Lambi Judai: Reshma gone and also forgotten?

No major event held to mark iconic folk singer’s death anniversary

LAHORE:

Although the trend of general apathy towards the country’s towering artists while they are alive has long been part of our cultural setting, we have somehow managed to make it a point not to remember them even after they are no more.

It has been only two years since renowned folk singer Reshma succumbed to throat cancer and the ‘judai’ (separation) is clearing not lambi (long) enough to form a legitimate excuse for ignorance. Her death anniversary passed unnoticed on Tuesday, with little or no remembrance for the Bulbul-e-Sehra.

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Hailing from Rajasthan, India, the singer spent a major part of her life in Lahore — the city that had forgotten her long before she breathed her last. With no formal training in music at hand, Reshma gained worldwide acclaim. She was also invited to India by former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, who even constructed a road in her name in the village where the singer was born. Reshma even lent her voice for popular Bollywood numbers. Her tunes like Lambi Judai, Akhiyan Nu Ren De and Chori Chori are still as popular as they were several years ago. It is pertinent to mention that the late singer spent her last few years in the worst of conditions, striving to gain possession of the plot of land announced by the government for her family.

“It is sad that no such event was organised but it doesn’t necessarily mean that we have forgotten Reshma. Her death was an irreparable loss for our country’s music. Despite not hailing from a musical family, she wooed the world with her soulful voice,” Folk singer Shaukat Ali told The Express Tribune.

Following the precedent set on Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s death anniversary, the Lahore Arts Council comfortably let the Sitara-e-Imtiaz recipient’s death anniversary pass with no major event put together to mark the event. While limiting the blame to Lahore’s government-funded cultural institutions will be a little unfair since no major event was put together across the country, it is pertinent to question those who helm organisations that are run by public funding.

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“I did not know of her death anniversary. Nobody informed me or else we would have arranged a programme to commemorate it like we do for other legends,” said council executive director Capt (retd) Atta Muhammad Khan.

Singer Humaira Arshad concurred with Ali. “She was in a class of her own and a dominant voice in the world of folk music. Her death anniversary should be commemorated on the national level.”

Singer Shahida Mini said there is no one who can match, let alone carry forward the legacy of the late vocalist. “Reshma inspired me a great deal. She dedicated her entire life to music and it is quite painful to see her forgotten.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th, 2015.

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