Talent on the streets of Pakistan

It’s true that the talent can take birth anywhere. On the streets of Pakistan, one can come across many people who have passion and flair for singing. Mostly they are folk singers and musicians who are compelled to perform at streets and roadsides owing to their economic circumstances and having no opportunity to appear in radio and TV programs and show their talent besides earning livelihood.

Such folk singers and musicians, found in every small and big town and city of Pakistan belong to very poor class who are invited to perform in weddings and festivals of Saints or otherwise the only way for them to earn money is performing at streets. Locally these singers and musicians are called ‘Meerasi’, as they inherit the art from their elders.

Photographs by Jamal Dawoodpoto

Sometimes these folk artists perform in a group if one of them sings and others play the musical instruments. In certain cases a single artist is seen roaming and singing in busy streets. Their daily earning does not exceed 200 Pakistani rupees (hardly 2 US$).

A very few of such folk singers and musicians got opportunities to make place in radio and TV programs and earned fame and fortune after they were noticed while performing at cultural events while others lived same miserable life even after earning fame.

Photographs by Jamal Dawoodpoto

Photographs by Jamal Dawoodpoto

One of such unfortunate artists was a female folk singer Zeenat Shaikh who once cherished to the depth of souls of music lovers in Sindh province, but became a forgotten voice over the years and was seen singing and begging in the streets of Thatta, a coastal town of Sindh province. The songs sung by Zeenat Shaikh and broadcast by Radio Pakistan and TV are now part of archives.

The government does not come to help of such artists. It allocates meager funds yearly for paying monthly stipends to certain writers and artists but the stipend that equals half a dollar a month is nothing but a mockery.

In these pictures two folk artists could be seen playing musical instruments and singing folk songs in a street of Naudero town of Sindh province.