ISLAMABAD: All children should have equal opportunities to reach their full potential and contribute towards the socio-economic betterment of their communities, said Zeenat Ayesha Khan, the president of the Islamabad chapter of Development in Literacy (DIL), at a fundraiser on Saturday.

DIL is a non-profit organisation working towards ensuring education for all children.

A documentary on stories of DIL students was screened and the event also included a performance by Sachal Studios Orchestra, which is a group of master musicians from Pakistan who incorporate Eastern instruments such as the sitar, sarod, sarangi, tabla and dholak into new interpretations of jazz standards, blending the jazz form of blues and swings with sophisticated and highly evolved Eastern music traditions.

Speaking about the band formed by Izzat Majeed, the CEO of Sachal Studios, Nur Fatima said: “Izzat realised that our traditional instruments were not being heard. He put up the studio and brought together the old masters.

“When they started to make music together Izzat saw that the structure of our classical music was very similar to that of jazz and in 2011 he created Take 5 and since then we have travelled the world, taking this music everywhere. The orchestra members range from a 75-year-old master to a 15-year-old.”

Despite the distraction of numerous mosquitoes, the audience appreciated the skilful musicians and Majeed’s mission to revive the dying traditional music culture in Pakistan by bringing together Lahore’s most talented, yet neglected musicians.

Beginning with the Portuguese song Desafinado and moving to Majeed’s much faster original composition Shalimar, the Orchestra varied the tempo, intensity and origins of their performance pieces. Besame Mucho, written in 1940 by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez, gained new dimensions with the soulful addition of the sitar and violins.

DIL is a not-for-profit NGO established in 1997 and is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

It has 25,557 students, 64pc of whom are girls, at 134 campuses.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2018