Echoes and Sketches

Echoes and Sketches" follows Shahnawaz, a seventeen-year-old qawali singer and painter from Lahore, as he journeys to Gilgit in search of silence, inspiration, and a place to belong. With a sketchbook in one hand and a harmonium in the other, he captures the soul of Pakistan-its people, its music, its aching beauty. His verses ripple through valleys, stirring hearts and opening doors he never imagined. After a breakthrough performance at a cultural festival, Shahnawaz earns enough to support his mother and glimpse a future beyond borders. Venice shimmers in his dreams, not as escape, but as arrival. This is the story of a boy learning to trust his voice, and of art becoming a prayer for something more. Amna Waseem is a multi‑genre author, creative entrepreneur, and MPhil scholar in Political Science at Kinnaird College for Women. With over forty published eBooks, she writes across children's and adult fiction as well as educational non‑fiction, blending imaginative storytelling with accessible insights.Her short story The Widow and the Whispering Cup is part of the digital eBook collection of the New York Public Library, while her coloring book is included in the Dubai Public Library. These international placements highlight her growing global presence and the cultural resonance of her work.Away from her desk, she embraces simple living-finding inspiration in quiet mornings with coffee and the calm of sunlit garden corners.