Karo Hajam, now in his sixties, has been playing the alghoza for the past 25 years. For him, the instrument is more than just music — it embodies the rich cultural heritage of Sindh.

“The alghoza is like my heartbeat,” Hajam tells Eos, gently holding the beautifully carved twin flutes he has preserved with love and care for decades. “Whenever I play it, I feel the terrestrial rhythms and all of nature singing along with me.”

This unique conversation with nature is made possible by the instrument’s distinctive design. The alghoza is a wind instrument that consists of two flute-shaped recorders: one flute carries the main tune, while the other provides a steady drone, producing a hypnotic sound that distinguishes it from other wind instruments.

Normally, the alghoza-nawaz [alghoza player] and music experts call the former a female sound and the latter a male sound. The male sound or note continuously keeps playing with the same pitch without any gap, while the female sound or note fluctuates, varying in pitch.

The alghoza’s hypnotic drone has echoed across Sindh’s deserts for centuries. Now, master players of this twin-flute instrument fear it could fall silent…

Hajam tells Eos he first learned the instrument from Ustad Rehmatullah Deplai, who was a student of the famous alghoza master, Misri Khan Jamali. “I had a passion for this instrument since childhood, and learning from such a master was a dream come true,” Hajam recalls.

THE HEART OF SINDH’S FOLK TRADITION

The alghoza is among Sindh’s oldest folk instruments. Originally, it consisted of a single flute. Misri Khan Jamali later modified it by adding a second smaller flute, called the “dedh”, and refined both to create the full twin-pipe instrument used today.

Now, two types of wood are used to make it: the kirara (Capparis decidua) wood is used for the flute producing low notes, and taalhi (Dalbergia Sissoo) wood, also known as shisham, is for the flute producing high notes. A nib or a reed is attached at the top of each flute........

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