Music has a greater influence than cricket, when it comes to improving Indo-Pak relations, believes Faisal Kapadia, lead vocalist of Pakistani band Strings. “In cricket one team wins and the other loses, while in the exchange of music concerts, it’s the audience that wins ultimately,” says he. Faisal alongwith Bilal, the lead guitarist, make up the band. Many a time they have performed live in India.

What’s the band’s take on the controversies of lip syncing, of late doing the rounds in India recently? “Often we are asked to do so by organisers, specially for shows on TV channels,” says Bilal. But he feels it is a crime to lip sync in a live concert. “Given a choice nobody would want to fool the audience,” he says.

Don’t get surprised if you spot the most stunning model of the town at the modest interior of PIVIC Saddar arguing at the absence of Roshan Ara Begum rather than rocking in frenzy at some lazy number of Beyonce Knowles at a trendy elite party. The popular Nawab Sultan of Umrao Jaan Ada, IMRAN ABBAS in person too seems to belong more to the oriental Moghul era with a refined sense of aesthetics rather than today. Don’t get surprised; just reaffirm your faith in the age old maxim that appearances are deceptive.