A mentor first, musician second

Songwriter, composer, radio host uses his craft to inspire students and hone their talents

KARACHI: A devoted teacher is a rare find. Teaching children, especially, requires patience, compassion and a willingness to give even if the seed does not always bloom. Ashar Agha is one such teacher in Karachi who finds joy in his subjects - the students and the arts. He teaches a group of 50 children, aged 10 to 13 years, composition, verse recitation and singing free of cost.

Honing talent

Inspired by renowned music composer, Sohail Rana, Agha feels it is important to encourage children in pursuing their talents. Like Rana, Agha hosted the popular children's programme Bachon ki Duniya [Children's World] on Radio Pakistan. He was mentored by Rana's successor on the show, Javed Mir.



He is a music composer, singer and songwriter. And now having completed his masters of business administration (MBA) in marketing, Agha has returned to his love of the arts and teaching. He wishes to develope the talents of the 50 children under his mentorship and uses social media to help the children find their audience.
Rana mentored the likes of Afshan, Nazia Hassan, Zohaib Hassan, Sohail Alvi, Adnan Sami, and the Mona sisters. These children grew up to become singers of national fame in their time. Agha hopes to inspire similar talent.

He teaches children composition on the piano, the guitar and singing, while a friend of his teaches the children acting. Agha has written over 50 new songs in a year's time.

Bachon ki Duniya

Having been closely associated with Bachon ki Duniya, an avid listener as a child, and then as part of its production team and host, Agha wishes to provide for his students a similar kind of platform.
In the 90s Agha distanced himself from radio to focus on his job and further studies. During this time, the programme resorted to relying old songs and poems and the trend of composing news songs, poems for children died. As a result, the programme lost its popularity among children.

In 2018, Radio Pakistan approached Agha and he was invited to revive Bachon ki Duniya. The programme was back on Radio Pakistan on Sundays from 3pm to 4pm with nearly 40 to 45 broadcasts. It also re-recorded the songs composed by Sohail Rana and Javed Mir.
However two months ago, Agha bid adieu to Radio Pakistan and is now training a group of 50 children under the banner of House of Art and Culture.

House of Art and Culture

The group provides children a platform through which they can hone and exhibit their talent. Agha is committed to promoting his students' talents and helping them find their audience. He is supported by Tabla master, Babu Bhai [brother], theatre and drama trainer Asif Iliyas, chef Mehvish Akhter, producer and actor Arif Bahalim, who impart skills of their respective areas of expertise to the children.
The group is trained in the art of music, Urdu and English poetry, acting, singing, naat khuwani [verses recited in praise of the Holy Prophet], and poetry recitation.

The children hail from various socio-economic backgrounds. Agha believes their respective backgrounds make no difference in the amount of talent they possess. Prominent among them are 14-year olds Abdul Rehman, Irij Alvi - drama writer, 13-year-olds Umaima Shehzad, Alishba, Hudaira Naeem, 12-year-olds Nahiba Qamar, Hadia Khan, Malaika Qureshi, Zainab - Urdu poetess and 10-year-olds Azmat and Barira who is an English poetess.

The children trained under House of Art and Culture also indulge in street theatre and write their own dialogues and scripts themed on various social issues. The performances often include music and Agha teaches the students about writing dialogue, poetry and songs.

The children have also performed at morning shows on television and are involved with various social campaigns. As part of former deputy speaker of the Sindh Assembly, Shehla Raza's campaign to spread awareness on violence against children and under-age marriages, the children gave theatre performances and recited poetry outside Sindh Assembly. The performance for this was prepared overnight in less than 17 hours. The dialogues, lyrics and composition for it were written by the children themselves. Their song Hum kaliyan gulistan ki hum se chaman main rang [We are budding flowers that colour the garden] was applauded by members of the provincial assembly.
This experience was not only heartening, but also instilled the children with confidence and deepened their passion for the arts, says Agha.

Through various platforms that Agha facilitates, the children are able to showcase their talents and have garnered recognition. For Kashmir Day they performed at the Youth Parliament Awards.

More recently, the children performed a song at the Russian Consulate during a ceremony organised to honour Pak-Russian relations, and have been involved with Karwan-e-Karachi's campaign to clean and restore heritage sites in Karachi. They entertain volunteers and workers at Denso Hall - the first site being restored - every Sunday with performances aimed to raise awareness on the importance of preserving heritage sites. The performances are highly appreciated and also encourage children to engage with culture, arts and history.

Platforms for children

House of Art and Culture has its own Facebook page and a YouTube channel where the work of the children is shared allowing them to reach wider audiences. It also opens their work to criticism and feedback which are crucial for any artist's journey. Agha also introduces small competitions on the pages to motivate the children. While Agha finds social media a useful channel to propagate the arts and promote the talents of young people, he believes that the radio still holds value.

According to him, radio provides a better platform for children who are shy and not yet comfortable in performing. Besides, it inculcates the art of pronunciation and enunciation as well as allowing children to reach out to an audience of their own age as number of children tuning in to the radio remains high.

Meanwhile, social media does not take that case of language and the craft itself. It has rather distorted language as children use a mixture of Urdu and English and pick up slang instead of building a vocabulary for good prose and poetry, , opines Agha. The lack of exposure to good reading materials in Urdu also affects their art. However, FM radio has changed the dynamics and less frequently caters to child audiences. More and more programmes are geared towards older audiences, opines Agha.

Devoted teacher

Agha believes that although non-profit organisations work towards securing children's rights and ensuring their protection from child labour and violence, there exist very few platforms which encourage skill development, social and creative training of children. With his group he aims to the lay the foundations of a non-profit organisation which will cater to these needs.

For him, the training children in the arts inculcate confidence which is also useful in other fields. Even if the kids do not pursue the arts professionally, the skills they pick up can help them in their preferred career paths.

He says the joy of teaching lies in seeing his students succeed and perform confidently on stage. "Teaching children is a difficult task which demands patience. The teacher has to forget his own self when teaching children," says Agha. One has to find ways to relate with children which often require becoming a child in order to get through to them. "If the teacher exhibits his own talent, and attempts to outshine the children, their confidence will falter," he says adding that his children's success should only be credited to the children.
Agha also appreciates the role of parents and their support for the development of children's talents.