"Meena" ( sd, مینا ; lit. ''Light'') is a 2014

Sindhi language Sindhi ( ; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 30 million people in the Pakistani province of Sindh, where it has official status. It is also spoken by a further 1.7 million people in India, where it is a Scheduled languages of India ...

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

by Pakistani

sufi rock Sufi rock or Sufi folk rock is a subgenre of rock music that combines rock with classical Islamic Sufi music traditions. It emerged in the early 1990s and became widely popular in the late 1990s in Pakistan and Turkey. The term "Sufi rock" was co ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran *Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

The Sketches The Sketches () is a Sufi folk rock band from Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan, created by young musician Saif Samejo. "Sindhi melody is very charming; there is enormous flexibility of words" says Saif Samejo. Their motherland has always been a major in ...

. It was released on April 16, 2014 in Pakistan as a digital download. It is an

educational Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...

-inspired song about the journey of a girl with her doll (''Meena'') to the school. It deals with the social issue of education in Sindh. The song was written by

Ishaq Samejo Ishaq Samejo ( sd, اسحاق سميجو, ur, ) is Pakistani poet, writer and literary critic of Sindhi Language. Early life It is mentioned in Encyclopedia Sindhiana by Sindhi Language Authority that Samejo was born to Jaaro Khan on 18 Mar ...

, and produced and composed by

Saif Samejo Saif Samejo (born 23 January 1984) is a musician and founder, lead vocalist and songwriter of the Pakistani Sufi folk band The Sketches. In May 2014 he opened the first music Aashram (School) in Hyderabad, Sindh named as "Lahooti Music Aashr ...

. "Meena" was well received by critics, becoming one of the most successful singles by the band. At the 3rd Annual Hum Awards ceremony, it was nominated for Best Music Single for

and

Best Music Video The Grammy Award for Best Music Video is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos. Hon ...

for Haroon and Ghafar.

About the song

The song was produced and composed by Saif himself while the lyrics were written by his brother Ishaq. It is a collaboration between the band's long term partner and musician Frank Arkwright. Describing their inspiration behind the song, Saif said: "The Basic Theme for video is inspired from a short film ''Silent Wish'' of Najeeb Rashidi as well as ''Meena'' is inspiration from many musicians and artists who have been escalating their word out for education and many those i have been listening since long. Recording Meena also enlarged the kid residing in me. The concern for education could not have been addressed any better than in language of child who is curious to learn and explore. Let's spread the word of education with the aroma of Music in the air. The song is a dedication by Band to those who struggled for education." In an interview, Saif said, "The song will be a dedication to all those who long to be educated yet are deprived of it – We hope the Syllabus will cease to promote inequality, injustice, hatred and exploitation and we hope our educational institutes will promote love peace and harmony, ...May better sense prevails."

Music video

Synopsis

The video depicts a child's journey between dreams and reality and the seriousness of the problem that hits home. A singer croons in the backdrop of the scenes singing the song, while a little girl starts her journey towards school by carrying a doll named "Meena". On the way, she crosses various hurdles and changes her path while cherishing her enthusiasm and passion for education, but when she reaches the school and opens the door she find nothing but devastation and disintegration. However, the child grows up to be a teacher in the same school, teaching other little girls.

Cast and crew

Following is the list of artists who worked on this record: *

Singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran *Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

* Featuring artist: Arzu, Quratunain, Anoushey and Saif Samejo *

Lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income ...

Music video director A music video director is the head of music video production. The director conceives of videos' artistic and dramatic aspects while instructing the musical act, technical crew, actors, models, and dancers. They may or may not be in collaboration ...

: Haroon Habib and Ghafar Mohihudin *

Record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

s: Saif Samejo and

Record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

: Lahooti Studios (Jamshoro) ; Personnel *

Composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Mastering engineer A mastering engineer is a person skilled in the practice of taking audio (typically musical content) that has been previously mixed in either the analog or digital domain as mono, stereo, or multichannel formats and preparing it for use in distr ...

: Jono Manson *

Guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

: Omarn Shafique *

Arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

: Nomi Ali

Track listing

*;Digital download (2014) "Meena" featuring

— 4:46

Accolades

The single received the following nominations at 2015 Hum Awards:

References

External links

*
''Meena''
on

Dailymotion Dailymotion is a French video-sharing technology platform owned by Vivendi. North American launch partners included Vice Media, Bloomberg and Hearst Digital Media. It is among the earliest known platforms to support HD (720p) resolution video. ...

''Meena''
on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

''Meena''
on

Vimeo Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software as ...

''Meena''
at

Kashish TV Kashish may refer to: * Kashish Singh, Indian actress * Kashish Mumbai Queer Film Festival in India * ''Kashish'' (serial), a 1990s Indian romantic drama television serial broadcast on Doordarshan {{disambiguation ...

{{authority control 2014 singles 2014 songs