Disco
April 3rd 1965, a
Pakistani Pop and Disco music legend Nazia Hassan was born. More than a legend
she was the first iconic figure of Pakistan
who along with her brother Zohaib Hassan revolutionized music and introduced
Pop music in both Pakistan
and India.
She recorded her first song App jaisa koi
meri zindagi mei aay (‘If someone like you comes into my life’) for the
Bollywood movie Qurbani in 1980 produced by Feroz Khan. She was only 15 years old then when that
song’s success sky-rocketed.
Both the brother-sister duo made musical history and sold over millions of copies of their albums Disco Deewane, Young Tarang etc. – not just in Pakistan and India - but their popularity spanned across Latin America, the Middle East and South East Asia. Nazia was the first Pakistani singer whose song made its way into the British charts. The English rendition of ‘Disco Deewane’ called ‘Dreamer Deewane’ acquired immense popularity in the West.
Regrettably,
while this brother-sister duo reached peak of their fame I was too young to even
comprehend what music was let alone understand their fame. However, people used
to always talk about them and listen to their albums so I realized this much
that Nazia and Zohaib were some really important people.
Our
school bus owner, whom we all called Uncle, told me that one day while he was
looking after a bookshop of his friend- Nazia Hassan stopped her car in front of
the shop to get some books. She came out of her car, browsed the display window
and within few minutes hundreds of people appeared out of nowhere just to have
a glimpse of her- she hurried back to her and drove as fast as she could to
disappear from the vicinity.
 |
| Nazia & Zohaib in their early career |
It
feels sad and surreal to say that Nazia Hassan is no longer with us; she died
on 30th August 2000.
Nevertheless, even today on her birthday and especially on her death
anniversary it is common to hear the sounds of her beautiful songs from many of
the passing-by cars. Her fans still love her and remember her with so much adulation.
Throughout
her life she was associated with many charitable organizations and always
donated every penny from her music royalties to charities.
However,
to me she is dear for one very important reason and that is her education. I
think I was in elementary school when Nazia Hassan went to New York to work as the political analyst
for the United Nations. Her detailed educational background from her early
schooling to her graduation with a distinction in business administration (BBA)
from Richmond University,
London to her getting a law degree from Lancaster College, was published in the newspapers.
In late
80 or early 90’s BBA wasn’t a popular degree as it is today in fact it was then
the very first time I ever heard that a degree called BBA exists. For some
strange reason it got stuck with me and without even knowing BBA or its
subjects’ details, in the spur of the moment, I decided to do BBA and Law.
I was
so crazy about doing BBA that I didn’t even research that it had accounting and
economics when my background was biology and chemistry, although I hated both
these subjects but it was on my Mom’s insistence that I must do my college from
science subjects- she had a sheepish desire to see me as a doctor like her. Anyways
after beating my brains out to study calculus and accounting I managed to
respectably acquire my BBA degree.
These
are the miraculous moments when someone you have never met or do not even know
properly could provide a great cue to your future. So Thank you, thank you,
thank you Allah for guiding me through Nazia Hassan- may her soul rest in peace, with much love and many prayers.
Good
Night!
Sonya.
(Day 287)
Comments
Thank you so much Star...