Get the latest gossip

‘People weep and shower me with rupees’: the overwhelming artistry of Pashtun singer Zarsanga

Her first audience was the sheep and horses she herded in rural Pakistan, but she became a national hero. So why is this folk music icon reduced to living in a makeshift house?

Together with her late husband, the tabla and harmonium player Mullah Jan, Zarsanga leaned on a rich oral tradition of lyrics and melodies from tappa or landay poems – the oldest form of Pashto folk literature – passed through generations. She in turn carried the music through successive generations and is now a national treasure in Pakistan – as well as the Aga Khan award, Zarsanga was a recipient of the president’s Pride of Performance prize and featured in the Peshawar Zalmi cricket team’s anthem. Photograph: Fazal Malik AkifIn 2010, devastating floods displaced more than 12m Pakistanis, including Zarsanga, her six sons, three daughters, their spouses and children, who had to live in roadside tents after their homes in Azakhel (in the north-western district of Nowshera) were destroyed.

Get the Android app