Faiz’s daughters Salima and Moneeza Hashmi graced the occasion. The audience praised the selection of poems, which was a true tribute to Faiz’s large body of work. PHOTO: EXPRESS
The singers on the occasion comprised students and teachers from the musical classes held twice a week at Faiz Ghar.
Ali Hassan’s rendition of ‘Hum Kay Thehray Ajnabi’ stood out amongst other performances. The poem relating to a rupture in relationship was a reference to the parting of ways of East and West Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. The poem was written in 1974 on Faiz’s return from Dhaka, made popular in Nayyara Noor’s voice.
When singing ‘Hum Dekhein Gay’ or we will see, Syed Sajjad Ali succeeded in reminding the audience of the revolutionary nature of the song, delivering each verse in a powerful voice.
Ustad Basharat Ali, Razi Jaffar, Dr Saeed Butt, Dr Shahid Hassan, Amjad Ali, Myra Ishaque and Mrs Rizwan rendered their voices to the verses of the poet. Accompanying the singers on the tabla was Sajjad Ali and on violin, Akram Farooqi.
Faiz’s daughters Salima and Moneeza Hashmi graced the occasion. The audience praised the selection of poems, which was a true tribute to Faiz’s large body of work.
They had been chosen by the singers themselves, who had wanted to sing poems that they had personally enjoyed.
Born on February 13, 1911 Faiz Ahmed Faiz was known as a left-wing revolutionary, and his work sends the same message talking about the suffering of the masses, asking them to stand up for their rights.
In his lifetime, Faiz was persecuted by Liaquat Ali Khan’s and later by Ayub Khan’s government due to his prominent role in the Communist Party in Pakistan.
The government of Pakistan conferred the highest civil award Nishan-i-Imtiaz on Faiz in 1991 around seven years after his death.
Faiz is amongst the most prominent poets in the Urdu language and his birthday each year is celebrated in the form of the Faiz Mela.
His poems also made their way into films and were sung as ghazals by famous singers such as Noor Jehan, Nayyara Noor and Mehdi Hassan.
Verses from his poems, more recently, have been used by both political leaders and people as revolutionary slogans.
Rizwan Khalid, an audience member, said the classes organised by Faiz Ghar on a regular basis gave working professionals a chance to take part in cultural activities.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 13th, 2015.
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