Reshma Singer

Reshma was also known as Reshman. She was a famous Pakistani folk singer. Reshma was born and raised in a family of gipsies in village Loha, Ratangarh Tehsil of Churu district near Bikaner, Rajasthan, British India, around 1947. She belonged to the nomadic Banjara tribe. Reshma’s father, Haji Muhammad Mushtaq, was a horse and camel trader from Malashi. When Reshma was just one month old, her tribe relocated to Karachi, Pakistan, shortly after the Partition of India. As a child, she did not receive formal education and spent most of her time in learning music. She used to sing at the ‘Mazars’ (shrines) of the mystic saints of Sindh, Pakistan. She was a vegetarian, and she loved to eat saag (cooked mustard greens), makai roti (cornbread), and Missi roti.

Reshma’s career was initiated at the age of 12 in 1960, when a Pakistani television and radio producer, Saleem Gilani, heard her singing Sufiana Kalam at the Shrine of Shahbaaz Qalandar in Sehwan, Sindh, Pakistan. She then invited Karachi to sing for Pakistan radio. Saleem Gilani arranged for her to record ‘Laal Meri Pat Rakhio’ on Radio Pakistan in 1968, which became an instant hit. From then, she became one of the most famous folk singers of Pakistan.

She had been continuously performing at Pakistani Radio as well as television since 1968. Also she had been recording songs for the Pakistani and Indian film industry, and also performing in live concerts at home and abroad. Reshma’s famous songs include ‘Dama Dam Mast Kalandar,’ ‘Sun charkha de mithi mithi kook mahiya mainu yaad lagda dil mera,’ ‘Hai O Rabba nahion lagda dil mera,’ ‘Lambi Judai,’ ‘Ankhiyan nu rehen de ankhiyan de Kol Kol,’ and so more. Her fame had crossed the border, and her songs became famous in India also. An Indian actor Raj Kapoor Raj Kapoor was a renowned actor, director, and pro >> Read More... used her reowned song ‘Ankhiyan nu rehen de Ankhiyan de Kol Kol’ as ‘Ankhiyon ko rehen de ankhiyon ke aas pass’ sung by Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar, the veteran playback singer, had >> Read More... . During the 1980s, she recorded a famous song ‘Lambi Judai’ in an Indian romantic action film titled Hero, directed by Subhash Ghai.

In 2008, she was awarded with ‘Sitara-i-Imtiaz’ (Star of Excellence) and ‘Legends of Pakistan’ given by the President of Pakistan, for her services to the nation. It is one of the third-highest honour & civilian awards in Pakistan. In 1982, she was also awarded with Pride of Performance Award by the Government of Pakistan.

In the 1980s, she was diagnosed with throat cancer, and later she was hospitalized in Lahore in Doctors Hospital on April 6, 2013. She lived for 66 years. Later, in October 2013, she fell into a coma and died on Sunday morning, November 3, 2013, in a Lahore hospital, Pakistan. After that, she has been remembered for her hit folk songs and her powerful singing silk voice.