What festivals are made of

They came, they rocked, they conquered. Granted, Womad brought together some of the best acts from across the globe, but the South Asians were particularly entertaining and enthralling. It started with Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali from Pakistan, followed by Dhol Foundation from the UK and India and finished with Trilok Gurtu, a tabla maestro from India.

Those who had never heard of the nephews of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the revered singer and musician who introduced the world to qawwalis – vocal music of the Sufi mystics – were left mesmerised and slightly puzzled at the duelling vocals and spontaneous outbursts on the first night of the festival. The qawwali group was formed a year after Khan’s untimely death, when his teenaged nephews took to the 1998 Womad festival in Reading, England. A decade later, they tore hearts open in Abu Dhabi.

The word was out. A large group of Pakistanis gathered in front of the stage. Most of them had come in trucks, some ferrying their friends from Dubai. In their shalwar kameez and bare feet, they formed a circle and danced with abandon.

The second night proved equally scintillating. After Dhol Foundation performed, the group told the crowd about how it came to be labelled as a band from the UK and India. Johnny Kalsi’s parents emigrated from India to Kenya, then to England, where Kalsi was born. But as a turban-wearing Sikh, Kalsi often faced discrimination and derogatory comments in school, where he was told to go back to India. Since he had never been, Kalsi felt he had one choice: he drew closer to his faith and never forsook his turban. The experience also brought him closer to music – to the dhol or the Indian drum and to Bhangra, the lively folk dance of Punjab, where his ancestors come from. Thus was born a band that combines Celtic tunes with Bhangra beats.

On Friday night, Kalsi and his drummer boys did more than entertain. They taught a few grannies and toddlers to dance the Bhangra.

“Put your arms in the air like you were pushing up the sky and then jump and shout, ‘Hey’,” he said. The crowd did just that, following the rhythms he made on the 15 kilo drum strapped around him.

Sure, the super stars were out at the festival – from Khaled and Mohamed Mounir to Youssou N’Dour – but for me, it was these boys that stole the show.