A season of merry balls, floral extravaganzas and art shows -DAWN Magazine; March 24, 2002

March 24, 2002

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A season of merry balls, floral extravaganzas and art shows IT was a season marked for its high tempo societal stampede, the likes of which had never been seen before. It was a season of merry balls one after another, floral extravaganzas, art shows and music concerts spiced with colourful weddings galore in between. All that climaxed last Saturday night with three large balls in different places, while the popular singer, Fariha Pervaiz, sang at the Defence Club Golf Course with the affable Swiss Consul-General, Roland Fischer, and his wife, Iris, playing host to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Swiss CGS in Pakistan. The glitterati, that self-indulgently calls itself the cream de la cream of society, was its best and in a generous giving mood for good causes and worthy charities. And those who raised flowers and won prizes at competitions sought to brighten up the city and make it forget for a while its murders, crimes galore and the fear of a knock on the door late at night. The whirling carnival came to an end with a bang with the Oxbridge (Oxford and Cambridge universities) Ball at Runnymede, as usual, while another fund-raiser sought to help the Marie Adelaide, that has been struggling valiantly to banish leprosy from our midst. The Karachi Yacht Club, that has become more active now, had its annual ball until sunrise to the rhythm of the waves. The day before, the Continental Club, headed by Mir Mushtaq Ali Talpur, had a ball with capacity crowd and a dancer from Ukraine who came via Dubai. She was pretty and perky and livened up the crowd all evening. As the ball was on, a neighbour came up with some delightful fireworks because of a marriage close by and got into trouble. “This is a too-VIP area for unscheduled fireworks,” said the irate official. There would have been one more major ball in the city if the Layton Rahmatullah Benevolent Trust ball had not been shifted to Lahore. Shell Pakistan, headed by Farooq Rahmatullah, sponsored the ball, while the Saigols played a major role in organizing it efficiently at the Lahore Fort. All the balls and other mega shows had come between the end of Ramazan and the beginning of Moharram, and in the brief cold weather. Hence the stampede all round. OXBRIDGE BALL Oxford-educated Zia Khalleli and his wife, Mariyam, who makes jewellry using semi-precious stones, were all smiles and sunshine at the Oxbridge Ball, though not always on the dance floor. The Oxbridge Society has provided scholarship for a talented girl from Lahore at Oxford for three years and two scholarships of four years each to a girl in electronics and another to a boy in computer science at NED, Karachi. Next year, the Oxbridge Society is to give 10 to 12 local scholarships in local centres. Oxbridge, Pakistan, is now discussing the setting up a Saarc Oxbridge Association to sustain contacts between those who have studied at the Oxbridge universities. Oxford-educated Moeen Afzal, secretary general of finance, was down here from Islamabad with Shahid Javed Burki, former vice-president of the World Bank. Ali Raza, President, National Bank, was there with his wife to mix with his ex-Oxford pals. The Polish Consul-General, Janausz Bylingki, was there with his wife, as also the Czech Republic’s Jarslov Olsa, whose wife is an excellent Bolsho (Moscow) trained ballet dancer. Yury Mateiry of Russia, who is leaving the city soon, made an early exit. The special Olympics Ball at the US Consul-General’s house, where it has always been held, was a major event, particularly in terms of fund-raising. One large painting of Mashkoor Raza and two small ones of Jameel Naqsh together went for almost Rs200,000 each. They were bought by Laiq M.I. Akbar’s daughter and Ronaq Lakhani, the moving spirit behind the show. John Bauman, the US Consul-General, was not there as he had to rush to Los Angeles for a special ceremony for Daniel Pearl, whose kidnapping had delayed his well-earned leave for long. But the US business community was in full strength and so were the Pakistani heads of American companies that took delight in backing the Special Olympics. Aitzaz Shahbaz is the president of Special Olympics now, after it had started off with Saeed Ahmad of Anchor Shipping and Trading. Impressed by the tremendous performance of the mentally-handicapped athletes at their biannual meets, the curious Indians wanted Saeed Ahmad to visit India to have a seminar on the subject. He agreed, but the India-Pakistan crisis intervened. The athletes will now be going to Dublin. Former petroleum minister, Anwar Saifullah, released after two years, was at the ball with his wife, who is the younger daughter of former president, Ghulam Ishaq Khan. Ishaq’s elder daughter is married to Irfan Mawat, former home minister of Sindh. Maryana Karim proved to be a super auctioneer of almost anything sold that night. She is good at coaxing, prodding and when necessary, pressuring the right people. So when bidders such as Azhar Hamid of the Standard Chartered Bank and Shaukat Tareen had given up bidding for the paintings midway through the race, she got them sold to young ladies at far higher prices. ROTARY CONTINENTAL MIR Mushtaq Talpur, unlike most others who belong to the federal stock, is a perfectionist to the core. So is his cousin, Mumtaz Talpur. Son of a former chief minister, who stands by him staunchly, when Mushtaq sends a personal invitation, it is elegantly calligraphed, but he could not do that when he sent hundreds of cards for the Rotary Ball at the German Consul-General’s house. Ingmar Brentle and his wife, who have been here for three years after arriving from Brunei, were present at the ball till the end to make sure everything went smoothly. Mushtaq had invited the entire Talpur clan. Most of them were there save Yousuf Talpur, former food minister. Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi was there, as also his son, Arif, in a smart black tie dinner jacket. Ovais Ahmad of Pierre Cardin was there with his wife, Erum, and several of the diplomatic guests they had invited. He even gave a helping hand to the dancer from Ukraine. The active fund-raiser selling raffle tickets for Rs1,000 was Naheed Beg. Another lady member was Mrs Nasim Ahmad, who has been elected president of the club for next year, while her husband, Saeed, is linked with the Metropolitan Rotary Club. The companies are generous in giving large advertisements for the brochures of those clubs when they have a ball and for good causes when the clubs have “service before self” as their motto. FLOWER SHOWS WHEN it comes to moving to flower shows from exciting balls, the change is remarkable. But the flowers are serene, soothing and variously charming. The two major old city clubs kicked off the season after winning first and second prizes, by inviting its members to see the show, with flat shoes for ladies to save the lawn. Those who host such shows are of two kinds: the contended and the ambitious. The contented are those who have received three first prizes for best garden and are retired from the contest. The others with a less number of top prizes are in the race until they hit the top number. Younas Khan of Inter-Azia and former Deutsche Bank has won these prizes and yet likes to invite his friends to show the flowers in bloom and his unusual flowering trees. Unlike others marked for their floral profusion, he has an artistic garden complete with a variety of rich twittering birds that greet you as you enter his house. He gives a good dinner, though he calls it supper. His wife works hard on the garden, prize or not, and achieves excellent results. Akbar Hashwani and his wife, Sultana, won the second prize this time for their large garden and had many consul-generals admiring it. They also give dinner complete with western and eastern dishes and Gujrati delicacies. Somebody said there: “Money makes the mare go and flowers grow.” Akbar said as long as the money was spent for a good cause and makes people happy, that was okay. Everyone agreed. The Karachi Floral Art Society, that was earlier pioneered by Kaukab Shahbaz, came up with a mega flower show. The governor’s wife inaugurated the show and handed down score of prizes in various departments. The same persons got several prizes because of their excellence. The ladies had to wait for a long time in the hall and some got in the receiving line to greet her; but they were not impatient. The emphasis there was not on the flowers but on the arrangements, where a great deal of ingenuity had been employed. Some of them were futuristic arrangements and some spatial designs. The imagination had really run riot to the delight of the visitors who had seen a great deal of the use of steel. The next day it was Pomme Amna Gogar’s turn, one-time Paris model and currently a choreographer, to put on a floral art fashion show with the models showing off their floral wear. First-time winner in flowers shows this year is Aziz Memon who is thrilled. He is having all round success. Viewers of his garden were federal minister, Shahida Jameel and provincial finance minister, Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. The architect of the house, Tariq Kaiser, was delighted by the award.

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