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Lok Virsa held a musical evening on Sunday to celebrate the reopening of its rooftop theatre, named Bali Jatti Theatre in honour of the theatre artist.

The rooftop theatre was opened after a decade with a lively performance by Ruby Reshma, niece of legendary folk singer Reshma. The evening paid tribute to both iconic artists, Reshma and Bali Jatti.

Famous performances were screened before the audience in the first part of the programme, and Lok Virsa Executive Director Dr Fouzia Saeed spoke about Bali Jatti’s professional life, her style of singing and her personal life.

Bali Jatti was the first artist ever in Pakistan to have owned a travelling stage theatre. She also worked on several collaborations with the well-known folk musician Alam Lohar, though very little of this history can be found in history books.

Lok Virsa has started a series of special concerts titled ‘Second Generation of Grand Masters’, which will be held at the rooftop theatre.

Sunday’s musical evening was the first of this series and paid tribute to Reshma.

Ruby Reshma began her performance with the famous song 'Kithay Nain Na Jorien', emulating her aunt’s prominent style. Her performance was energetic and captivated the audience.

She also performed many songs demand by the audience, such as 'Vay Main Chori Chori Tere Naal', 'Saasu Mangay Kokri', 'Akhyan Nu Rehn De'.

Speaking at the event, she said she was blessed to be part of Reshma’s family and learnt how to sing from her.

“Reshma was a very hardworking woman, and she never neglected her home and kids despite singing and her busy schedule. She used to name her cooking utensils 'Allah Ditti’, 'Karma Wali' and 'Allah Rakhi'. We still have those pans in our kitchen and named them the same way.”

Dr Saeed said the event aimed to pay tribute to master musicians and keep the current generation aware of the country’s rich cultural history.

She said: “Resham would be remembered forever for her record singing of folk music and Lok Virsa will arrange more such events to pay tribute to legendary artists of the country. Most of our younger generation are ignorant about the folk and classical music and this is the best way to educate them on it.”

“Reshma never neglected her home and kids despite singing and her busy schedule. She used to name her cooking utensils 'Allah Ditti’, 'Karma Wali' and 'Allah Rakhi'. We still have those pans in our kitchen and named them the same way,” shared Ruby Reshma

Samar Minallah, who was in the audience, told Dawn that such women artists shattered societal stereotypes, and their talent was celebrated irrespective of their gender.

Poet Kishwar Naheed also shared her memories of Reshma, saying she was a bold and hardworking woman. She added that Reshma had a unique style of singing and always performed with her head covered and “she was very particular about her Rajistani dupatta”.

Samra Ali, an audience, said she had only heard of Bali Jatti but today “I came to know about her life and art”.

“She was very bold and confident in her live performances, which was not easy at that time.”

Originally published in Dawn, October 16th, 2017