KARACHI: In the waiting area of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT), soft music drifted through the corridors earlier this month.
Children began to gather, some sitting beside a woman at the keyboard, others nestled quietly in their parents’ laps.
The melodies bring calm, even joy, to an otherwise tense space filled with long waits to see doctors and the dread of the difficult treatments that follow.
At the heart of this daily ritual is Zainab Imran, a 44-year-old blind singer known among staff and patients as the “nightingale of SIUT.”
For more than 20 years, she has been performing for young patients at SIUT, a leading health care facility in Karachi, highly regarded for its urology and transplantation services, particularly kidney transplants.
“If these children find happiness through my singing, then nothing is greater than that,” Imran said as she prepared for another session of singing. “I cannot see, but I truly feel their pain, what they’re going through, how hard it must be. When they smile, even briefly, it brings me deep inner peace.”
Her journey with SIUT began in February 2004, when she met Javed Mir, a musician with polio who hosted children’s music programs on national television.
“He used to sit with me and sing for the children. He encouraged me and taught me so much,” she recalled.
During her first performance at SIUT’s children’s ward around two decades, Imran played national songs on a keyboard.
The response was overwhelming — clapping, smiles, and laughter filled the room. But behind the joy, there was also visible pain.
“Many children were crying, they were in such pain,” she said.
Her mother, who had accompanied her to the hospital, gently urged her to continue and to be strong for the children who needed her.
Imran also credits the support of SIUT founder Professor Dr. Adib ul Hasan Rizvi as a defining moment.
“He placed his hand on my head and said, ‘You are our daughter, and you can do anything.’ That gave me strength.”
Imran has since become a beloved fixture at SIUT. To her, music is not just art, it is also medicine.
“It’s often said that music is food for the soul,” she said with a smile. “If you’re upset or sad, even humming a tune can help you feel better. That’s exactly how I see music as well.”
“NEVER LOSE HEART”
Founded in 1974 as a 12-bed ward within a public hospital, SIUT has grown into a 2000-bed hospital with multiple units. In 2024 alone, it treated 4.2 million patients, including over 600,000 outpatient visits and more than 500,000 dialysis sessions.
Professor Dr. Ali Asghar Lanewala, head of the Pediatric Nephrology Department, said the facility’s outpatient pediatric clinic saw 300 to 400 children on each of its four weekly working days, with families often waiting three to four hours to see a doctor.
“Her very melodious voice creates a vibrant atmosphere, and she engages the children by singing familiar songs with them,” he told Arab News. “This way, the long three to four-hour waiting period becomes a bit easier for the children.”
Imran hopes she can carry on singing for as long as life allows her.
“Never lose heart. Insha’Allah, everything will be fine,” she told the children as she started to tap the keys of her keyboard.
“Children must stay brave and strong, and keep reminding themselves, ‘No, I have to get better’.”
