Daily Times

Abida Parveen plays at Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena on December 9. However, before that, the veteran singer gave a small performance ahead of the actual concert.

Her performance of the kalaams is something that we are all aware of and is a pride for the Pakistani nation.

Before the concert in a brief interview, she said, “There is a famous saying that what’s meant for you will never miss you. I could not even think of doing anything else apart from music. So, I was destined to find music as it was my calling. I was meant for it from day one; I am extremely grateful to Almighty Allah for giving me what I always wanted and for the respect and love I have received through the years.”

This realisation did not come cheap. Abida’s interests in Sufi kalaams and music clashed with her friends’; she never established a friend as a child. “Nobody used to play with me, and I used to hate it when they would say ‘we are going back home’. I would get so angry at them. I used to yearn for that so much that I started cutting papers in my room, since nobody used to play with me. That is how I would pass time. I recall that the first friend that I made was in Class 5.”

“I used to accompany my father at different shrines where we would recite kalaams and sing on festivals.” Abida credits God and her family for her interest in Sufi music.

“As I grew up, my attention and interest towards religious scripts and kalaams grew more and more. My walid sahab (father) was my inspiration. Sufi saints were always a topic of discussion in our household; that is why I say that I was meant for this,” she says she was made for this.Ghulam Haider, Abida’s father, opened a devotional music school in Larkana, Sindh.

Abida is the world’s most famous Sufi singer, with six decades of theatrical experience. Coke Studio Pakistan opened its 14th season with a devotional track called Tu Jhoom. Fans fell in love with the spiritual dance of harmonics depicted in the song and her exquisite combination with Naseebo Lal, another Pakistani soprano. Abida had sang duets on Coke Studio with Ali Sethi, Ali Azmat, and Ustaad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. Parveen views her live performances as meditation and obedience to God. Abida, who has given the message of the saints at sold-out venues around the world, adds, “Wherever you read the kalaam of the saints and of those elated figures who have devoted their lives to Allah, that place, whether it’s a studio or an intimate gathering, turns into something sacred, like a Dargah (shrine).” “We’re all messengers,” She further adds, “At the end of the day, we’re all messengers. This is the mere purpose of our evolution and our existence.”