SPRINGTIME IN CHITRAL BY NURSAT KHATOON

Nustrat Khatoon, 31, is a housewife who lives with her husband and three children in an extended family in Chitral town.

 ‘The song ' Bosun Hoy Ma Chitrar' tells about different regions of Chitral - its history and its rich Chitrali cultural heritage…I very proud that I was able to represent my home town its culture and people.  

 Whenever I leave Chitral and visit Peshawar this song reminds me of my land and people.

Chitrali songs are deeply romantic because of our language… Khowar is an artistic and poetic language… It’s close to Persian and has similarities with Urdu.

 I wanted to connect the Scottish audience with my rich cultural heritage of Chitral through this song. The Khowar vocabulary is vast, as there are many way of expressing your thoughts…You have different dialects, which makes the music and songs unique and diverse.’  

 Experience:

‘It was tough in the beginning because I have a three months old daughter but with the support of my husband and family I was able to complete the workshops.

I started writing again in Urdu script after having left school 14 years ago… It was difficult at first but later I found the calligraphy sessions enjoyable.  I felt like I was in school again.

I find the quality and texture of the tweed fascinating and was really pleased to work with Harris Tweed. I have a lot of respect for the weavers and understand the hard work that goes in making the cloth. It’s similar to Chitrali Shu (Woollen cloth) so I instantly connected with the tweed.’