Streaming now : Listen to Bhat Furquan’s new pop single ‘Khatah’

Budgam : Growing up in an artistic environment helped Furquan to shape his sensibilities in plenty of ways. From travelling back home from the green meadows of his village in Budgam to driving through cities and towns for learning, he says that he formed a “deep-rooted connection” with music. A first year student from Khansahib Degree College , Furquan says, “I’m quite fascinated by our own Kashmiri legendary singer Abdul Rashid Hafiz and he is my inspiration.”After a brief encounter with Syed Zahoor, who then became his Ustaad(teacher), he started learning harmonium from the basics and then started participating in sufi gatherings.

He then got to learn rabab from Kashmir’s legendary singer Ustaad Irfan also known by “the best duo Irfan Bilal”, he said.Using that exposure and experience he was able to compose and release his first single, “Khatah” earlier this week. Not the one to be distracted by number of views or subscribers, the singer-songwriter quite eloquently said, “I, as an artist, advise youth to stick to our roots of culture and be in love with our mother tongue, and to do things you’re good at.””My only aim is to promote Kashmiri culture across the world through my art and want my people to connect with whatever I present”, he added.