Almost every one of us has sung the National Anthem some time or the other in our lives. And we’ve also heard several stars rendering high profile versions of it over their careers. We do remember unforgettable versions, like Atif Aslam at the Lux Style Awards and Shafqat Amanat Ali at the Pakistani versus India cricket match, even though he did forget the lyrics.
This year, much to our delight, we just heard Ali Zafar singing the Qaumi Tarana at an event hosted by the Punjab Government in honour of December 25, Quaid e Azam’s birthday.
We got in touch with Ali to ask how it felt, because it definitely gave us goosebumps!
“It was a moment of pride to sing the National Anthem and to render it through my own emotional structure,” he spoke to Something Haute. “We have all sung it and heard it throughout our childhood and lives, and we all have our own set of emotions towards our country and our anthem. For me as a singer to express myself though the National Anthem was a big honour.”
This is, undoubtedly, one of our most favourite versions of the anthem…
Continuing the conversation, we asked Ali what he would say to the Quaid if he met him today.
“I’d ask him ‘Where do YOU think we went wrong?’,” Ali said. “How do YOU think we can correct it ? I am sure the answer would be unpleasant to many, considering the circumstances today.”
Yes, we think so too. Here’s to a better and brighter future for Pakistan. And a very happy birthday to the Quaid.
