Rehana Hyder

Jun 17, 2024 | thefridaytimes.com | Rehana Hyder |Quddus Mirza |Saeed Shafqat |Yasser Latif Hamdani

On 26 May the city of Shenzhen in southeast China experienced a most singular artistic event: a solo performance by Noor Zehra Kazim on the Sagar Veena, an instrument designed specifically for her by her father the renowned lawyer, intellectual, and advocate for democracy Raza Kazim. It was the latest stage in a long odyssey. Noor Zehra was yet in her teens when her extraordinary musical journey commenced.

Aug 22, 2023 | thefridaytimes.com | Rehana Hyder |Raza Rumi |Shahalam Tariq |Ishtiaq Ahmed

Born in the 1940s the middle daughter to Saeed and Saeeda Zaman, Gul grew up in the house built by her grandfather Mir Azizuddin in Model Town; the cool, green, and serene suburb of Lahore where Muslims, Hindus, and Christians walked the tree-lined streets in safety and amity. An intrepid tomboy, her cousins Ayesha and Tariq Osman recall her ‘climbing higher than any of us’ the tall mango and other fruit and flowering trees planted profusely by her elders in the gardens of 43 A Block.