I don’t need your pity, I am not dead: Faraz Anwar

However, this tendency among the audiences hasn’t kept Anwar from relying on various streams of income, including online guitar lessons.

“There is no harm in earning from such gigs. Having said that, if people really feel that musicians deserve better, then they need to ask the authorities to support them instead of making them feel ashamed and demotivated – as if theirs was an art form, too holy to earn from­­.”

Anwar recalled how three to four years back when he went on to get his ID card made and NADRA officials asked him what he does, he told them that he was a musician. “They said that profession wasn’t even on their occupation list.”

As for the people wondering why Anwar only demanded a C-note in return for his ace guitar solos, he explained how a $100 was just the standard package on the website – adding that he hadn’t unlocked the premium packages yet. “But the pity and criticism I received was way more discouraging than the $100 I am charging,” Anwar lashed out.

The situation also reminded Anwar of the time people compared him to Amir Zaki for starting guitar lessons. They were ‘worried’ that he may also end up taking drugs in his 'despair'

“Why can’t people just be happy for someone?” he questioned, wondering how every time he tried to move forward it felt like another nail in his coffin than a feather in his cap.

“Nobody buys your work here or wants to buy tickets to your concerts. There were barely ever any concerts before Covid-19 anyway. The music industry is in the mud, it does not exist. The only commercially functioning music platforms here are the ones funded by brands. And the music they’re selling is also revamped folk music we’ve been listening to for decades. No one is willing to let new music in,” he argued.

He went on to reiterate how many even told him to go abroad with his family and settle there. “I’m honestly tire