In a recent interview with host Hina Altaf, Pakistani TV host and actor Shaista Lodhi delved into her transformative first Umrah trip with her family. The celebrity relayed how she found herself on an unplanned spiritual journey prompted by a chance meeting with an acquaintance.
“I don’t know how that Umrah happened for me,” Shaista remarked. “Of course, I had the desire but it was never something I had fully intended. It wasn’t a plan. It became one in just two days that I’ll go for an Umrah before my visit to America. I was left amazed at how could it happen like this.”
Shaista shared how she was occupied with a morning show on a local news channel. The celebrity, who has made a name for herself in the morning show scene, expressed how consuming the hustle and bustle of the studio can get. She said, “You know how these shows are, they are different and we have different personalities on the inside so we are working in all that noise and hope for quiet when we return home.”
The fortunate day that led to Shaista onboarding the flight to Makkah two days later started like usual. “So this one day I left the studio and I told the driver to take the car just anywhere quiet,” she explained how they ended up driving aimlessly on I I Chundrigar Road.
“Suddenly I received a call from an acquaintance, Haji Sahab,” Shaista revealed the person who became the impetus behind her pilgrimage. “He asked me where I was and I said at the office. He asked me if I could come to his office and I asked him where it was. Literally, when he mentioned the building’s name, it was right there in front of me,” she emphasised the coincidence.
