Daily Times

Eight-year-old Hadia Hashmi, who has impressed all with her singing abilities, is a die-hard fan of none other than the late Malika Tarannum Madam Noor Jehan. In an interview with BBC Urdu, Hadia shared that while no one sings in her house, she has grown up listening to the late singer’s melodies because of her father, Ziauldin Hashmi.

“I have grown up listening to Noor Jehan’s songs. I often put them on repeat on my tape recorder. No one in my family knows how to sing,” said Hadia. The late singer has been her role model since – so much so, that Hadia even memorised one of her songs for a competition in school and unsurprisingly won first place.

Similar to any child her age, Hadia revealed she has multiple dreams which she would like to see become reality someday. On the same note, she is determined to accomplish two tasks in her life. Firstly, holding a strong penchant for singing, she is adamant on making a name for herself in music. Secondly, she wants to study medicine simultaneously and become a doctor. “I want to treat patients. But, I also want to pursue a career in music and make a name for myself,” added Hadia.

Hadia’s father stated that he is a tailor by profession and he too mentioned that their family has had no history of singing. Two weeks ago, Hadia’s song Bol Hu’s release on Nescafe Basement was met with wild appreciation from viewers. Some even compared the young singer to Sufi icon Abida Parveen, prompting the show’s producer Xulfi to release a statement urging people “to not put definite goals” in the young singer’s head “at this tender age”.

Published in Daily Times, February 20^th 2019.