Her retirement news, however, did not make it to the social media site Twitter until Monday, when those who had been influenced by her crisp and clear delivery of news during their young days, chanced on a clip of her last bulletin on YouTube.
What ensued was a mass of emotion, paying rich tribute to what some described her as an “institution”, a teacher, apart from the pack of newscasters and show hosts that one sees on television today. She will be missed.
Here is what some people had to say of Shaista Zaid’s illustrious career.
AR Rafiq
What Walter Cronkite was to CBS Nightly, Shaista Zaid is to PTV Nightly News
Shaista Hussain
“@HumaImtiaz: End of an era -- Shaista Zaid's last bulletin on PTV/ she was also an inspiring teacher!
Ahmed Zulfiqar
so THAT's what her name is...goodbye and good luck Shaista Zaid. #EndOfAnEra
Mansoor Ali Khan
It was an honor to watch Shaista Zaid's last bulletin. Her grace and elegance unmatched for those 43 years when she remained on-air.
Ali Dayan Hasan
Shaista Zaid speaks flawless English in a standard PAKISTANI accent - not a Texan drawl nor a Birmingham lilt. Thank you for that. #PTV
Tuba
Shaista Zaid is one of those ladies that inspired me. Strong personality with a great fashion sense. the way she carry herself is flawless.
Shiraz Hassan
When I was in 4th class in school my tea cher asked me to watch Shaista Zaid's news bulletins to improve English. Must Respect.
Shaikh Rafia
WOW. I happened to watch TV after years and switched to PTV and there was she, Shaista Zaid. Have been mimicking her since my birth.
محمد عامر اظہر
Finally we are giving tribute to the living Legends RT @akchishti Shaista Zaid's last bulletin on ptvnews 1969-2012
Syeda Saira Basit
@jahanarawattoo Ms Shaista Zaid was my teacher and no doubt one of the best teacher of mine ever... #Shaistzaid
AliNawazMalik @lsemalik
The legend, the institution Ptv's most respected news caster Ms. Shaista Zaid signing off her last bulletin. Solute Mam
COMMENTS (51)
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A Lenten,and a ray of the news room and devoted women to the field of news with clear and crystal sound with cultural and traditional dress with dopatta on head,I always present example of her in our discussions etc with our colleagues and friend She will be remains in our hearts with best wishes and hope she will be remain in every heart with respect forever.
I have known her from the very first day or shall I say evening when she came on the "News Channel" I had the previlage of being a colleague of her father, Mr Younas Khan --a brilliant engineer , who proudly told me of her first appearence. She had a superb confidence and beautiful delivery of the narration.Her pronunciation was flawless and one need not have to fall back on BBC to check and learn. I wish her the very best. PTV should institute an award to be given their best news casters. Government of Pakistan should or rather MUST honour her with a suitable civil award.
RIP. Great lady with a great voice. We will miss her.
Graceful lady, we will miss you.
she was a part of propaganda machinary ,who washed the brain of 70s, 80s and 90s generation .No one can be great merely spending a number of years somewhere.Actually we are being reminded of our yesteryears from this news and here a river of symphethy-----. Infact the auther herself seems to interest of those years of her life , the news is just a provocation at best.
The only tribute i can pay to Shista Zaid is that she is Barbra Walters of Pakistan & as a great news caster she will always be in the hearts & minds of all her country men/women.Good luck to you Shaista!!!!!!
Indeed "Icons come Rare " Suffice it to say that Shaista Zaid is a complete human being, a wonderful friend, a dedicated teacher and an accomplished news caster. Stay blessed Shaista, u are one of a kind.
Respected Mam, It is great honor that v have such kind of a graceful lady with perfect, smooth and clear English accent. Ur always an inspiration to me whenever i want n try to speak english language with perfection. Salute u for your services for Pakistan and u will remain in our heart for eternity. Good luck and Almighty bless you with HIS countless blessings.
If I remember correctly she was known as Shaista Khan in 1969-70 and read the english news on PTV.I was a youngster those days and came to Islamabad for my vacations from Dehradun in India as my father was posted in the High Commission.Her diction was most impressive for those times!!!
Genuinely Shaista. She will be sorely missed.
Dear Ma'am,
There was a time when the most exciting thing on PTV was 6 pm news. I was in school and I had no idea what "NEWS" meant. But it was a treat to see you read the news. The English pronounced by you was perfect. I have beautiful memories of you on TV. Thank you for being YOU and being there.
May Allah shower HIS blessings upon you always. Ameen. Asif.
Was quite young when my dad used to switch on the TV for the News, I knew her by the name evening news Aunty.
Have a lot of respect for her :)
Very sad to see a legend go away. She was a gem. I grew up watching the nightly English news as a child. She has been an inspiration for lot of young women in Pakistan. She had a total command of the language and always spoke in a very distinctive manner. Good bye Shaista, we will miss you.
Flowers wither but they do not vanish from minds.I pray that she lives another hundred years.
Elegent.
As a child when I could not comprehend English much I still loved to watch her 6pm and later 7 pm English news. though I was too young to understand fashion at that time but somehow her graceful personality and fashion sense really enthralled me. I badly wanted to copy her eloquent and flawless style. In my attempt to speak like her I had learned the ending lines of her news bulletin "and that's all from the news room till Khabarnama at 9". And would mimic them like crazy after the end of the bulletin, while standing in front of the mirror and imagining myself somewhat of Madam Shaista Zaid's caliber.
Ah! those were the days. And today the confidence and fluency with which I speak English is the result of watching your bulletin.
Such an inspiration you have been, ma'am. Long live!
Respect and admiration for the lady...
Respect! Still her English accent is so clear and pure , way better than all confused inferiority complexed desis! Reminds me of my childhood, Respect to Mam, May Allah bless you
Left pakistan more then 20 years ago but still remember her 6 O'clock news. KM, Atlanta, Georgia USA
We grew up watching you and your perfect delivery of English words...You were the real teacher of this subject Mam...will miss u..Allah bless u
A presidential award would be most befitting now that she has retired.
This very well is the story of Pakistan. In last 40 years we have come down from the level of Ms. Shaista Zaid to Ms. Hadia.
Shaista Zaid speaks impeccable English with courage. Her accent is natural.
She speaks impeccable English and her accent is very natural.
I remember her, The timing of her English news was sharp 9pm. She is a legend!
THANK YOU Ms. Shaista Zaid. Watching your 6:00pm (may have got the timing wrong..so apologies in advance) news bulletin was probably the most professional news presentation I have seen and it made me happy and proud to acknowledge the fact that we have such dignified and professional media respresentatives. It was truely a joy to listen to your eloquently articulated news delivery - we will miss you and wish you all the best in your future endeavors. I am confident that the youth will take inspiration from your professional approach and committment to excellence. In the end, I would encourage our media outlets to raise the bar to a level which Ms. Shaista possessed, and that should serve as a fitting tribute for times to come to this wonderful lady's services to PTV and the Pakistani people.
Without a doubt ,the greatest newscaster of the subcontinent.marvellous delivery,flawless diction,grace and sheer class.remembers being mesmerised by her as a child in a small border village of district ferozepur,punjab...adieu Shaista
i didn't know the lady was still on air. Respect to her and may she enjoy her retirement.
Ma'am u were our pride........ really!! we'll definitely miss your iconic presence..............
I left India in 1990 and Amritsar in 1987. I still have the memories of Shaista Zaid, Chishty Mujahid and Edward Carpet, all English news readers of PTV.
Salute
@Huma: Hadia seems very good to me. Don’t judge anybody by his/her accent. An accent does not constitute lack of knowledge of a language; and Hadia’s accent is beautiful. Anybody judged against a legend looks meek; give Hadia time, she will become a legend, too. Actually I have much higher hopes from her. It’s a new age: I hope Hadia will even surpass Shaista by taking a stand against forces of suppression to the best of her abilities whenever the situations so demands; doing that will be much easier for her then it would have been for Shaista. Siddique Malik, Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
u'll be missed .... and “thats all in the newsroom until..................
Big Respect for this lady. Her accent is pure class. The clarity in deliverance of her speech is amazing. She is going to be missed hard. A true legend. Thank you for your services. None in the present times can't match her elegance.
Oh man I remember her "thats all in the newsroom untill the Khabarnama at 9:00", great lady...
I remember watching her on PTV years ago, extremely elegant and perfect speech delivery - a true maestro
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
One of the few bastions of national pride left to us.
A known face of a newscaster when taken off from the screen leaves many viewers to feel lonely.
Shaista Zaid was a great all times newscaster of the only State Television PTV.
After her retirement, if she is not too much committed, I feel that PTV should hire her services to train the new English Bulletin newscasters.
A living legend' and the best teacher I ever had, I'm proud to be her student. Long live Mrs. Shaista Zaid. Miss you
I dont know why I am crying so much
We will miss you…
You will be missed Ma'am!!
What a legend. She has seen it all.. from the glory days of Ayub to the crisis hit decade of 90s.. You will be missed
The last time I saw Ms. Zaid on the screen was sometime in the 70s. I just saw the above clip; time has failed to dent into her grace and elegance. I wonder if she ever took a firm stand against forces of suppression and censor that were always at work to hide the truth from the people of Pakistan -- and still are -- or did she use her immense talent simply to correct and catch mistakes that her editor just mentioned? I suspect the answer to the first part of my question is sadly no. Were it yes, there is no way she would have lasted at the PTV for as long as she did. From across the oceans, wishes of good luck and a very happy retirement to Ms. Zaid, though! Siddique Malik, Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
I was grown up watching Shaista Zaid news bulletin.I think she is an institution by herself.Her legacy is one of greatest legacies of Ptv.I think it will be a daunting task for Ptv to find her replacement who is institution in herself.In the period before cable,internet and cell phone she was a news.
Respect!
Oh that is sad news. Such class and etiquette while upholding the traditional Pakistani national dress.
Not too keen on the new replacement - Hadia, her limited English in her mish mash of accents leave a lot to be desired.
Respect Madam. Shaista Zaid.
Mam We will miss you...