PC: Ahad Photography
One thing is for certain. After the turnout at the Tajdeed-e-Ehd-e-Wafa event yesterday, no one is likely to say that the affair wasn't a huge success. Organized by the IBA Literary Society, this event like all its others was directed towards reinstating the love for literature in the hearts of the youth and inviting them to celebrate the masterpieces of prose by making good use of their creativity and skills. And there is no doubting the fact that all of those who participated did just that. Even before the event began, the auditorium was jam packed with people already starting to sit on the floor because there was nowhere else to watch from.
The event kicked off in the evening with students performing one of the famous plays by Ashfaq Ahmed, 'Quratulain'. Everyone watching was enchanted by the colorful display and the array of characters drifting in and out with every scene. Each and every one of them was dressed to suit the classical age, and their dialogues sparked even more interest amongst the crowd, which did its own job well too, laughing and applauding at the rights places! Parents that decided to come and watch their children perform live on stage could be seen discussing the play and how well their own looked and acted. Everywhere one turned, there were cameras clicking and movies being made, because some moments were surely worth recording and replaying. Saud Shahid performed a Sufi dance, to a huge round of applause from the spectators.
The guests of honor were Shamoon Abbasi, the man who wowed everyone with his role in the movie Waar, Ghazala Humayun, the fashion designer who also owns her very own magazine, along with Umar Sultan, Faraz and Hamza Farooqui and Emraan Rajput, all of them successful in their own fields of talent. All of them could be seen recording their favorite moments of the evening, no doubt to be uploaded on Facebook and other social networks later!
After the play and the Sufi act, one of IBA's singing talents Ram Mandhan gave a lively and melodious performance which brought the house down. The instruments he used, along with his choice of songs added just the right conventional touch that was needed to bring forth the purpose of the event into sharp focus. Some of the songs he sang were Daman Lagiyan, Lal Meri and Nara-e-Mastana. Everyone loved the ten minutes performance he gave. The chief guests enjoyed themselves tremendously and later could be heard telling people that it was an outstanding piece of art, and promised great talent in the future.
Then followed the reenactment of 'Taleem-e-Balighan', which is one of the best comedy dramas written in the history of Urdu literature. Written by Khwaja Moinuddin the play was performed by IBA students who added a little spice of modernity to the original work to grasp the attention of their audience even more. And they were successful in achieving their goal. Throughout the skit they had the whole auditorium echoing with laughter and applause at the great show that was put up.
The last act on the program was 'Behuda Mushaira'. Written by one of the talents of IBA, Ali Raj, it was the most awaited by the crowd. Its successful marketing had roused the curiosity of the whole university. Thus by the time the cast had settled down on the stage, the audience was already hyped up, ready to laugh their heads off. True to their word, the act was a tremendous success, and really lived up to its name. The guests could be seen laughing and recording the whole skit, and later said that the evening had done them a lot of good by giving them a chance to relax and have fun without any restrictions or pressures! The event closed afterwards with speeches from the organizers and by introducing the cast of all the shows.
There is no doubting the fact that the event was a huge accomplishment by the Literary Society. Though the auditorium has around 300 seats, there were almost 400 people under one roof by the time the event began. This is no doubt the result of all the hard work put in by the whole of the Management Team, which worked diligently to spread the word about Tajdeed as far as possible and hence make the event actually happen. Hats off to Rishi Kumar, who was the calm one behind all the hidden commotion and made sure everything went smoothly as planned. Having been a part of it all, I know the amount of effort that was put in. Being able to bring in the celebrities who came was no easy deed to get done. They went home happy and relaxed after the evening's entertainment, along with their bouquets and souvenirs. So did the rest of the crowd, after devouring the snacks that were put out for them after the event ended. Congratulations to the whole team for pulling off this feat and making sure it remained an event marked in the history of IBA!
