RISING VOICES

Waqar Khan and Ishfaq Kawa’s songs on Youtube have fetched them millions of views. Their emergence in Kashmir’s cultural space was partly outcome of the massive restrictions that limited people to their homes for more than a year now, reports Syed Samreen

- Syed Samreen

Ishfaq Hussain Kawa doesn’t regret leaving his job at a hotel in Hyderabad. Instead, he thanks his stars that his career in singing and song-writing got a kick-start in the same hotel. Kawa travelled all the way to Hyderabad to work as a waiter, and returned as a virtual star, in his own right. Kawa, 25, hails from Shadipora village in Bandipora. He completed his education from higher secondary Sumbal followed by Bachelors in Hotel Management. He lives with his parents, two brothers and a sister.

The dream of becoming a vocal artist kept him awake during the nights. The choice of his parents was for him to study more and get a job but, a determined Ishfaq didn’t fail to keep following his dream.

INSPIRED BY CONCERTS

After the completion of studies, he left Kashmir for the job of a waiter in a five-star hotel in Hyderabad. It was there he got acquainted with the power of music and to a fair extent the use of social media as a platform that anybody can use.

The embellished halls of the hotel and the concert nights that used to take place between 6 pm till midnight stoked the inner vocalist of his. He could see how the music brings together lot of people and how the singers are as good professionals as others are.

It was there in the hotel – while as waiter, that one day, he decided to perform live in front of a whopping five hundred people. Unlike any other singer’s maiden performance, Kawa’s performance fetched him a standing ovation from the entire crowd and won hundreds of hearts. The performance gave him confidence and a hunger to pursue the field of singing, writing and composing songs.