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Holding court on the greens
The horse-drawn royal carriages elicited ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from the guests as they disembarked from their cars and were ushered into the waiting buggies. The one mile ride along the illuminated route inside the PNS Karsaz Golf Club in Karachi was something right out of a dream sequence for the many foreigners, so much so that some of them were reluctant to get off when the ride came to an end. But there was much more to look forward to before the evening came to an end.
The gala event was just one of the many marking the 10th general meeting of the Asia Pacific Central Depositories Group, a regional group of depositories of which Pakistan is a member country. For the theme of the evening, An Evening of Music, Poetry and Dance, in the ‘courtyard of a Mughal Fort’, a grand scale replica of a Mughal courtyard had been painstakingly constructed on the premises of the golf club. To lend it further authenticity, sword-yielding darbans (gatekeepers) and kaneezes (female servants) were assigned the task of tending to the guests. Moreover, due to a strict dress code, every delegate member wore white shalwar kameez suits. Even the dinner served before the evening’s entertainment was classically Mughal. “I have seen many dinners but this beats everything I have ever seen before,” a Japanese guest was overheard saying.
Zia Moheyuddin’s recital was the main fare of the evening and he was impressive, as usual. He mostly concentrated on mystic verses to suit the ambiance of the evening, reading out extensively from Persian text and at times reprimanding those who chose to chatter and chuckle away while he read out to his audience. Zia recited from the literary works of giants like Maulana Rumi, Allama Iqbal, Noon Meem Rashid and Khalil Jibran. His selection of the choiciest of verses and couplets surprised all and sundry as many of them had not been heard before. Even though the foreign delegates from non-English speaking countries had difficulty understanding Zia, it was evident from their expressions that the philosophical content was not wasted on them.
Nighat Chaudhry and her students with their renditions of Kathak and Overlaod with a dhamaal and drums later entertained the audience well into the night.
Before the evening was brought to a close, Ijaz Ahmad Shah of the CDC said: “The conference and the cultural evening have helped to promote a soft image of Pakistan. As a result many negative illusions have been shattered.” I’m sure that if nothing else, the night’s entertainment must surely have dispelled many of the foreign delegates’ unfounded fears and etched an image of Karachi and Pakistan as a safe haven for foreign investment and travel.
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