I found out I lost my child right before I went to perform on stage in Turkey, reveals Atif Aslam
Pakistan knows Atif Aslam as an iconic singer, a wonderful father and an overall superstar but there's only so much we know about what happens backstage.
The Doori singer recently appeared on AB Talks with Anas Bukhash, a YouTube show that highlights the human aspect of celebrities and influencers, and discussed a side of himself many people might not know.
He opened up about the loss of a child, surprising fans with the devastating revelation.
"I lost my kid and I remember..." the singer began. "Sarah was four to five months pregnant and I had to leave for a show. It was a show in Turkey and right before my performance, she called me and said the baby doesn't have a heartbeat anymore.
"So I was like go to the doctor, ask him what's happening and how to go about it. She said we went to the doctor and he said we have to go for something else."
The Hona Tha Pyar singer admitted how helpless he felt at the time.
"I literally had to go on stage in half an hour. I went on stage, performed for two and a half hours. There were people right in front of me, drinking, enjoying themselves... I could tell they were having a good time. I came back to my room and it was 11:30 or 12 at night. This was Antalya. I asked my team to arrange a car for me. I wanted to go to Konya and visit Shams Tabraiz and Rumi's shrine and I wanted to be alone."
Aslam never told anyone about his loss. A friend expressed an interest in accompanying him, but he had to refuse.
"I didn't want anyone around me.... I told my friend i'm gonna go and he insisted saying 'I want to go, I want be there with you'. And I remember he always wanted to go to the shrine. Call me selfish but I didn't take him along and I left. It was a three or four and a half hour journey and I was only thinking how helpless we all are," he remembered with a heavy heart.
"There was no one at the shrine. It was raining and I was by myself at a place where nobody would even recognise me. I wouldn't ask 'why did You do that'. I was not in that state. Just...how helpless we all are. We have control over nothing and yet, we fight over everything."
Aslam's revelation is a stark reminder that we don't always know what's going on in people's lives. Loss and grief are personal things that celebrities don't have to share with the public. The singer let us in to a small part of his world and we hope it serves to educate people who don't think of celebrities as human beings. They're people too and they hurt just as much as the rest of us.