Abida Parveen is one of those singers who have excelled in light classical music and mystic poetry presentation. The vivacity that has become unique with her performance vis-à-vis her command over the pronunciation of each word that goes into the composition of a verse, is another aspect of her personality.
Though a limited formal education she has been through, her love for words and their proper usage and utterance has been her passion. Before presenting a ghazal to her audience, she goes through a difficult homework and learns the correct pronunciation of each word that would be flowing out of her lips. It is one of the reasons that she is choosy about her audience and the place of performance. Singing is her profession and that fact she does not ignore but maintaining the quality of her performance is her preference.
Over the past thirty years Abida Parveen has been to places out of Pakistan and has earned reverence but at home she is the symbol of mystic performers. She sings with devotion and slowly moves into a trance that touches the core of the hardest of hearts. No matter who you are, and what kind of religious philosophy you follow, Abida Parveen's renditions will sway you to a world of her own - the world of purity and warmth and longing for the sublime.
The other day she was at the Aga Khan University Hospital performing at a fundraiser where more than 800 guests were invited to enjoy her performance. The objective of the programme was to enhance the pool of funds available to assist financially needy patients in meeting the cost of their treatment. This occasion was expected to generate Rs 1.5 million.
To date, over 200,000 patients have benefited from assistance received from the AKU Hospital's patient welfare department, and over Rs one billion have been disbursed through this programme.
The hospital also provides support to patients classified as mustahiqeen, through the patient's Behbud society for AKUH, which was formed in 2001. This society has distributed over Rs 15 million to needy patients in its two years of operations.
The role of the Faculty and Staff Resource Development Committee is to solicit donations and Zakat from the faculty and staff, as well as donors from outside AKU. In addition the committee organizes fund-raising events, with the purpose of generating contributions for this cause and creating greater awareness of AKU and the philanthropic objectives of the hospital. These annual events at AKU provide added opportunities for cultural entertainment to the citizens of Karachi.
Speaking on this occasion, the President of AKU, Shamsh Kassim-Lakha, expressed his gratitude to friends and well wishers of the University and said that their contribution would go a log way in assisting the financially incapacitated patients.
He said that with increasing number of patients and rising cost of good quality medical care, there was ever increasing demand for financial assistance. Such cultural events were one of the ways towards this end.
Dr. Ghaffar Billoo, chairman of the committee and head of Paediatrics Department, AKU, the man behind the whole campaign, said that the hospital was not just for the rich, but also for the lower social-economic groups of the society.
He said that the increasing number of patients' profile would show that in 2003 more than 74 percent patients treated at the hospital were from low to middle income areas. In addition to the heavy subsidies, 25 percent of general ward beds are allocated for welfare patients.
He said that still there was a growing need to respond to the demands for the poor patients.
He said that the annual expenditure incurred by the hospital on patient welfare had risen from Rs 3.5 million in 1986 to over Rs 180 million in 2003.
"More funds are needed to alleviate the sufferings of poor patients,"
The participation of artistes in such noble causes was also discussed at length and besides the organizers of the evening with Abida Perveen, many from the audience appreciated the gesture that Abida Parveen and many others have begun showing towards the need of the poor.