KARACHI, Nov 2: The atmosphere at Habib Girls’ School was so lively and cheerful on Saturday that it was difficult to imagine that the first students admitted to this institution of learning were over 50 years old now.

Yes, Habib Girls’ celebrated its 50th anniversary keeping ‘Mera Pakistan’ as the theme of the day. The projects prepared by the students of all the four sections of the school appreciated each province of Pakistan.

In the Sindh enclosure, one came face to face with a little Abida Parveen wearing a long, shaggy wig and swinging her head from left to right while other little girls, some of them dressed as little malangs did the dhamal.

Similarly, little Balochi dancers won everyone’s heart in the Balochistan enclosure.

In the Punjab enclosure, you had another little girl dressed as a hari and his little wife bringing him lassi, saag and corn bread. In one corner there was a dulha dressed in sherwani riding his hobbyhorse to a traditional Punjabi wedding song.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa enclosure welcomed you with the words “Bakhair ra ghale — khushamdeed!” at the doorstep.

“It is a very good exhibition that helps the children learn about the different people and cultures of Pakistan,” observed Abdul Rahman, father of Sabah Fatima in the KP enclosure. “My daughter is in the make-up room getting her moustache adjusted,” he said with a chuckle.

Some of the older girls in their smart brown and white school uniforms said that were also a part of the exhibition in their section of the school. “We are here from the primary and secondary sections,” said Alifiya Saifee, a student of Class VI. “We are holding similar exhibitions and programmes in our sections also but dropped by here to see what the kindergarten section has been up to,” she said.

Meanwhile, the teachers of each section of the school were also in a kind of uniform — they wore similar print shalwar and kameez with different colours for each section. “Today is a big day for us. We have been preparing the students for this and also collecting material for the exhibitions while carrying out research about the various areas of Pakistan with the pupils for some two months now but it has all been worth it,” said Seema Abid, a teacher of the school.