I went back to Sindhology with my new tape player in hand and spent the morning sifting through 30+ year old audio tapes, focusing on female singers and noting down the qualities of each voice. The beauty of many of these recordings for me lies in the complex layering of acoustic instruments with so much variety and beauty.The singers voices vary, but I was struck by the lack of emotional resonance in delivery of poetry. What I mean is that while the voices are beautiful and interesting and rich in variety, the bit that I most looking for was missing for my purposes with my film “Risalo”. The tone of voices was mostly consistent, rather than emphasizing particular words and emotions. There was almost no one who even sang Shah Latif’s poetry. I am told that the Sindhi of Shah Latif is difficult even for native Sindhi speakers. The language is old, with usage of many terms that may be unknown to most today, and yet rich with depth and meaning. Few singers can even begin to present this richness in their voices.I went through a more than half the collection in this session. I’ll return for more. I stopped at lunch time, to go eat some food at the hostel, rest and work on drawings for other aspects of “Risalo”.Zulfikar sahib had suggested another person I should meet who was an expert on Shah Latif’s poetry, but came to it from a Sufi background instead of the more academic background of others who were helping me. Each was invaluable in their insights and help, but each also had the potential to offer varying points of view which are invaluable.I spent the evening with some students from the study circle who graciously gave me time. It was good to have a break from my own mind.