- Arooj Aftab shares her quest to find her childhood home.
- She is the first Pakistani artist to win a Grammy.
- She has joyfully discussed her search for her Saudi Arabian birth home.
Arooj Aftab, the first Pakistani artist to win a Grammy, has joyfully discussed her search for her Saudi Arabian birth home.
On Instagram, the Diya Hai singer posted fascinating images and videos of her childhood house and invited her devoted followers to follow along.
For those who are unaware, the Brooklyn-based vocalist was born in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Pakistani parents. The Mohabbat vocalist later went to Boston to earn a degree in music production and engineering before relocating to New York.
The Last Night singer wrote on Instagram, “Searching for my childhood home in Riyadh with no address, just a couple of landmarks from memory – a park, a mosque, a hill and a hotel. I think I found it. Almost 30 years later, the once sweet neighborhood full of villas and elegant apartments, home to well offish and up coming young immigrant families – is now just a few abandoned villas, empty squares of demolished house, sleepy old apartment buildings, and construction sites as the city is packing in affordable apartment housing into the area. The vibe of this place is unmistakeable though. These are the streets. These are definitely the streets.”
Aftab went on “There is no doubt that these are streets.
1. The back gate of my villa maybe
2. The streets
3. Insanely beautifully sad abandoned villa that looks like my house a lot
4. A structure I remember vaguely
5. Maybe my 8 year old friend and neighbor’s building
6. This woman just chilling alone drinking qahwa til we heard the azaan. After which she got up and got into a car aline and drove away (!!)
The 37-year-old artist said, ” This space between memory and sadness, between the past and the excitement to return to it, between seeing change and the relief it brings …. this space is perfect.”
View this post on Instagram
Aftab shared a photo on Instagram of the rear gate of her villa, the streets that surrounded her childhood home, and the structure where she had lived.
Aftab has recently published Siren Islands and Vulture Prince among his works.
[embedpost slug=”arooj-aftab-anoushka-shankar-nominated-at-grammy-awards-for-udhero-na/”]
