LAHORE-In the wee hours of 5th of January, 2018 sad news of the demise of legend Zubaida Tariq popularly known as Apa Zubaida was aired on TV channels. She was one of the most influential people in Pakistan. Her death has been widely condoled not only in the film and TV industry but by people of all walks of life. People were shocked to hear the news about her death.

People of Pakistan loved and respected her like their own elder whose advice was not ignored. However, there were few who gave her a lot of criticism. There have been reports of people accusing her with words like ‘Oh my God, how does she even have so many followers? Her totkas are merely plagiarized’. It is an undeniable truth that people especially women, were in love with her personality, especially her dress up and the way she used to carry herself draped in the most astounding and captivating colored sarees, and the way her wrists were always enveloped in glass bangles which exceptionally contrasted with her saree. There were some people who criticized her dressing. But in all those negative talks and judgments they forgot the fact that she was a senior citizen Respecting the elders came first than anything else but we forget that and focus more on minor details which do not even matter.

I interviewed her for ‘The Nation’ some months ago and that was the first and last time I ever talked to her. Before that I had heard things about her that ‘she is very rude’ and ‘she is very proud and arrogant’ etcetera about her. But when I talked to her, I was over whelmed by the way she welcomed me and answered my every question with great patience and politeness. I still remember the words she used for Pakistan are as follow,

 ‘Pakistan is a boon of God and we are supposed to take care of it better than we take care of ourselves. Our identity that is our flag is being sold on mountains of garbage. This nation gave us everything we have today, our being, our identity and a lot more. But we gave nothing to it in return but words of insult and humiliation,’ she had said.

Apa Zubaida might have left us but her beautiful teachings, her amazing recipes and her life changing totkas are still present. She has left her legacy behind and now it is on us to take care of it and to forget all those minutest of details we used to criticize her with. May Allah Almighty rest her soul in peace.