Jeddah: On 2nd May 2014, Rehma Banquet Hall, Jeddah, witnessed a memorable get together of multinational multicultural artists.
Mr. Rohail Khan, well-known talent promoter, social worker, and philanthropist organized a private event to pay tribute and bid farewell to popular artist Mirza Zakaulla Baig Chishti.
Pakistani, Indian, and Bangladeshi cultural artists set a unique example of building inter-community harmony.
The ceremony was formally initiated by Rohail Khan, Chairman, Musical Extravaganza Inc.
In his opening address, Rohail offered gratitude to the two dozen artists present there.
He described the congregation as a “bouquet of flowers” from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.
He stressed the need to promote and protect the cultural traditions and heritage. An effective way to engage in this noble cause is to identify new talent from all walks of life and organize special socio-cultural events.
Earlier in 2013, in a Talent Promotion Event, Rohail Khan launched artists from different countries which also included Mr. Zaka Chishti.
Rohail Khan elaborated: “Zaka Chishti, hailing from Hyderabad, is a senior IT executive working in Saudi Arabia since twenty years. His life-long passion is semi classical music. Chishti has earned considerable recognition among the South Asian diaspora for his ghazals and geets”.
Leaving Saudi Arabia for good, Chishti plans to settle in Hyderabad. Of course, he shall continue to practise his passion for music.
Rohail Khan has made special arrangements to introduce Zaka Chishti to the major league at Bollywood.
During the first half of the ceremony, Rohail organized a live tele-conference with Mr Shaurin Bhatt, famous Bollywood Artist and Music composer.
Shaurin Bhatt, speaking from his Mumbai studio, spoke fervently with Zaka Chishti and assured him of his full support. Shaurin confirmed that an “audition session” with Bollywood’s various music directors is planned for Zaka Chishti in May’s third week in Mumbai.
Wishing Zaka good luck in his future music career, Rohail invited three Jeddah-based senior artists to come on stage and pay tribute as representatives of their country.
Tariq Raheem, senior organizer hailing from Pakistan, advised: “Organizing this event is indeed a new and worthy trend. Let us hold similar events and breed mutual harmony. ”
Maher Siddiqi, senior artist hailing from India, paid rich tribute: “Chishti is a genuine artist with extra ordinary skills. Above all, he is a good human being. Bidding him farewell is sad but we all wish him good luck”.
Nazmul Islam Hira, senior guitarist and music teacher from Bangladesh expressed: “Cultural values and traditions bind us together. We are grateful to Rohail Khan for setting up a platform to create inter-community co-operation ”.
Afroze Khan, popular artist, came on stage and sang Kishore Kumar’s “Diyey jaltey hain”. This farewell gift touched every one’s heart and warmed up the whole environment.
Zaka Chishti was awarded Holy Quran, Ajrak Shawl, and Official Memento from Rohail Khan Musical Extravaganza Inc.
In an emotional statement, Zaka Chishti zestfully appreciated the farewell event and thanked every one for the gesture of goodwill.
Notable Participants were: Tariq Raheem, Nadeem Goshi, Imran Qureshi, Shariq Islam Mani, Maher Siddiqui, Imtiaz Sharif, Afroze Khan, Bassam Peeran, Nazmul Islam Hira, Altaf Almelkar, Abdul Rafay, Syed Mashood, Ahmed Khan.
Press community was represented by: Anwer Ansari, Musarrat Khalil, Nasir Jawed, and Abdulrahman Baig.
Mr. Emad Iqbal performed as the Director of Photography.
Organizers and Artists-in-absentia: Sikander Ali, Waseem Mukadam, Abdul Lateef, Jamal Pasha, Amjad Baig, Zahid Siddiqi, Farid Ali Khan, Mohammed Al-Mohammadi, Azhar Butt, JD Siddiqui, Raeesa Aamir, Rehna Saleem and Sara Babul specially called and conveyed their tributes and appreciation.
Guest thoroughly enjoyed the sumptuous mughlai cuisine, managed expertly by Raja Abid Zaman.
All participants were given souvenirs consisting of Ajwa dates and Event DVDs of Rohail Khan Musical Extravaganza.
Shariq lslam Mani, President, XM Pro, opined: “We all are cultural ambassadors of our respective countries. We must serve the locals and expatriates to our best abilities”.