Though it is the festival of light (DiwalI) in India today (Nov 3) and the Hindus, all over the world are celebrating it with gusto, the day has made the music world poorer as the internationally famous folk singer, Reshma breathed her last in the wee hours of Nov 3 at Lahore. She was suffering from throat cancer and was bed-ridden in a hospital since April, 2013. She was about 66 years of age. Though she is said to have been born in 1947, a few months before the Independence, the exact date is not known.
She was born in a Banjara family of Bikaner, Rajasthan, India. Her father, Haji Md. Mushtaq was a trader of horses and camels. Once Reshma herself disclosed that her father used to take horses and camels to other parts of the country and brought sheep and goats from there to sell them locally for maintaining the family. When the country underwent division, the Mushtaq family moved to Karachi region of Pakistan. She did not have any formal training in music but her god- gifted melodious voice took her to the top of the music world. Since the age of 12, she used to go to the ‘majars’ of ‘pirs’ and sing nats, qauwalis etc. It is in course of such a spiritual singing that a connoisseur of music, suddenly passing from there, heard and was moved. He made her agree to sing for the Pakistan Radio and thus it was a much needed breakthrough. After that she never looked back.
There was such an attraction in her voice that the music lovers of India and Pakistan yearned to listen to he melodious renderings. Lal meri pat rakhio, haio rabb, akhiyon ko rahne de ankhiyon ke naal-naal and several others proved blockbusters in the sub-continent. She gave a highly acclaimed programme in London as well where her two daughters also accompanied her. By the way, her younger sister, in her own capacity is famous for soulful songs in Pakistan. On her India visit, once Reshma visited her ancestral village in Bikaner. Raj Kapoor, Subhash Ghai and some others in Bollywood used her music. In 2006, when the inaugural Lahore-Amritsar friendly bus service started, she was among the first passengers with half a dozen of her family members. We in India deeply mourn her sad demise and pray for peace to the departed soul.
No comments:
Post a Comment