We really felt that an hour did little justice for a conversation with an interesting person like Fouzia. Recognised by Government Of India as India’s first female Dastangoi. Anupama Jain, Head Content & Collaborations at IWI, hosted this beautiful discussion which was partly in English and partly in Hindi with a lovely flavour of Urdu, interspersed with bite-size, spell binding performances by Fouzia.

How did Dastangoi happen?

Having grown up in Old Delhi, Fouzia has always loved stories. But she never thought she would be a Dastangoi. She felt a void in her life after taking up a day job. It was at this time that her friend suggested she watch a Dastangoi performance. When she witnessed it, she realised she had found her heart’s calling. The humble Fouzia says she has been built by strangers and their kind words and recommendations.  

How did her family view her decision?

When Fouzia announced her decision to pick up Dastangoi, her family found it weird. But her mother stood by her, as always, to explore this art form. The fact that she had to quit her day job came as a shock.

Dealing with the new normal mode of working

The pandemic badly impacted her career, as an artist was the least of everyone’s priority during the tough times. So she decided to try podcasting and has enjoyed learning the ropes of this form of media. She has collaborated with Red FM and her Dastaan-e-bollywood is now available on the Red FM App.

What drives an artist?

‘Junoon’ or Passion, Fouzia says, is what drives an artist and makes them lose themselves in their art. It is that thing for which a roadblock does not look like a hurdle at all.

A cause she is passionate about

Fouzia speaks about the need to accept and address mental health issues and taboos around them. She speaks about how she has used Dastangoi to sensitize people on this topic.

Don’t miss the little performances Fouzia interspersed the conversation with. You can view the entire conversation here

Fouzia says her hard work, her truth and her grit make her incredible!  And may be we should add, her ability to make a sparkling conversation. 

Thank You for joining us Fouzia and we look forward to a live performance from you soon!

About Fouzia

Fouzia has been performing professionally since 2006. Having performed over 200 shows all over  India and in UAE, she has focused her efforts to touch upon and bring out women-centric issues  through her performances, while also covering diverse range of other issues. Most recently, she  performed to inaugurate The Sufi Route Concert for Peace, one of its kind and successful Sufi concert,  which was headlined by music maestro A. R. Rahman, and Fouzia got the opportunity to present  along with Javed Akhtar, eminent poet, lyricist and screenwriter. Her repertoire includes  performances in various renowned festivals such as: Jaipur Literature Festival; Old World Theatre  Festival; Kumaon Literary festival; Bookaru Children’s Literature Festival; Mahindra Sanatkada  Festival; Lucknow Literary Festival; Jashn-e-Rekhta; Times Literature Festival; IHC-ILF Samanvay Indian  Languages Festival; Jashn-e-Urdu, Urdu Academy (Bhopal); Jairangam Jaipur Theater Festival, Afreen Afreen Urdu Festival etc. among many others 

Her work as an artist has been showcased by various national TV channels and print media  (newspapers and journal) such as: NDTV; The Hindustan Times; Times of India; BBC; Scroll.in;  Chandigarh Tribune; The Quint; WION (World Is One News); The Indian Express; DailyO; BW Businessworld; Verve magazine; National Herald etc. in addition to various other local and regional  media. For her contribution in the field of preserving and promoting Dastangoi, Fouzia has been recognized  and facilitated as “India’s First Woman Dastangoi Artist” by the Ministry of Women and Child  Development, Government of India in 2018.

Author

Nithya Rajagopal is Manager, Content and Community, IWI.