The exuberance of mega 15-day spring festival in Lahore was followed by cricket frenzy. Other major events in the city in the past week included the Saarc Writers Conference, a couple of exhibitions of paintings of Pakistani artists and an exhibition of Romanian Glass Art.
****************The arrival of Indian Cricket team in Lahore on March 10, after more than a decade, lifted public interest to an unprecedented new high. The practice match between Indian Cricket team and Pakistan Cricket A team the following day, in which the Indian team was defeated, took the interest of the people to a level never witnessed before. The intense rivalry between India and Pakistan generates passion, there is no denying the fact, but in the estimation of some people, it was somewhat artificially hyped by a multitude of TV channels and cable net operators turning it into a big business as well. The five one-day series between India and Pakistan, two of which will be played in Lahore, will turn these into the event of the year.
****************The expected arrival in the city of some 10,000 Indian visitors will provide additional boost to tourism in Pakistan, which has since 9/11 suffered much as a result of travel advice given to their citizens by a large number of Western countries, including the United States and United Kingdom. The matches that will be played in Lahore have already created much demand on city hotels, which have already been booked to their full capacities.
****************The next big event in Lahore was the three-day 10th Saarc Writers Conference, which was inaugurated at Lahore Arts Council on March 12 by Federal Minister of Education. A fairly large number of literati and poets from seven member countries of Saarc attended the inaugural session of the conference, which was jointly organized by Action Aid Pakistan, the Hawwa Associates, Pakistan Academy of Letters and the Foundation of Saarc Writers and Litterateurs.
One of the speakers at the inaugural session sarcastically observed that although the Saarc countries had different cultures, languages and thinking, yet they had one thing in common - poverty. He hoped that the writers and poets from the participating countries would pool their resources and efforts to alleviate poetry.
****************An adaptation of Little Women by Louisa May was staged at Defence Degree College, Lahore, as its annual play for the year 2004. Pegged to the theme of prejudice and narrowness of outlook, the presentation aimed at inculcating among the new generation the importance of such values as patience, spirit of sacrifice, love and dignity in maintaining strong family ties. A large audience comprising students, their parents and guests from all walks of life appreciated the well-produced stage play.
The Punjab Minister for Social Welfare was the chief guest at a function organized by the faculty and students of Lahore College for Women University last week. The event was organized to observe International Women Day. The items included in the presentation were mime and the production of a couple of plays on the issue of girls' marriages to the Quran. The mine, Daughter of the East, the play Bole kay labb hain azaad tarey were staged by the students of Communications Department of LCWU..
The ten-day group show of paintings was put up at the Coopera Art Gallery in Lahore on March 12, which featured the works of a number of seasoned and up-and-coming artists. The exhibition will remain open for public viewing till March 22.
Hotel Pearl-Continental served as the venue for the two-day (March 13 and 14) exhibition of Romanian Glass Art at which all the specimen were mouth-blown and hand-painted. Jointly sponsored by Embassy of Romania in Islamabad and the Honorary Consul of Romania in Lahore, the exhibition aimed at promoting this unique art form, which asserts that the art bears an innovative refinement as the Romanian artists express the joys of life in works such as stained glass lamps and Gale style items. The 2-6 coloured layers, separately blown by mouth shaped the articles displayed at the exhibition. A large number of inquisitive lovers of art visited the exhibition and appreciated the works of the Romanian artists. Eminent lawyer and a man of letters Barrister Ijaz Husain Batalvi, who was long suffering from an interminable disease, died in Lahore on March 5, leaving behind a large number of friends in the fraternity of legal profession and many more, who had known him as a creative writer. Full of life till his last breath, Batalvi was known for his high professional acumen, suave nature and affable manners. A close friend of his equated late Batalavi with such leading lawyers of the sub-continent as Barrister Abdul Hayee, Jagan Nath Agarwal, Bhagat Rampur and Barrister M. Anwar.
In his literary pursuits, late Ijaz Husain Batalavi was much influenced by such luminaries as Pitras Bokhari, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum, Abdul Majid Salik, Maulana Ghulam Rasul Mehar, Qudratullah Shahab and Altaf Gohar. Using his experience with BBC during his student days in London, he showed his versatility in words and voice during the Indo-Pakistan war of September 1965, when he kept the spirit of the soldiers and the people high by his daily broadcasts from Radio Pakistan Lahore in those turbulent days.
His death has been mourned by many in the legal profession and in the field of creative writing.
****************Late Habib Jalib, the poet of the people, was paid glowing tributes at a seminar held in his memory at Lahore Press Club last week. The seminar was held under the aegis of Habib Jalib Memorial Foundation. The proceedings were dominated by speakers from Pakistan Peoples Part Parliamentarians.