The week started on a festive note with the preparations in full swing for the August 14th celebrations. The fifty-seventh year of our nation's birth is being commemorated with a lot of aplomb and show. However, what really we have got to celebrate in terms of achievements and progress as a nation is a point of contention. Anyway, the Capital adorned a festive look all through the week. It felt as if Eid was in the offing.
My first visit was to the National Art Gallery for the preview of Anna Molka's paintings exhibition titled 'A Retrospective-Prof. Anna Molka Ahmed'. It is the first exhibition in which all the artists' masterpieces have been exhibited. According to the curator of the Art Gallery, Mussarat Imam, the salient feature of Anna's paintings is that her work encompasses the landscapes, figurative and thematic painting.
The artist was in Britain in 1917 and was a pioneer in establishing the fine arts Department for girls in Punjab in 1940 that later got upgraded to University level.
Prominent themes in her exhibits are Heaven, Hell, Dance of Death, International Wars, Independence, Flood Victims and Poverty. Her work also included graphic scenes of 1965 war that have been kept by the Army as collectors' items.
Anna Molka converted to Islam; she did a lot of work on Islamic themes, such as the Qura'n, the Khana Kaaba, Masjid-e-Nabvi and numerous others. Throwing light on her personality traits, a veteran journalist Shamim Rizvi said that she was a tireless worker- strong personality with definitive likes and dislikes and was humble in nature. She never returned to Britain despite having a difficult retired life.
The National Art Gallery gets full credit for projecting the work of the artist and highlighting its various aspects. I believe that one should never forget ones roots in order to succeed in life.
My second visit to the GPO for the exhibition of the postal stamps. Pakistan Post has brought out a set of four commemorative postage stamps of Rs.5 denomination each with the Urdu version of the extracts of the speeches of Quaid-e-Azam on the occasion of the 57th Independence Day of Pakistan. These stamps were available for sale from all prominent postal outlets for philatelists and stamp lovers. Stamps in the exhibition comprised of the heroes of Pakistan Movement, Pakistani Culture, Pakistani handicrafts and wild life.
My third visit was to the Blood Donation Camp set up by Pakistan Red Crescent Society to commemorate the Independence Day and honour the sacrifices of the Shuhada of August 14. The aim of the camp was to inspire the people with spirit of volunteering for the service of humanity. It was to create awareness that every one of us can make a difference by individually donating blood needed for emergencies, terminally ill patients and other sick people. Collectively we should renew our commitment to the Voluntary Service of Pakistan. Moreover, it was to constructively channel the activities of the youth so that it develops a sense of responsibility in them. In addition it was to inform the public on blood safety and prevention of the spread of transfusion transmitted diseases (Hepatitis B, C & HIV), waylaying the fears with regard to blood donation and highlighting the benefits of blood donation.
My fourth visit was to the country's first Heritage Museum at the Lok Virsa that was inaugurated by the President Musharraf on August 14. The largest ethnological museum offers a rare insight into Pakistan's history and the living cultural traditions of the rural folk. The front facing the main hall of the museum has a display of typical transport vehicles used in the countryside since times immemorial such as the riverboat, the bullock cart, the tonga, the gaudily painted transport truck and the beautifully adorned camels.
The timbers doors of the Museum were intricately carved depicting the workmanship of Chiniot, Multan and Swat.
The larger darbar hall projects the great characters from the history such as the brave tribesman.
The hall of future vision has been dedicated to the memory of Miss Fatima Jinnah that has been donated by the Women Development Ministry.
The museum is divided into five separate halls and 24 galleries that includes the hall of history and antiquity, traditions, romances, ballads, unity, Sufi shrines, future aspirations, distinguished visitors' galleries, linkages with Central Asia, China and Iran which have a direct bearing on cultural patterns of our country's musical heritage, architecture, language and literature.
It is difficult to go into details of the collage of thousand of exhibits. However, it is significant to mention here that the exhibits were from the times of Mahestangarh and Moenjodaro linking its glorious past to the present and the future. The pavilion depicted the great personalities in our historical tradition. It is called 'Pakistan- a land of wisdom.'
It has taken three years to bring this project of the museum to completion and it has a covered area of 60,000 square feet and it has cost Rs 650 million. The museum was a brainchild of Uxi Mufti whose dream of 30 years turned into reality with the opening of the museum.
People had gone overboard celebrating the Independence Day. It was classic example of the general public flaunting the traffic rules and creating life threatening incidents by throwing fire crackers into passing cars apart from there being a law and order situation at every prominent crossing. One felt sad that there was no following of the Quaid's motto of Unity, Faith and Discipline and not even lip service was paid this time.