Author: Mahnoor Abdullah

An interview with Vax Scene Conducted by Hilal Khan and Adil Ali Tariq in October 2021 Hilal: So, the first question is that how and why the campaign, “Vax Scene” started? Tell us about the origin of the campaign. Tauheed: So, we have a course for community service learning in our university. In that, we need to do a project that’s related to community service. We wanted to do something that was not only relevant but needed in the current time. So, we decided on something that was, I think, the most relevant and a hot topic of debate in Pakistani society at the time. And something that was both a scientific issue and a social issue, which is vaccination. We wanted to do a campaign that would spread awareness about vaccines, not forcing people to get vaccinated, but educating them so they can make a better and informed decision for themselves. Adil: We have learned about the origin of “Vax Scene”. What was the main motivation behind this? Zoha: The main motivation was basically scientific communication because people are not much aware of vaccination and its importance. They do not know how vaccines are made, how they work. And probably that’s the biggest reason why they’re hesitant to get vaccinated. Tauheed: Another main motivating factor was the fact that we did, based on preliminary surveys, find out that...

An interview with Doodh Patti Conducted by Hilal Khan and Mahnoor Abdullah Mahnoor: So, Doodh Patti, what is “Doodh Patti’? Hassan: It’s like chai. Mahnoor: Why is it ‘Doodh Patti’ and not karak chai? Aetazaz: Because Jaffar Abbas named it that way. Our first manager. He was the first person to really have faith in what Abdullah and I were doing as individuals. Before that we were working on our own and of course there was Najam and Sir Salman, but Jaffar was the first person to have faith in the fact that we could create good stuff. That is why our first proper gig was for NEC Earth Day which is just unforgettable. Abdullah: That was the first time we performed Yaadon ka samandar, an original. Hassan: This was before I was in NUST Hilal: There must be some motivation behind naming your band ‘Doodh Patti’ . What was that? Hassan: To understand that you must first understand ‘Ajooba’ Aetazaz: Yes. Everything that we have done is very personal to us. When I came to NUST, I was sure of one thing and that was to do music. I didn’t know back then that whether I would ever take the path towards becoming a songwriter or how I would pop out as a vocalist or what my strengths or weaknesses were.  I knew nothing. All I knew was...