Shehzad warns 'sawab' isn't enough for charity

Singer talks philanthropy, art and education in podcast

Shehzad Roy may have crooned his way into the hearts of his fans with the likes of Saali and Teri Soorat, but as many will be aware, the singer-songwriter's relentless efforts in the charity sector have had a far bigger impact than his musical endeavours.

From selecting children off the streets for his I Am Paid To Learn programme to forming a government school dedicated to the arts, Shehzad's persistent goal to bring about change at the grassroots has become on par with his career as a musician.

But just what, exactly, drives this musical philanthropist? As a guest on Gup Shup, Shehzad is adamant that one's motivation before embarking on any act of charity should stem from something other than just the desire to 'do good'.

"If you do charity for sawab, it becomes sub-standard," he warned. "If you just get someone married, or feed someone - that's fine, but charity should be about more than that. What I do is not charity. It's reform."

To Shehzad, reform - or bringing about long-lasting change - is the only way forward. According to him, the majority of people are of the view that some form of charity is better than nothing. Shehzad, however, is adamant that such thinking can lead to complacency, which in turn will have disastrous consequences.

"When you run schools or hospitals just for charity - that is truly awful," he remarked. "People will tell you that something is better than nothing, but you can't have that attitude in, say, health care, because sub-standard healthcare will kill you. One wrong injection can kill you."

Shehzad added that similar rules should apply to charity in the education sector. "There [should be] no such thing as substandard education," he maintained. "If we continue to do charity just for personal reward or 'sawab', then we will get bored. You have to do it to get an intellectual kick out of it."

Speaking about the Fatima Jinnah government school, recently adopted by his NGO Zindagi Trust, Shehzad spoke about the necessity to incorporate a well-rounded arts programme for children at a state level in the education sector.

"Any time you need to bring about a change in society, you can really only achieve it at the state level," pointed out Shehzad. "The state has to replicate what private sectors do so that it can be dispelled to the masses."

With that in mind, Shehzad revealed that he set out in 2019 to create a music programme to instil across government schools in the country for classes 1 to 8. "It took five years, but we got there," he said. "People would protest and say 'Shehzad Roy will sing - what will he teach you?'"

Far from discouraging him, Shehzad revealed that the protests only strengthened his resolve. "When something like this happens, you strategise," he illustrated. "You have to make the right decision at the right time. If you don't, you'll be held back, because the people who are destroying it do not take any day off. We fought back."

The result? A victory for both music and children. As Shehzad noted earlier on his Instagram, "This isn't an elite private school. It's Fatima Jinnah government school adopted by @zindagitrust. Here we also run a world-class music program in professionally designed studios. Young girls play everything from Beethoven to Eastern classical music and there is no fee. We are driving change."

Taking into account the conservative background of the country, Shehzad acknowledged the "paradigm shift" creating a music school had brought about. "People don't understand that when you have kids with special needs, music helps them," he explained. "It helps their motor skills, say, when they're learning how to play the drums. For Pakistan to accept music at a state level - it's a big step."