Iqbal Bano - Ulfat Ki Nai Manzil Ko Chala
Iqbal Bano was raised in Rohtak, India. From a young age, she developed a love for music. It was a crucial moment of her life when her friend's father came forward as a votary. He told her father, "My daughters do sing reasonably well, but Iqbal is blessed in singing. She will become a big name if you begin her training." Her father allowed her to study music.
In Delhi, she studied under Ustad Chaand Khan of the Delhi Gharana, an expert in all kinds of pure classical and light classical forms of vocal music. He instructed her in pure classical music and light classical music within the framework of classical forms of thumri and dadra. She was duly initiated Gaandaabandh shagird of her Ustad. Ustad Chaand Khan referred her to All India Radio, Delhi, where she sang on the radio.
Iqbal Bano was invited by Radio Pakistan for performances. Her debut public concert was in 1957, at the Lahore Arts Council. She was considered a specialist in singing the ghazals of Faiz Ahmed Faiz. In 1985 Bano roused a strong crowd of 50,000 people in Lahore by singing Faiz's passionate Urdu anthem, "Hum Dekhenge", although his works were banned by General Zia ul-Haq's military regime.
Iqbal Bano sang Persian ghazals with the same fluency as Urdu. Iranians and Afghans thronged to her shows in large numbers to hear her ghazals in their mother tongue. She once claimed in an interview to have had a collection of 72 beautiful Persian ghazals. Before 1979, there was an annual festival of culture known as Jashn-e-Kabul in Afghanistan, where she sang a different Persian ghazal each time she appeared. Once the king was so pleased with her ghazals that he presented her with a golden vase in appreciation of her music.
Music lovers noted some similarities between Bano and Begum Akhtar, especially some marked resemblances in their styles of singing. Bano's recitals stuck to a classical style that lays more stress on the raag purity. She has been awarded Tamgha-e-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan in 1974 in recognition of her services.
Iqbal Bano died in Lahore after a short illness on 21 April 2009, aged 74. She will be greatly missed. May God rest the departed soul in eternal peace and grant courage to the bereaved family, friends and fans to bear the irreparable loss with fortitude
