December 16, 2002	Monday	Shawwal 11, 1423

KARACHI, Dec 15: Almost all the elements in humour and satire were there in good measure at the opening ceremony of the first international conference on humour, which got under way on Saturday night at the Sheikh Zayed Islamic Centre.

Several eminent writers, poets and critics were present. So were cartoonists, parodists and singers. And the venue was full of knowledgeable people who could appreciate each nuance, each play of words. Happy times had finally come to the troubled city of Karachi, felt some participants.

Some of the colours contributing towards the ambience were provided by big political and economic cartoons which adorned the walls of the hall. And the sounds were provided in due measure by humour writers, critics, and parodists who read out or sang their pieces. The audience tried their best to do justice to each piece presented.

Close to where the Aalmi Tanzo-Mizaah Conference was being held — organized by humour writer Ziaul Haq Qasmi, the editor of monthly Zarafat — a smaller moot was going on. The venue of this event was Sadeqain, near NIPA.

Some participants generously participated at both. Dr Moin Qureshi presided over at the Sadeqain and later read a humour piece at the ‘Aalmi Conference’. So did Ather Shah Khan, besides some others.

Amirul Islam Hasni stole the show at Sadeqain while Ather Shah Khan received thunderous applause at both the functions.

Among those who graced the Aalmi conference by their presence were Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi, Jamiluddin Aali, Ataul Haq Qasmi, Raghib Moradabadi, Mohammad Ali Siddiqui, Prof Sahar Ansari, Inamul Haq Javed (from Islamabad) Yunus Butt (from Lahore) and Razia Fasih Ahmad (from the US), though she didn’t make a formal presentation.

It was obvious that the audience, longing for relief and joy in these unhappy days, were enjoying the humorous pieces. They continued to do so till 12 midnight.

The event had started with the presentation of a Naat by Zakia Ghazal at 8pm, that is two hours late.

Pirzada Qasim welcomed the writers and poets and praised the sole organiser of the show — the indefatigable Ziaul Haq Qasmi. The speakers who came later, too, admired him for his great social service.

Pirzada Qasim said making the people living in the melancholic city of Karachi was nothing short of ‘Ebadat’.

Zia Qasmi in his brief speech paid glowing tributes to the late Dilawer Figar for his mostly friendly and humane nature and recalled his prophecies about himself.

Prof Sahar Ansari talked of Ghalib in his brief discourse who, he said, was not a humorist but from whom the humour writers had benefited greatly.

The humour piece by Yusuf Butt was appreciated. But the presentation which brought the house down was made by Mushtaq Ahmed Yusufi.

The audience fully appreciated his ‘remarkable feats’ in word-play, which drew repeated and long applause. He skillfully used “daarul khoon-kharaaba”, instead of “daarul khilafah”, in his piece.

He had obviously used this word to underline the fact that rulers were shown the door, after falling victim to a spate of ‘palace’ intrigues and double cross.

Similarly, Mr Yusufi used “hamlaa-i-muatraza”, which reminded the audience of the word “jumlaa-i-muatraza but which conveys an entirely different meaning.

He also suggested, to the delight of those present, that the word “bureaucrat” had traditionally been misspelled. “This error can be removed if a ‘nukta’ is added to the ‘crat’ part of the word,” he said.

Mr Yusufi also presented a paragraph, which he had written 32 years ago, about the situation obtaining in Yahya Khan’s Pakistan. He asked the audience to detect the similarities in the situation then and the one today.

He also read out a serious piece in which he said that nobody, and no circumstance, could stop one from journeying through life with grace and with his head held high. When he left the venue after his presentation, Mr Yusufi received a standing ovation.

Ataul Haq Qasmi’s three pieces also drew applause from those present.

Later, a mushaira was held during which known humour poets presented their verses.