ISLAMABAD:
A musical night dedicated to Arfa Karim, the youngest certified Microsoft professional who passed away due to cardiac arrest on January 14, was held at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts on Wednesday evening.
The evening, ‘Fusion of East and West’, began with a tribute to the teenage girl who made the whole country proud. After that, the host invited another child prodigy Sitara Brooj Akbar, the 11-year-old genius hailing from Chiniot. The audience was informed that Akbar is the youngest girl to complete her O’ levels and IELTS in the country.
Responding to a question regarding her message to the country, she said, “If you want to succeed, don’t look for excuses. Learn from your mistakes and move on.”
As the audience clapped and cheered at the young girl’s mature and inspiring words, PNCA DG Tauqir Nasir came to the stage and termed Akbar as a “hero of Pakistan”.
As the evening continued, Mugheera Ahmed, a Lahore-based singer and a teacher at Kinnaird College, came on stage and performed Rubina Badar’s ‘tum sung naina’ followed by Noor Jehan’s ‘teray bina soni soni lagay’.
Her fabulous performance was followed by Amir Munawar, a well-known composer, who was expected to blend eastern ghazals with western jazz music. As he performed Mehdi Hasan’s famous tracks, one couldn’t help but wonder where the jazz was.
Nevertheless, the shortcoming of this performance was overcome by Kashif Bhatti aka Raja Jee, a law graduate and a violin player from London. The crowd could be seen captivated as it immersed into thoughtful silence, as he performed his famous track ‘Maa Ke Naam’ with Babar Abbas on flute.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 20th, 2012.
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