Fatima Surayya Bajia

Fatima Surayya Bajia (; 1 September 1930 – 10 February 2016) was an Urdu novelist, playwright and drama writer from Pakistan. She was awarded various awards at home and abroad, including Japan's highest civil award, in recognition of her works. Bajia remained Advisor to the Chief Minister of Sindh province in Pakistan, and was a member of the managing committee of the Arts Council of Pakistan. She died on 10 February 2016 in Karachi, aged 85.

Early life A native of Hyderabad, British India, she was born near Panj Bibi Mountain, in the town of Raichur in the present-day Indian state of Karnataka. She migrated to Pakistan soon after independence, along with her family. She was homeschooled and never received any formal education. Despite this she is ranked an eminent intellectual, reader and writer.

Bajia first became involved with PTV in the 1960s when her flight to Karachi was delayed and she came to PTV Islamabad station for a visit. Director Agha Nasir hired her and Bajia made her debut as an actress in 1966 in one of his plays. She began writing afterwards. Nasir is quoted to have said, "During Zia ul Haq's time when the 'dupatta policy' was implemented and women were forced to behave a certain way, Bajia wrote about characters from Baghdad and Granada. This was brilliant because these places were supposedly Islamic societies and no one could say anything about them." He further added that when writing a play, Bajia would literally move with her belongings to the TV station and then become an authority by default."Anyone who had a problem would go to Bajia, not to the chief of the organisation."

Awards, honours and recognition Bajia won numerous awards, including the Pride of Performance Award in 1996 for her services to the performing arts in Pakistan. Most recently she appeared in The Big Show on CNBC alongside another legendary writer Haseena Moin. In 2013, she was awarded Hilal-i-Imtiaz by the President of Pakistan.

On 22 May 2012 Bajia's biography, titled Apki Bajia (Your Bajia) was released. The book had been written by Syeda Iffat Hasan Rizvi after six years of research. Her body is interred at Gizri Graveyard.

Tribute On 1 September 2018, to commemorate what would have been her 88th birthday, Google released a Google Doodle celebrating her.

Plays Some of her popular drama serials:

Shama 1974 (adapted from a novel by A.R. Khatoon) Afshan (adapted from a novel by A.R. Khatoon) Aroosa (adapted from a novel by Zubaida Khatoon) Tasweer (adapted from a novel by A.R. Khatoon) Zeenat (adapted from a Sindhi novel by Mirza Quleech Baig) Ana Aagahi Aabgeenay Babar Tareekh-o-Tamseel Ghar aik Nagar Faraz Aik Karz Phool Rahi Sarsoon Tasveer-e-Kainaat Asaavari Arzoo Sassi Punno Anarkali Auraq Jisse Piya Chahe