February 3, 2005

The uninhibited pursuit of pleasure by some citizens and the populist culture that has emerged in recent years, is a far cry from the past when Basant was an innocent affair, particularly in the walled city. It was friendly rivalry rather than a show of wealth or a twisted expression of the concepts of entertainment and cultural practices of today, writes Zafar Samdani

BASANT used to be a quiet affair not too long ago. Kite flying this time of the year was a common site but it was hardly of festival proportions. It was mostly the young who flew them and they did it for fun. Some groups of people who took pride in their expertise in kite flying, regarded it as a serious sport and competed with each other in the open field that was once known as Manto Park. After Partition it was known as Iqbal Park where the Yadgar-e-Pakistan now stands.

The number of Iqbal Park kite fliers has risen over the years but these are people who do not approve of what happens on basant, now celebrated in a big way and with great pomp and show, as an extravaganza of fun, multiple entertainment and in a somewhat pagan style. It has developed into an event that throws open numerous economic opportuinities for the locals. Hotels are filled and so are guesthouses and government rest houses beyond capacity and at highly exploitative rates.

This is, in addition, to many locals playing host to a large number of guests from within the country and abroad, who massively congregate in Lahore to participate in what has come to be known as the festival of kite flying but is actually a multi-dimensional event.

Hotels of all levels start refusing bookings a week ahead of February 6, the official date for the festival. Unfamiliar faces are to be seen in local restaurants and other entertainment outlets much ahead of basant. But this is nothing compared to the stampede of visitors a day or so before basant, when the scene turns into a headlong plunge into frolicking on the overcrowded, expensively rented roof-tops of houses in old Lahore and hotels of all denominations, the sky illuminated with search lights at night, white coloured kites floating in the atmosphere, competition between kites backed by loudspeakers blaring music.

When a kite wins a battle in the sky, people on the roof from where it is flown shout themselves hoarse, sound bugles, set off firecrackers and despite a ban on firing guns, often fill the air with bursts from automatic guns. In other words there is a deafening cacophony of sounds and a blinding riot of colours. It is a joyful as well as an escapist outing, the likes of which is not seen in the city at any other time.

In the meantime, partying progresses under many roofs and some of them with alcohol flowing like water and dancers displaying their talents before select gatherings. Most parties though are of a simple and routine nature with music groups performing in some places.

Most leading singers and groups are usually booked by generous hosts, reportedly at rates substantially higher than they ordinarily demand. All these activities add up to a totally uninhibited pursuit of pleasure by some citizens and as joy in the populist culture that has emerged in recent years.

All this is a far cry from the past when basant was an innocent affair although the atmosphere would become electrified for a while at some points, particularly in the walled city. But that was friendly rivalry rather than a show of wealth or a twisted expression of the concepts of entertainment and cultural practices. Parties were held then as they are now but their dimensions and levels have changed and so has the expenditure incurred on such occasions.

Caterers of all levels and varieties have a field time during the festival because hosts or groups that celebrate the festival by pooling resources want the food to be the best. Some conventional groups prefer typical local food such as pakoras, parathas of minced meat or potatoes or even halwa puri which is eaten in the early part of the day.

To be exact, basant has moved far beyond the means of the middle class or even groups that pretend to be in the upper bracket of the middle class. A one-night bash has a cost tag of a neat sum these days, even if the bill for activities other than flying kites is not included.

Ten or a dozen balls of string and about four dozen kite guddas or paris are worth around Rs30,000 to 50,000, depending on the quality of string and size of kites selected; as everyone wants the very best these days. Usually the high amount is spent by hosts who take the event to assert their means and position in the society. There can obviously be no limit to the expense.

New factors in basant getting transformed into an event of truly gigantic proportions are support by the government for the festival as well as commercial organizations, multinationals in particular, boarding the kite flying bandwagon with huge publicity budgets, hiring roof-tops of five star hotels and using the event for promoting their image and products. This has been instrumental in increasing the cost and setting an expensive pattern for celebrations.

Government officials exploit the event by supporting cultural activities, with political bigwigs trying to extract personal mileage, and, of course, for approving and spending budgets specially allocated for the promotion of culture.

Islamabad’s military, civil and political bureaucracy zestfully descends on Punjab’s capital in full strength and, needless to say, receives the pampered treatment it expects and wants. Special interest groups and individuals make sure that all the requirements and tastes of rulers from Islamabad are fully catered too. For them, it is business as usual, but in different and more helpful environments.

From a purely daytime affair basant has grown into a largely nocturnal event. Not that there are no kites in the skies during the day but it is at night that frenzied flying and partying begins in a big way. Another major change is participation of females in basant while in the past it was a purely male affair.

They haven’t just joined the party, they have added colour in a telling way with their female charms and fashions. It is an occasion for displaying specially designed clothes of shades of mustard and yellow colours that relate to the origin of the festival, the blooming of the mustard crop.

Over the years, Lahore has sprawled in all directions and almost all of its new residential colonies have been built on lands that were agricultural fields and many of them must have grown mustard too. The crop is obviously not to be seen in any area around the city now but the tradition of celebrating its blooming has persisted.

It is, however, a question if the women who wear mustard coloured dresses or men who support scarves of the same colour have any idea of the cultural and traditional connection they embody and represent. Chances are that all this is a fad for them only because this has become a component of the spirit of basant as it is celebrated these days.

Kite flying continues with it for the reason that the atmosphere is suited for flying them at this time of the year. The wind is smooth and facilitates flying and the weather is fine, with winter saying goodbye and summer still at a distance.