The golden voice that sang memorable songs like ‘Canada thi aiwo maro friend Noorali,’ ‘Hun India No Raja,’ ‘America Haliwiya’ ‘Pyarali Africa Awine Royo’ ‘Jangbari,’ ‘Jamila Wangu’ and many more was stilled forever on the 26th June 2020. One cannot help but though we will badly miss our brother Iqbal Varda, he will equally be missed by his ardent fans for the void left by him in Varda Arts and in Tanzanian music as he was a legendary icon.
Losing a great brother like him is painful. Now that he has passed away, of course there is emptiness and pain, as to share a stage for 40 years together and all of a sudden you find changes as per team, will live in our heart for a long time! There were many wonderful aspects in our eldest Brother Iqbal Varda’s life that has touched our life. He had a great sense of humor and wrote humorous songs. He was 73 but he was as stylish and youthful as a young man of 37! When he was asked about the secret of looking young, he would say, “music keeps you young.”Few knew him by his name as some called him Moh’d Rafi, some Dev Anand and some Jamila Wangu! He led a happy go lucky life and a life of his own. He used to rehearse every morning on the harmonium to keep his vocals fit except during the month of Ramadhan. He would never have breakfast, lunch or dinner without his soft-spoken wife Shamim beside him. He was known for his witty shairis and would always say, “Siasat Dilonko todti hai, Shayar Dilonko jodta hai!” He will be remembered as a wonderful brother, great friend, a faithful husband, a caring father and a generous uncle. But in many ways, he will live in our stories, experiences and in what all of us have become because of him.
He was in the hospital for 2 weeks. During the last days when I entered the hospital ward at a time he was battling for life like a brave warrior, he called me by his side and kissed my hand saying, “my time has come,” then he added, “Aziz, I have no regrets.. I have lived my life giving happiness to many for 40 years,” and he paused as he watched tears rolling down my eyes. He smiled and said, “I’m joking, and you know how I am!” I burst out shedding tears and he called my daughter Rukhsaar with passionate love and affection, kissed her palm and hugged her tightly saying, “You Daddy is brave outwardly..take care of him..” He looked at his wife sitting beside him, held her hand and said, “I don’t want to leave you.. I can still feel the sweet intoxication of love.. I’ve talked with Reshma and Sharmin (his daughters in South Africa and Indonesia) through video call.. I am satisfied..both of them have turned out to be good people.. and there was an uncontrollable weeping hence the nurses entered the ward and he started laughing, saying, “Nawataniahawa..” and started singing, “Maridadi sana,, Maridadi sana!” for them! We were asked to leave the ward immediately while he was heard saying, “Tell everyone when I come out, we’ll make them happy again..”and the door slammed shut. This was an unforgettable moment of our life as after 2 days he breathed his last! Iqbal Bha suffered from acute Jaundice that caused internal bleeding and kidney failure during the last stage.
Our special thanks to Dr. Jafferji and his team of Doctors and Nurses at the TMJ Hospital who tried their best to save his life. To the Aga Khan Hospital, Amin Habib and his team for their timely efforts. To the G1 Security Ambulance team for their outstanding support for their free service twice. To Fazle Abbas Dhirani who availed blood replacements. To all those who called us for any help and we learnt Tanzania belongs to a tribe of helpers. And finally to all Iqbal Bha’s countless friends and fans in Tanzania and overseas who have prayed for his soul when they got the news of his sudden demise and consoled us through phone-calls and social media. Our special thanks to all the waiters at various hotels who called us and consoled us. When the waiters at Mela Restaurant literally wept, it made me wonder how Iqbal Bha must have treated them all these years! In our family, he was, WadoBha, IqbalBha and Iqbal uncle.. Now we realize that he was Iqbal Varda!
Our apologies to hundreds of his fans who were hurt for having not being able to give their last respects to their beloved artiste for it was not possible for us to accommodate a huge gathering as we were strictly instructed to limit the funeral with close relatives due to Covid-19 situation.
We are sorry to announce that we will resume performing after 4 weeks, Inshallah.
To IqbalBha, “Roothkarhumsekabhi, Jab chalejaoge tum, yeh nah sochathakabhi, Itnayaadaoge tum. .!”