ISLAMABAD: Mashal Association hosted a fundraiser at Hill View Hotel to raise funds for the work the organisation has been doing for the past three decades.

The gala musical evening is an annual feature with dinner and entertainment. With Faraz Ahmed Faraz’s famous couplet, shikwa-e-zulmut-e-shab se behtar tha, apne hisse ki koi shama jallate jaate, on the backdrop, the organisers shared the ethos and vision of Mashal.

Tallat Azim and Shahmoon Hashmi were the masters of the ceremony. Tallat serves as director communications and fundraising for Mashal while Syed Shamoon Hashmi, a journalist and TV host as well as a government officer working at the National Assembly, said he had been adopted by the organisation.

“It is always a delight to see this group because they are all familiar faces who have supported Mashal through the years. Pakistan has some incredible statistics. It has some of the highest poverty figures in the world but it also has some of the greatest philanthropy,” Tallat Azim said.

Shahida Ejaz Azim, founding president of Mashal, thanked all the donors and supporters of Mashal in her speech.

She said: “We started Mashal in 1987 as a small plant which is now a strong tree. We started working under the shade of trees and now we have a fifty-room complex.”

Mashal was created in the 1980s to make a positive difference to the lives of as many underprivileged women and children as it could and to serve humanity.

Shamoon Hashmi said: “In the documentary that was playing earlier we see how one Mashal centre meets the needs of 10 villages, and if this small group of women can create an organisation that serves 10 villages then we can clearly improve the well-being of the people of Pakistan on our own without waiting for others to do this for us.”

Beginning with an alaap, Muniya Raza, amateur singer from Karachi, moved on to more familiar ghazals.

She sang Tu lakh chaley ri gori tham tham kai, Mujh se pehli si Mohabat, Dhoondoge agar mulkon Mulkon and Aaj Janey Ki Zid Ma Karo.

The Bakshi Brothers – Aafi, Bilal, Shehryar and Yawar – are the sons of Azam Bakshi, the legendary classical singer, and tabla maestro Ajmal Khan, who launched their band in 2012. They mesmerised the audience beginning with the manaqabat, Mun Kunto Maula, followed by the modern renditions of traditional folk and Qawali music.

They performed Ye Jo Halqa Halqa Suroor Hai, Mai Nai Jaana Kherrain De Naal, Khalis Makhan Dudh Maakha Ney Kithay Gai and Duma Dum Mast Qalandar, amongst others.

A silent auction was also held for two beautiful landscapes donated by Amjad Hussain, the renowned landscape artist from Chakwal.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2016