LAHORE: There’s no dearth of talent in Pakistan, especially in the field of music. That was reinforced when an eight-year-old singing prodigy, who has already created ripples in the local music world, moved Indian singing superstar Sonu Nigam to tears.

In a video he posted on his Instagram account a couple of days ago, Mr Nigam could be seen overcome with emotions while watching a performance of Syeda Hadiya Hashmi on a TV show.

Hadiya studies at the Government School for Girls, Napier Road. She had been learning music at Sur Taal Academy since the age of six where Ziaul Haq taught his students for free.

Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan aka Zulfi, a singer, music producer and the moving spirit behind the Nescafe Basement TV show, visited the academy and discovered a hidden gem in Hadiya besides nine other students.‘Bol Hu’ was the song on the show that Hadiya sang along with Soch the Band and shot her to fame overnight.

Umair, the talent huntmanager for the TV show, told Dawn that the eight-year-old sang in the fifth season of their show. She has a wonderful and captivating voice.

“When we visited the academy and she sang, every single person in the room was spellbound,” he recalled.

Hadiya’s music teacher, Ziaul Haq – who holds a masters degree from University of Punjab’s Musicology Department, toldDawn that her father was a tailor and worked with Mayo Hospital, adding that her father took her to Haq’s academy after listening to two other students.

He said Hadiya’s voice had a lot to offer so “I gave her a lot of time and held separate music sessions with her”.

He said renowned singer Sonu Nigam had highly appreciated Hadyia’s voice and was all praise for her. Haq called Hadiya the discovery of the year.

He also said that Zulfiqar Jabbar took great interest in his academy and had it revamped out of his sheer love and passion for music.

The producer had selected nine other students from the academy for his TV show, Haq added.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2020