KARACHI: Admirers of Pakistani music woke up to a pleasant surprise on Thursday morning when they saw Google pay tribute to Malika-i-Tarannum Noor Jehan by unveiling a doodle to mark the legendary vocalist’s 92nd birthday.

It was evident that the image of the singer was carefully created: her upward gaze that she usually had when she sang in front of the camera, her distinct sartorial sense and her right hand that she often moved to denote the relatively higher notes were just about accurate to visually describe her persona. The other, and precise, unmissable feature of her face was the mole on her ruddy cheek, and Google’s attention to detail was spot on.

Noor Jehan was born on Sept 21, 1925 (one account suggests it was 1926) in Kasur. She was barely 10 years of age when she started working in films as a child artist.

A doodle was created to remember Noor Jehan on her 92nd birthday

She began singing songs for films as a teenager. Khandaan (1942) directed by Shaukat Husain Rizvi was the film that proved to be the first major milestone in her career.

After partition, Noor Jehan worked in Pakistani films both as an actor and singer but soon quit acting to concentrate on her vocal talent.

Her masterful singing soon made her not just Pakistan’s but the subcontinent’s leading female vocalist, receiving laurels from her seniors as well as from her illustrious contemporaries such as Lata Mangeshkar.

Noor Jehan went on to sing songs for hundreds of Urdu and Punjabi films, some of which are Intizar, Koel and Anarkali.

Her songs, especially composed to boost the morale of Pakistan’s armed forces during the 1965 Indo-Pak war, are as popular today as they were 52 years ago. Noor Jehan died on Dec 23, 2000.

Talking to Dawn, eminent writer and music connoisseur Anwar Maqsood said: “For us, Madame Noor Jehan’s name is enough [to make us happy]. How many of our people are recognised all over the world? Only a handful — Quaid-i-Azam, Iqbal, Dr [Abdus] Salam and Noor Jehan. I have heard her songs being played in the streets of every country I have been to.

“She is the only woman who ruled the industry for as long as she lived. Only men do that [in our part of the world].”

Sitar player Nafees Ahmad said, “It felt good to see her doodle. I have no idea who operates that [Google] but whoever does must have realised how many people admire her work.

“And this is what a great artist does: they keep enhancing the reputation of their country in the eyes of the rest of the world even when they are not around”.

Musician Mekaal Hasan said: “It’s great that Google has been acknowledging our artists who have contributed to world culture. Before her, they paid tribute to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. It is also heartening because Noor Jehan was a female artist.”

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2017