Two childhood friends meet after a long time in a different city and discover a common love – music.

At his home in Kashmir, Kashif is tuning the strings on his father’s guitar, as his friend and partner Khalid looks on, humming some tunes. The duo is immersed in music, creating new songs in the flight or Parwaaz of their imagination. For Kashif Iqbal and Khalid Ahmed, the founders of the Bangalore-based band ‘Parwaaz: Music is lifestyle’. The two know each other from childhood, but discovered each other again, and their shared love for music, in a different city where they met after a long time in 2009. Although, this wasn’t the course they had planned when they went for higher studies to Bangalore. “I always loved music but never thought of taking it up as a career,” remembers Kashif. Khalid too had limited his singing to his room. Their passion for music doubled when they got together and it changed their life.“When I met Kashif in Bangalore, he had already been a part of some bands and used to be on vocals. It fascinated me. We became roommates and with a shared interest in music we knew we had to do something about it,” says Khalid. And they did by starting their own band. “In early 2010 we started our collaboration by participating in a competition in Kashif’s college. By then, we were quite clear that this is what we wanted to do,” adds Khalid. From a humble beginning, the duo worked hard to establish themselves. Later, two more people Fidel D’souza and Sachin Banandur joined to complete Parwaaz. Khalid is the lead vocalist, Kashif is on guitar, Fidel and Sachin are on bass and drums and percussions respectively. For them, originality is the key. “Ever since I learned to play the guitar, I wanted to write original music,” says Kashif. “We knew we never wanted to copy,” adds Khalid. Both are self-taught musicians. “We are self-taught musicians. Our influences in music are similar and many.” Khalid names a few singers he follows including Led Zeppelin whereas Kashif says, “I like melancholic playing, regardless of who is playing it.” Talking about lyrical inspirations and themes they both feel that themes just form when you start writing a song. “We never think too much while writing a song, the only thing is you need to keep a coherence from the beginning until the end. Also, when you truly feel it, you are going to write well,” says Khalid. Parwaaz is now emerging as a successful band and they have a wide audience. “Audience is our bread and butter and during our shows, we find lot of people who have memorized our songs which gives an amazing feeling.” The path to this feeling hasn’t been an easy one. “In the initial three years, there were no gigs or shows but one has to strive,” says Khalid. But hard work has paid for them. “Last two years have been great. The response after our first album Baran was amazing,” says Kashif with a mix of humility and pride. To them, this is just the beginning and there is still a long way to go. “You cannot consider having one album a success. We have to make a lot more music,” reacts Khalid. For them, Kashmir is the perfect place to write and conceive new music as they stay connected to their roots. Their music proves this and many of their songs are in Kashmiri. “Kashmiri songs are loved outside, and I have seen people in our shows singing along to these songs,” says Kashif. But they don’t have many hopes for the future of music or in fact their future in Kashmir. “If we were based out of here, I am sure we would be doing something else. There is no infrastructure here for a career of this sort. You could write or sing here but an artist needs practical application. An artist needs a motivation and a push which you won’t get here,” says Khalid. To the aspiring singers of Kashmir, they advise staying firm and making use of YouTube and other such platforms to launch themselves. The duos’ passion for music is incredible and when asked about their greatest fear, they didn’t waste a moment to reply, “That we lose interest in music.” About their future they say, “Future is unpredictable, but we are sure we see ourselves improvising and creating new music.”