The Art of Luta-ing Money
I had one of those rare opportunities last evening — when the weather was in the seventies, and when I felt like moving my muscles a tad. Given the erratic weather in Chicago this season, I have had such luck only once every week in the past month. Running on the lake trail by Lake Michigan surely has its upsides, as you will soon find out.
Half-way through my run, I was drawn by a disturbing albeit familiar sound. When I moved closer toward the source of the sound, I recognized that sound as one of my favourite genres of music — Qawwali. I crossed the BP bridge with much anticipation, hoping to see the rehearsals at the Jay Pritzker pavilion at Millennium Park. To my surprise and utter delight, it wasn’t a rehearsal, but an actual live concert. Gigantic stacks of speakers blaring Allah Hu, Ali Ali and then some catchy Punjabi numbers on the lakefront of Chicago. It reminded me of home. (By the way, you don’t know high notes until you’ve heard some of these Qawwali singers go.) I settled down among the audience, although I was in my workout clothes and completely soaked in sweat.
Faiz Ali Faiz
Everyone seemed to be enjoying the music — black, white, brown. But towards the end of the concert, the south asians in the crowd began to get really excited. And could you blame them? One by one, they moved toward the stage, and scattered a few notes in the air, in that style that you would be familiar with if you have attended Indian weddings or other ceremonies — lutaing money, if you will.
I had the opportunity to sit back and watch many people do this, one after the other. After my observations, I have concluded that not everyone has the knack to do this right. And yes, there is a right way of doing it. It takes patience and some musical knowledge to achieve the perfect effect.
Qawwali music has this unique style, where the music rises in a quick crescendo — with the backup singers repeating a rythmic phrase, and the lead singer improvising on the raga and hitting the high notes. Well, what you think are high notes. And then he goes beyond that to hit higher notes, and then higher-er notes, and then goes two steps beyond what you thought was the highest note possible. And then all of a sudden there is a pause when everyone goes silent. The audience begins to applaud, thinking that the song is over, but then the tabla and the back-up singers pick up right where they left off and the song goes on for a while after that.
I admit that was a long description. But it’s all relevent, because the exact timing when you should luta your money has to do with that pause in the music.
The right moment to let go of the handful of crisp currency notes is at the exact moment when the highest musical note has been hit, but the pause hasn’t begun yet. This of course has to be an underarm throw, or it will look disrespectful. During the pause, the bills reach the top of their trajectory. Everything is really quiet. And then just as the tabla and backup singers pick up again, the notes rain down and scatter creating a confett-like effect.
Glorious!
I didn’t know about this until I saw some rookies screw up, and hasten back to their seats. And then the pros showed us how it’s done.
I’m convinced that this is the way to do it. You should try it next time. And let me know how it goes.
PS – If you’re interested, the artist was Faiz Ali Faiz from Lahore, Pakistan. This concert was part of the Music Without Borders series. Faiz Ali Faiz has an amazing style where he blends western music here and there in to familiar Qawwali numbers — Qawwali Flamenco and Qawwali Gospel. Sounds interesting? Check him out!