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Lahore has its day
Culture is the most important factor of any society. Without it a social system
remains incomplete. The fact is that we as a nation have not yet decided what
our culture is. Being Muslims, there are certain restraints set in society. And
at the same time our culture has evolved from the land where we have been living
for centuries. Basant is a very good example of this difference of opinion, and
in the recent few years, this cultural festival has become the most popular and
at the same time most controversial festival of Pakistan.
Ten years ago Basant was only celebrated in Lahore by the lower-middle class.
Then the media (especially TV channels) started giving it coverage, which
resulted in its tremendous popularity. A few years back, the government came
into the scene and Basant has now become an official festival of Pakistan.
Earlier, it was considered only as a Hindu festival by some staunch religious
circles. This year, Basant was celebrated with record participation of the
masses from all walks of life. Even President General Pervez Musharraf was in
Lahore with his family to enjoy it.
This year there were at least half a dozen musical concerts held in Lahore on
the day. PTV telecast a live concert from the historical Dyan Singh Haveli which
was attended by many artists, but the biggest concert was held in the Lahore
Fort which was organized by the Parks and Culture Authority and Prime
Entertainment and sponsored by a cola company. The historical Diwan-i-Aam was
the selected venue built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan in the 16th century. There
was no stage as the original building was lit up artistically and used as a
backdrop. Arrangements for 2000 guests were made but the number doubled itself
on the evening. There was a rumour that President Musharraf was also coming,
thus security was very tight which caused problems for the artists as well.
The show opened with folk dances from the provinces. Tauseeq Haider and Ayesha
Malik, both hailing from Islamabad, were anchoring a concert on Basant for the
first time. Ayesha Malik was looking very fresh in her blood red Valentine''s
dress. Sindh''s Chief Minister Ali Mohammad Mehar was the centre of attraction.
The show started at 9pm and ended at 5am the next morning. Salma Agha, Humera
Arshad, Naghmana Jafri, Veena Malik and Nexus group went back without
performing, and they were not very happy about it.
The crowd-pullers in the concert were Junoon, who came especially from Karachi
to perform. Word on the grapevine was that Junoon had broken up and that Brian
O''Conell had shifted back to the US. But when Salman Ahmed, Ali Azmat and Brian
appeared on stage, the 10,000 people sitting there gave them a standing ovation.
After performing seven songs they called it a night, but the crowd would have
none of it. Junoon returned for an encore, performing their new cricket World
Cup song. Ali Azmat''s fans, especially the females, were shocked to see him
sporting his new hairstyle, or complete lack of it. Salman said on stage that
the group was performing in Lahore after a long absence and he was glad to see
the famous Lahori spirit present in the crowd.
Dawn News
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