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Text:	/ARTS WEEKLY/BRITAIN: First of Asian Pop is Now a Touching Memory Sanjay Suri LONDON, Oct 4 (IPS) - If you are old enough, or let us say you were a youngster from South Asia a while back, you would know that first of the Asian pops. It was that song "Aap jaisa koi meri zindagi mein aaye, to baat ban jaye...(Wouldn't it be great if you came into my life..."). It was from the film Qurbani (Sacrifice) shown in the eighties. The song was by the young Pakistani singer Nazia Hassan. It made her an instant legend, and most agree that it was about the beginning of Asian pop. It helped that Zeenat Aman, the trendsetting young actress was the one shown as singing the song. What is now familiar fashion was then bold and new. Nazia Hassan went on to sing about 50 songs and produced some successful albums such as Young Tarang and Disco Deewane. This did not add up to a lot, and none was ever quite as catchy as the Qurbani song. But something more than music took over her life before she died of cancer when she was just 35. Nazia Hassan began to devote herself to using music to promote causes such as children's rights through the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). She became also a political analyst with the United Nations after completing her law degree in London. The music became a message. That music and the message is being celebrated again with the creation of The Nazia Hassan Foundation. The foundation will be launched at the House of Commons of the British Parliament Oct. 15. The foundation will promote greater harmony and fusion of the ideas of the East and the West. "Which is appropriate enough because her music was so much of a mix of the East and West," Nazia Hassan's mother Muniza Basir told IPS. Nazia Hassan's contribution to the causes she took up was seen by many as valuable, but it is her music, little enough of it that there was, that left a lasting impression. "It is not that she produced many songs, but what that music did to the industry became important," Basir says. The creation of music spanning two cultures became easier because Nazia and her brother Zoheb grew up in two cultures, in Pakistan and in Britain. She produced much of her music along with Zoheb. Together they also established an organisation, Battle Against Narcotics (BAN), and produced music that would help that cause. Sadly, good intentions do not always produce great art, and that music is now largely forgotten. Her family and friends are now determined to remember her contribution through the awards that will be presented in the field of music, science, sports, engineering, politics and charitable work. Nazia herself received much recognition. She was included in a list of 50 people who changed the lives of Indians along with Mother Teresa, Indira Gandhi and others. The Pakistani government gave her the Pride of Performance award posthumously. She was featured prominently on British television at a time when Asians were considered outsiders to British culture and British television. One of her remarkable achievements was not just to bring something by way of a fusion of east and west, but also a fusion of cultures between India and Pakistan; for a Pakistani woman to sing a song for an Indian film was itself a bold move at the time. The aim of the foundation that will honour her is high. "Over time, the charity aims to facilitate awareness and participation that, in turn, will send ripples of greater understanding, harmony and cooperation through people and communities around the world," says a statement from the Foundation. Nazia Hassan died in August 2000, leaving behind her music, her efforts to help those who needed it so much, and a three-year-old son. (FIN/2003)

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