Dodging the beautiful scents emanating from our polluted little corner of the Arabian Sea, along with a vicious looking army of pye dogs so conveniently sprinkled across the posh locality of Clifton, I come to a conclusion: I am lost in the middle of nowhere!

In the eerie darkness, the place feels more like the final frontier than the playground of the rich and shameless. Hot, bothered and confused, I finally stumble on to the right address.

He meets me at the door and with a hearty shake of the hand, ushers me in. This is Mohammad Ali Shyhaki, pop star of yesteryear and professional chameleon whose career includes singer, actor and businessman. And now he is trying his luck in aviation.

The demons of nostalgia were haunting me on a regular basis, so to exorcise them I queried him about the past, present and future. "I have completed an overdue album. The songs were recorded long ago but the release has been finalized now," says he, adding that the video is ready and that he is waiting for the right time to release it.

Oozing with confidence he states, "I want to be out as soon as possible because the scene is good nowadays." Shyhaki is rather keen to get the thing out of the way because he says, "If I delay it any further, maybe the music will go out of fashion. I have tried my best not to put in very trendy songs. The album is very light, pleasant and pleasing."

Out of conviction I press him on the issue of lyric writing. "This is a very controversial issue. When it comes to singing, I don't know from where this view has emerged that whoever does everything by himself, irrespective of the quality, is somebody to be credited. I think it's preposterous to think like that." Preposterous? If you take music as a mere business and the sweetest sound to your ears is the caching of a cash register, then it's perfectly all right to have your super mega ultra glitzy top 10 hit single professionally written. But, if you take music as an art form, like the silent minority among us, then the singer/songwriter or musician/songwriter earns a special place with the listener.

He seems like he has quite a bone to pick with the musicians of the past as well as the media. "Our ustads didn't want to share their talent with anybody. The media played a big role in destroying our music. They made millions by investing nothing. We were rejected because we charge. The artist who gets a Pride of Performance award or is outstanding is especially ignored by TV," he laments. Shyhaki further complains that the compensation for TV appearances is laughable. Indeed the powers that be, have little time to waste with such useless things as art, culture and intellectual pursuits. He launches another critical dart, supposedly aimed at his juniors. "There are talented guys also but they haven't worked hard. They haven't seen the times we have seen. They haven't learnt it from somebody. By way of an analogy, Shyhaki explains his secret of survival. "If I sing, my singing is a product. If it's a good product, it'll be purchased no matter how old it is. A good artist is not a trendy artist."

As my stomach turns, he starts pouring praises onto plastic pop diva Celine Dion. "Celine Dion is a hell of a singer. These kind of singers can never die." Referring to the practice amongst musicians to take a more active role in the music-making process, Shyhaki comes off a little retrogressive when saying, "You cannot do everything. Everybody is appointed to do a certain job. This is a very cruel field. It doesn't forgive you at all." I wonder what he has to say about Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails or Beck Hansen, both gentlemen, who on more than one occasion have written and produced as well as played all the instruments on their respective albums. Reznor's The Downward Spiral and Beck's Odelay have been established as artistic masterpieces as well as performing commercially. Even in our own country there is a welcome trend amongst such artists as Junoon's Salman Ahmed, Ali Haider and Amir Zaki to write their own music as well as lyrics.

Asked about his influence on Pakistani pop, he states, "I came in with a mixture of Western and Eastern. I did not pick up the rock part. I picked up the melodious part." As my face grows grim, Shyhaki continues his tirade against rock. "Pure rock will not work here. For that matter pure rock has not worked in the West in the form that rock bands sing." Call it pure or impure, but maybe that's why Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon enjoyed the longest stay on Billboard's albums chart for over 20 years. Maybe it's rock's transient nature that enabled Led Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven to become the most requested song on US FM radio. I rest my case.

As for the state of Pakistani pop music today, "It's getting better, finally after a long period of oblivion. After a period of garbage music we're back to our tracks. But we should stop imitating," he informs. He definitely keeps himself busy what with his aviation business as well as performing, as was proof in the finale of the Gulls & Guys extravaganza. As the clock winds down, I ask him for some advice he might have for his contemporaries or newcomers. "Whatever you do, do your best. If you can't do the best, quit. Try something else," he quips. With this parting shot I take my leave for the journey home and to face the perils of the night....