KASUR: Scores of people thronged Imambargah Eidan Mai in a narrow, blind lane of neighbourhood Kot Murad Khan on Friday, the first day of the 10-day mourning period of Muharram.

Among the mourners, several people, mostly old ones, knew the fact that the imambargah was built by legendary singer Madam Noor Jehan, who dedicated a big portion of her house for the worship place and named it after her elder sister, Eidan Mai.

The queen of melody was born in neighbourhood Kot Murad Khan in Kasur, near the Kasur Railway Station.

Google gave a pleasant surprise on Thursday by uploading a doodle to tribute to Malika-i-Tarannum Noor Jehan to mark her 92nd birthday.

Her birthday, however, was a no-event in her native town. Visitors to imambargah, however, were seen offering fateha for her.

“You cannot stop talent from emerging,” said Yasmin Begum, an aged woman and close relative of Madam Noor Jehan. Yasmin claims that the melody queen was the daughter of her paternal aunt (sister of her father) Fateh Begum. She is the next door neighbor to Noor Jehan.

She said Noor Jehan was charming, both physically and spiritually. The real name of Noor Jehan was Allah Rakhi and her mother, Fateh Begum, called her by her original name.

Yasmin Begum has a portrait of Fateh Begum and some of her musical instruments, which she shows to the visitors.

Wallowing in nostalgia, she recalled that despite touching the peaks of popularity and riches, Noor Jehan would often visit her birthplace and would take keen interest in the affairs of imambargah. She always helped her poor relatives and treated them with love and care.

Nazar Hussain, the caretaker of the imambargah, also has some vivid, some vogue memories of Noor Jehan. Hussain said Noor Jehan was very kind to her brother, Shafi Muhammad, and often they both spent hours together. He said Madam was also a matchless human being. Whenever she came here, the melody queen would walk in her abandoned house. “While in home, Madam remained silent and lost in deep thoughts for hours,” Hussain recalled.

Noor Jehan had one sister and four brothers who all left Kasur for Lahore some three decades back.

The locality was once known for the finest musicians, dancers and vocalists until 80s.

Now, those houses have been demolished and replaced with markets and shops. A major portion of these houses belonged to Noor Jehan, her four brothers and other relatives.

Muhammad Sajjad is a resident of the area and knows the locality like the back of his hand. He said that during the era of military dictator Ziaul Haq in 80s, the residents of those houses left for other cities after music performances were banned. Some transgender people tried to fill the gap and started living in the neighourhood, he added.

Bali, a trans person in his 80s, said that he always paid tribute to the vocalist by singing her Punjabi songs on various events.

Majlis Bulleh Shah president Khadim Ali said that Kasur had won worldwide fame in music and singing due to the musicians and vocalists of neighbourhood Kot Murad Khan. Among them, a few are Ustad Baray Ali Khan and Ustad Chhotay Ali Khan, Master Jam Muhammad (Sarangi player) and Ustad Ghulam Haider Khan (teacher of Madam Noor Jehan), who made their name in music.

Working Journalist Council members Malik Javid and Saleemur Rehman said that in 2000 when Noor Jehan passed away in Karachi, then deputy commissioner Azam Sulaman named Balida Chowk as Noor Jehan Chowk but the notification was never implemented due to the intervention of a local political figure.

Lawyer Malik Zarif said that it was ironic that Google was aware of the 92nd birthday of Madam Noor Jehan and poster her doodle, but the district administration ignored the event.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2017