‘Faqeeran’ Is The Throbbing, Emotional Heartbeat Of Rashmeet Kaur’s 'Musafir Live' Sessions

In her textured and ever-evolving musical practice, Punjabi singer-songwriter Rashmeet Kaur has long woven together Punjabi folk, classical vocal discipline, and contemporary sonic experimentation. Her recent project, Musafir (Live, 2025), extends this trajectory by returning to the beginning of her independent career and reimagining it with renewed depth. As Kaur puts it, the live sessions are “a reimagined celebration” of her 2019 debut EP Musafir — a body of work she considers the first chapter of her artistic journey.

‘Faqeeran’, Kaur’s latest release, presented here with a fresh twist, captures her at a moment of introspective surrender — a space where restlessness meets poetic reflection. It stands as one of the clearest markers yet of the creative arc she has carved for herself. Although it is her newest song in the set, Kaur frames it as part of a larger continuum: a fresh twist on a phase of searching that has shaped her songwriting over the years. The track sits alongside live reinterpretations of Musafir cuts such as ‘Aa Mil Yaar’, ‘Kahaan’, the title track ‘Musafir’, as well as ‘Maati Ki Gudiya’, Kaur’s first-ever single. Together, these selections form what the musician describes as “heartfelt versions brought to life with my incredible live band… songs that hold pieces of my heart, reinterpreted through sound and soul.”

The song opens with a hushed invocation: “Naina de kinaare / Khaab kinne sare” (By the edges of my eyes / I’ve kept so many dreams). It sets the tone for a self-inquiry that feels both tender and slightly unmoored. Soon, the refrain—“Ghumma vang faqeeran / Han vang mai faqeeran” (Like the wanderings of a faqir / Yes, I’m like a faqir)—positions Kaur as a seeker drifting between “hanera na savera” (darkness and dawn), suspended in the search for steadiness of spirit.

‘Faqeeran’ is arresting in the balance it strikes between vocal discipline and detour. Kaur’s classical training is unmistakable in her tonal control and ornamentation, yet she avoids the strictures of traditional devotional music. She lets subtle digital textures, soft ambient washes, and an almost ascetic arrangement frame her voice. Harmonium-like drones, gentle percussion, and purposeful silences create an atmosphere where the voice leads and the soundscape follows.

The track extends Kaur’s ongoing preoccupation with identity as movement. The “faqir”—ascetic, wanderer, or the ascetic wanderer, a recurring figure in Indian folk and mystic traditions—becomes a metaphor for navigating a world shaped by fragmentation and flux. In the broader context of Musafir, a project conceived as a series of “small, fragmentary encounters”, the song feels like its emotional centrepiece: a meditation on wandering as a form of knowing. The journey she invokes isn’t dramatic or embellished; it is inward, slow-burning, and deeply personal.

For Kaur, better known for her high-energy pop and polished playback work, ‘Faqeeran’ offers a striking point of departure. It reveals her comfort with fragility and her willingness to pare down until only the essentials remain. In doing so, the song articulates what her practice increasingly gestures toward: a fusion not just of diverse musical genres, but of states of being, and of a voice unafraid to wander until the first light arrives.

Listen to ‘Faqeeran’ here:

Follow Rashmeet Kaur here.

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