame, and catchy tunes. 

Are We Losing Our Souls to Machines? 

Both WM and NFAK raise a larger question about modernity. Have we lost the ability to truly experience art, labour and life itself? Music in today's society is mass produced and streamed. Work is seen as a means to earn. Listners today value efficiency over depth, speed over meaning, profit over beauty. The art, work and life must not be seperate but must exist in harmony. Joy of creation is more important than mechanical production.