If memory does not fail me, it was in the third week of October 1951 when I first met late classical vocalist Zahida Parveen at her hujra in Bazaar Sheikhupurian in the Hira Mandi area of Lahore. The meeting was necessitated by the desire of a group of enthusiastic connoisseurs who sought her willingness to participate in a two-day music conference that was planned at the Open Air Theatre in Bagh-e-Jinnah later in the month.
Khwaja M. Saeed of the Pakistan Times, and a cousin of composer Khurshid Anwar, and Sheikh Qamaruddin, an amaetur classical singer and owner of the now defunct Colour Printing Press, located outside Mochi Gate, Lahore, were the joint driving force behind the convening of music conference.
That particular music conference was convened eight years before late Hayat Ahmed Khan mooted the idea of his All Pakistan Music Conference.
Late Zahida Parveen received us in an extremely cordial and affable manner with a broad, winning smile on her face. She accepted our invitation to participate in the music conference without giving the matter even a second thought. When we explained to her our inability to adequately compensate her and other artistes (due to paucity of funds) she readily agreed to perform in one of the sessions of the music conference at OAT without demanding any fee.
She even did not accept a token payment, which was hardly enough to cover her transportation expenses to and from Open Air Theatre in Bagh-e-Jinnah. So dear was the interest of classical music to her and so intensive was her passion for the esoteric art that she would not mind spending money from her own pocket to promote activities that were aimed at promoting and preserving our melodic heritage for the benefit of posterity.
When Pakistan appeared on the political map of the world on August 14, 1947, Zahida Parveen was counted among the frontline female practitioners of classical melodic arts in the nascent State who followed the robust Patiala gharana style of vocalisation. Her contemporaries were Hira Bai (later known as Waheeda Khanum), Meena Lodhi, Iqbal Begum and Raushan Ara Begum. She also specialised in rendering kafis of Punjabi mystic poets.
It was due to her fondness for this genre that she commanded tremendous respect from the people in the rural hinterlands of the Punjab and Sindh. Senior members of the melodic fraternity and inveterate connoisseurs also valued and appreciated her competence in rendering classical asthai-antras.
The resonating nasal tone of her cultured voice also won her wide public acclaim in the Indian Punjab, especially among the Sikh community, for whom listening to the kafis of Baba Farid is one of their liturgical obligations to the Creator. A number of kafis written by that Punjabi Sufi poet have been included in Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs.
They used to tune to Radio Pakistan when Zahida was scheduled to broadcast devotional songs. Her name and fame spread both in East as well as Pakistani Punjab. The people of Sindh revered her as she regularly paid her melodic tributes to Sufi poets of that province at their observance of their death anniversaries.
In addition to singing kafis at the mazars of Sufi saints, Zahida Parveen also entertained seasoned listeners at soirees held at the Havelis of Waderas. Senior citizens still fondly recall her renditions of ragas Durga and Maalkauns, which she sang feelingly in the Patiala strand of classical vocalisation.
Classical asthai-antaras rendered by late Zahida Parveen could be easily distinguished from those rendered bv other vocalists by the sweetness of her voice and the way she used her vocal resources, which cast hypnotic spells on the listeners. A pupil of Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan of Patiala gharana, she familiarised herself with the rhythms and melodic inflections of Punjabi, Saraiki and Sindhi kafis and utilised her natural talent in presenting both classical and devotional songs in a manner that was akin to the singing style of her mentor.
Zahida Parveen continued to entertain millions of her fans, mostly through her participation in radio progrmames until her death, which occurred in the year 1975. She also participated in the privately sponsored mehfils where she exhibited correct intonation of musical notes with precision and exactness. As she avoided using a constricted throat, her manner of voice production was refreshing, clear and pleasing to the ears of the listeners.
She was especially at ease with the use of meends (glides from upper to lower notes) spanning several surs. In the realm of kafi singing, she invented new musical idioms and her singing style was truthfully emulated by her daughter Shahida Parveen, who unfortunately is also no more with us.
It was always a pleasure for the connoisseurs of Lahore to remain in touch with late Zahida Parveen through her music. They always came refreshed and a bit more reinforced in their confidence in the vitality of classical music after having a meeting with the late classical vocalist.
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