Rap Song On Peshawar's Culture Creates Buzz On Social Media

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Mar, 2021 ) :A rap song sung by two youngsters in regional Hindko language has created a buzz on social media while highlighting the rich cultural heritage, social norms, lifestyle, prominent personalities and food cuisine of the ancient walled city of Peshawar.

The four minuets twenty seconds video song titled `Peshor Di Gali' (Street of Peshawar) has made viral on social media which attracted more than 500k likes within a period of three weeks after its release. Peshawarites have expressed admiration and excitement over the choice of words in the song. They have also termed it a good effort to describe the unique architectural and archaeological heritage of the oldest South Asian city in modern way with eye-catching visuals.

The rap song, first ever in Hindko language, is filmed at historical Sehti house, important bazaars and streets of the city besides featuring famous eateries. Apart from Hinkdo speaking local Peshawarites, the song has also received applauds from dwellers of other parts of the country in general and of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in particular.

Talking to APP, Syed Mohsin Ali Shah alias Shah Jee, the main character in the song said, "This song took three months in writing, nine months in shooting which completed in one year." He said the idea behind the song was to present Hindko to the young lot of Peshawar through the use of music for making it attractive and catchy for them. All the expenditure for filming of the song was incurred by him, his team members including Hammad (Singer), Hussain Ahmad Khan (Director), Adil (Photograper), Sanan Sehti (Producer), and Nazeer Muqsood (Music Director), he added.

Abdul Rahim, a student of Peshawar University said that the rap song has effectively reflected the historical background of Peshawar city for the internet users worldwide while apprising the youngsters about the oldest traditional and cultural activities of the inhabitants of the city. He said, "For the first time I enjoyed Hindko language by listening the song sung in modern way and watching of video gave me a peep into the rich background of my native city." Engineer Waqar Ahmad, a dweller of Peshawar who works for promotion of Hindko language said, "Using of music and rap singing made the effort more effective and attractive by drawing likes from a large number of people.

" He said that the rap song shed light on architectural and historical background of Peshawar and also promote Hindko which is the second largest language of KP and sixth of Pakistan.

Shah Jee said both he and his friend Hammad were amateur artists and first time performed in a music song which had attracted commendations from across the globe. He said the audio and video production had a big cost as we did not get any sponsor even from those eateries which mentioned in the song, he added. About the lyrics, he said, he wrote it himself. He said he is also working as anchor at a private tv channel in its Hindko programme so he has good understanding of the language and issues related to city and its dwellers.

Nawaz-ud-Din, Senior officer KP Archeology department while talking to the news agency said, "The song helped in bringing to limelight the architectural as well as archaeological back ground of Peshawar." He said the song begins with saying that `Peshawar is an old city and has a distinctive swag, giving a reference to valuable historical background and importance of the city in the region. Being an oldest living city in South Asia, Peshawar is not only an important city in Pakistan but also in the whole region and deserve publicity and promotion of associated culture, he added.

Shah Jee said that the song has also mentioned of some of the primitive and practices of the residents of Peshawar on different occasions and the objective was to aware people about its ineffectiveness. Shah Jee said the song has highlighted traditional dishes of Peshawar including Jalil Chapple Kabab, Charsi Tikka (Bar BQ), trotter of Nikey, tripe being sold at Kohati gate, rice of Shoba bazar, sweet of Dita etc.

Nawaz-ud-Din said the city's archaeological profile include its status as capital of Gandhara Civilization which has also remained home to Greeks, Buddhists, Huns, Brahmins, Ghaznavis, Mughals, Sikhs and Britishers. He said "Such efforts by our youngsters need encouragement and support from concerned departments and private sector to convey to world the architectural and archaeological worth of Peshawar city."