LAHORE: Late musician Farhad Humayun’s mother, the veteran TV personality and academic Navid Shahzad, led an emotional tribute to the life and works of her son, on the second day of Faiz Festival at Alhamra on Saturday.

Titled ‘Remembering Farhad Humayun: The Man, The Musician’, the session began with a video of one of his songs after which Ms Shahzad said she talks about her son in the present tense as he will forever be alive for her.

About Farhad’s initial years as the pioneer of underground music scene at the age of 15, his friend Abid said back in 1991-92 their idea was to make music for themselves only, play, learn, grow up together, playing ‘November Rain’ by Guns N’ Roses and working for hours making music.

Ms Shahzad then shared an anecdote that Farhad had just come out of a critical brain surgery and was being taken to the ICU. “The moment he woke up he did a Freddy Mercury on us (fist in the air), meaning I’m back.” Farhad had passed away in June 2021. The cause of his death had not been mentioned but the singer had revealed in 2018 he was battling a brain tumour.

Young musician Umair shared Farhad’s “endearing qualities of mentorship and inclusivity”, how he responded to Umair’s random message about a recording in his studio, and eventually made him part of the band Overload. “He went out of his way to mentor youngsters,” Umair added.

At this point, Ms Shahzad added that Atif Aslam had “graciously admitted” at an event that he wouldn’t be what he is had it not been for Farhad. A documentary on the late singer by a Peshawar-based filmmaker was played, carrying messages from his loved ones, siblings and Farhad himself. A school friend, Hasil, then shared how Farhad’s music evolved over time to rock-fusion incorporating percussions and dhol, and recording the first Overload album with the most “primitive” equipment.

Another childhood friend, Faisal, said Farhad had the highest benchmarks for everything from music to food to friendship, humour. He also recalled their last video call where a very weak Farhad advised Faisal to take care of his health. “He was a perfectionist, a very nurturing, caring person.”

In the backdrop of the late Overload singer’s legal battle with a popular beverage company over copyrights, Navid took on the corporate sector for “cannibalizing and stealing music without permission or any financial dealing”. “Farhad had taken on a Goliath and made it clear that he was doing it for every musician whose work was stolen by the corporate sector.”

She mentioned Mira Nair’s filmThe Reluctant Fundamentalisthad used Farhad’s music without permission and “he really gave them hell, was compensated and donated to charity. “The mission will be on top of my agenda for as long as possible.”

Farhad’s elder sister Rima then announced the establishment of Farhad Humayun Foundation that will archive and exhibit his work, hold mentorship sessions, give away annual scholarships in arts among other projects. The session came to a close with a video of adhamaalthe late drummer had played with Nasir Saeen at a university.

Meanwhile, in another session on Lahore being declared the ‘city of literature’ by Unesco, the city’s commissioner, retired Capt Usman Younis, focused on preserving culture and literature for the coming generations so they know the “truth about the past”.

GCU Vice Chancellor Dr Asghar Zaidi shed light on the varsity’s efforts to promote literature and cultural activities. He shared that many luminaries had graduated from the GCU, which besides being an honour accords them a huge responsibility. He announced setting up a ‘Kitab Bazaar’ under the ‘City of Literature’ project to sell old books on the path between the university and Anarkali.

Kinnaird College For Women University Principal Dr Rukhsana David maintained Lahore has been a cultural hub for centuries, sharing how her varsity hones students’ skills and art through its plays.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2022