MY entire family had an emotional link with Nayyara Noor, who passed away recently. I don’t think many of my family members ever met her, but whenever she was on television screen, we were all drawn towards it, leaving aside everything else.

Nayyara was the first recipient of the Rauf Ansari Award that was given to an amateur singer back in the 1960s. The award carried the name of my father, who was the co-founder of the All Pakistan Music Conference, in which the award was given. The jury that heard a lot of young singers decided that Nayyara was the best among them. She was a winner even in her teens.

The award was instituted after the death of my father. It was my mother who was requested by the management to give away the award to Nayyara. The passing away of Nayyara Noor is, no doubt, a great loss to Pakistan and music-lovers around the world.

Azmat Ansari
Karachi

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2022