Fatima Surayya Bajia (; 1 September 1930 – 10 February 2016) was an

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. She was awarded various awards at home and abroad including Japan's highest civil award in recognition of her works. Bajia remained Advisor to the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terr ...

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

province in Pakistan, and was a member of the managing committee of the Arts Council of Pakistan. She died on 10 February 2016 in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former ...

, aged 85. A well-known personality in social welfare, literary

Radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

, TV and

Stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * St ...

, Bajia wrote for PTV Centres

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

and

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

since the launch of those television channels. She wrote her first long play Mehman. She contributed to literary programmes such as Auraaq and beauty care programmes under the title Aaraish-e-Khaam-e-Kakal. Bajia also produced various children programmes. Bajia was also an ardent feminist.

Early life

A native of

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. ...

, India, she was born near "Panj Bibi Mountain", in the town of

Raichur Raichur (formerly Raichore) is a city and municipality in the district of Raichur in the Indian state of Karnataka. Raichur, located between Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers, is the headquarters of Raichur district. It is located 409 km fr ...

in the present state of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karn ...

. She migrated to Pakistan soon after independence, along with her family. She never received any formal education, and was instead homeschooled. Despite this she is ranked an eminent intellectual, reader and writer. Talking about her childhood, she said,

"I never attended a formal school. The elders of the family decided that all my education should take place at home. The teacher lived in our home where we were taught discipline along with our education. My family was settled in Hyderabad Deccan, which was then a paramount cultural center in undivided India. Although there were a few prominent schools e.g. Saint Josephs School, although my grandfather could afford the fee (which was Rs. 20), he still preferred to educate us at home. These schools were primarily attended by pampered girls from the elite families of nawabs and jagirdars. From the beginning we were taught self-sufficiency, although we employed 60 to 70 servants, we were not allowed to ask anyone of them for water. There was a huge difference between girls of the elite families and us. My grandfather felt that if we attended such schools, we would suffer from an inferiority complex, but since proper upbringing is not possible without coaching, he decided to carry out our education at home. Nevertheless, we were taught all the subjects that were taught in the formal Hyderabad schools with separate teachers for every subject e.g. calligraphy and math."

Career

Bajia first became involved with PTV in the 1960s when her flight to

was delayed and she came to PTV

station for a visit. Director ''Agha Nasir'' hired her and Bajia made her debut as an actress in 1966 in one of his plays. She began writing afterwards. Nasir is quoted to have said,

“During Zia ul Haq's time when the 'dupatta policy' was implemented and women were forced to behave a certain way, Bajia wrote about characters from
Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
and
Granada Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the c ...
. This was brilliant because these places were supposedly Islamic societies and no one could say anything about them."

He further added that when writing a play, Bajia would literally move with her belongings to the TV station and then become an authority by default.

“Anyone who had a problem would go to Bajia, not to the chief of the organisation."

Awards, honours and recognition

Bajia won numerous awards, including the

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...

Award in 1996 for her services to the performing arts in Pakistan. It is one of the highest civil awards conferred by the

Pakistan Government The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territories, ...

. She was also awarded Japan's highest civil award in recognition of her works. She remained Advisor to the

Chief Minister of Sindh Chief Minister of Sindh (, ur, —), is the elected head of government of Sindh. Syed Murad Ali Shah is a PPP politician and the current Chief Minister of Sindh. The Chief Minister is the head of the provincial government alongside the Chief S ...

province in Pakistan. Most recently she appeared in The Big Show on CNBC alongside another legendary writer

Haseena Moin Haseena Moin (20 November 1941 – 26 March 2021) was a Pakistani dramatist, playwright and scriptwriter. She wrote several plays for stage, radio, and television. She was the recipient of the Pride of Performance award for her services to the ...

. In 2013, she was awarded

Hilal-i-Imtiaz The ''Hilaal-e-Imtiaz'' (; ), also spelled and transliterated as Hilāl-e-Imtiyāz, is the second-highest (in the hierarchy of "Hilal") civilian award and honour given to both civilians and military officers of the Pakistan Armed Forces by the ...

by President of Pakistan. On 22 May 2012 Bajia's biography, titled ''Apki Bajia'' (Your Bajia) was released. The book had been written by Syeda Iffat Hasan Rizvi after six years of research.

Death

Bajia died on 10 February 2016 in

, at the age of 85 from

throat cancer Head and neck cancer develops from tissues in the lip and oral cavity (mouth), larynx (throat), salivary glands, nose, sinuses or the skin of the face. The most common types of head and neck cancers occur in the lip, mouth, and larynx. Symptoms ...

Tribute

On 1 September 2018, to commemorate what would have been her 88th birthday, Google released a

Google Doodle A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the Google logo, logo on Google's home page, homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition ...

celebrating her.

Plays

Some of her popular drama serials: * '' Shama 1974'' (adapted from a novel by A.R. Khatoon) * '' Afshan'' (adapted from a novel by A.R. Khatoon) * ''

Aroosa Aroosa ( ur, , lit=Bride) is a 1994 Pakistani television series that aired on PTV written by Fatima Surayya Bajia based on the novel ''Aroosa'' which was written by Zubaida Khatoon and directed by Qasim Jalali. It was the debut serial of Adnan ...

'' (adapted from a novel by Zubaida Khatoon) * ''Tasweer'' (adapted from a novel by A.R. Khatoon) * '' Zeenat'' (adapted from a Sindhi novel by Mirza Quleech Baig) * '' Ana'' * ''Aagahi'' * ''Aabgeenay'' * ''Babar'' * ''Tareekh-o-Tamseel'' * ''Ghar aik Nagar'' * ''Faraz Aik Karz'' * ''Phool Rahi Sarsoon'' * ''Tasveer-e-Kainaat'' * ''Asaavari'' * ''Arzoo'' * ''Sassi Punno'' * ''Anarkali'' * ''Auraq'' * ''Jisse Piya Chahe''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bajia, Fatim Surayya Recipients of the Pride of Performance Pakistani dramatists and playwrights Urdu-language novelists Pakistani television writers 20th-century women writers Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz Writers from Karachi Muhajir people Pakistani people of Hyderabadi descent Deaths from throat cancer Deaths from cancer in Pakistan 1930 births PTV Award winners 2016 deaths Pakistani women novelists Pakistani novelists Maqsood family 20th-century Pakistani women writers 20th-century Pakistani writers Women television writers