September 15, 2005

Today, the larger and more colourful tents are used in most countries as pavilions to house exhibitions, fairs, performances, etc., and depending on the culture of the region, tents come in a variety of shapes and designs. These tents have become so advanced that a large number of countries in the West are now using specialized membrane design and patterning software to produce tents of virtually any shape and structure, writes Shanaz Ramzi

Tents are one of the oldest and most commonly used forms of portable accommodation used all over the world. Initially they were simple structures used only as an overhead covering by campers, hunters, warriors, gypsies and nomads. They have evolved into various decorative and elaborate forms over the ages and now serve a variety of purposes.

Today, the larger and more colourful tents are used in most countries as pavilions to house exhibitions, fairs, performances, etc., and depending on the culture of the region, tents come in a variety of shapes and designs. These tents have become so advanced that a large number of countries in the West are now using specialized membrane design and patterning software to produce tents of virtually any shape and structure.

However, traditionally, tents come in certain conventional shapes. They could be bell, umbrella, wedge or conical — to name just a few — and their trimmings and motifs also vary from region to region.

In our part of the world for instance, the traditional ceremonial tents known as shamianahs, are inspired by those existing in the Mughal era. According to Ain-e-Akbari, Mughal shamianahs took on many shapes but they were always made out of a square piece of cloth that did not exceed 12 metres.

In Pakistan, where it is customary to host family occasions involving a large number of people, tents are not just used to hold public functions but are also associated with gatherings of a more personal nature.

For instance, whether it is a celebratory event, such as a wedding, aqiqa or Bismillah, or conversely, one of mourning, such as a funeral, fateha-khwani and soyem, chances are that in Pakistan the number of expected guests is likely to far exceed the space available in one’s home to accommodate them.

As such, the next most convenient thing to do is to either erect a tent in one’s lawn, if it is available, so that guests can be seated there and there is protection for them from nature’s elements, or take over the street or lane, as the case may be, where one’s residence is located and set up a shamianah there.

There was, in fact, a time in the not too distant past when it was the norm for private functions to be held outside one’s residence, blocking the thoroughfare, regardless of the inconvenience caused to passers-by. The fact that community halls were few and far between, obviously did nothing to discourage the practice and people took to putting up shamianahs on roads as if it were their civil right. The undeniable advantage of holding events in this manner was not just the proximity to the host’s home but also the free use of space and even electricity, courtesy the kunda system.

Today, although the trend to hold private parties on streets, under the cover of large colourful shamianahs ensconced within kanaths still flourishes, it has definitely become restricted to certain areas of the city.

Defence Housing Society (DHA), for instance, with all its rules and regulations does not allow the blocking of its streets for public or private gatherings. Also, the proliferation of wedding halls over the years has to an extent at least, reduced the usurpation of streets for holding events such as wedding parties. Of late, the security factor has become yet another deterrent in holding road-side functions.

However, it is another story when it comes to the Friday prayers. Regardless of the frustration caused to commuters who are coerced into taking long-winded detours to reach their destinations, main roads are blocked without any qualms to hold Juma prayers, and shamianahs or canopies are erected on roadsides. In fact, even electricity is stolen in Ramazan to provide light for tarawih prayers conducted on main roads.

Be that as it may, shamianahs have undoubtedly become an integral part of our culture, notwithstanding the fact that they have undergone a metamorphosis of sorts over the years. Right up till the eighties, for instance, they came in loud colours such as reds, greens and royal blues. They were made of square pieces of cloth, each piece comprising of intricately hand-stitched smaller pieces of fabric attached together in patterns known as gul kari or phool kari (buds or flowers respectively). Jamawar and rilli work abounded in those days. Made basically in the Punjab, these pieces were stitched by women operating from their homes for contractors and although the pieces of cloth were hand-worked, they proved to be very cost effective.

Collectors would then make their rounds and retrieve the finished pieces before handing them over to tailors who would stitch them together into sheets and later into shamianahs, ready for use by the caterers.

Shamianahs come in a variety of sizes and can cover an area as small as 15 by 15 feet. They are basically installed on four poles but can be set up in such a way that as many extensions as required can be added on to the original shamianah. The phoolkari shamianahs remained popular right up till the eighties, after which they began to disappear and plain (single coloured) or printed shamianahs in different subtle colours came into vogue.

But it was nearly a decade ago, when the ball culture, and the desire to hold celebratory events in a different and creative manner that it became the talk of the town, brought about a change in the way large, elitist parties, particularly those associated with weddings were held — a trend that is still in practice.

Gone is the demand in this particular segment of society for the plain or printed shamianahs with garish colours. Instead, they prefer the sophisticated shamianahs, without any work on them and boasting one or two bold colours. A case in point is a checkered shamianah with black and silver on the sides, used nearly a decade ago by a caterer. Or alternately, people have now begun to opt for marquees, once patronized by the Arab population in Pakistan, or the top brass of the society.

Traditionally, marquees were made of heavy fabric such as canvas, and were very expensive and difficult to put up. They had to be set up five or six days ahead of time and cranes had to be used to pull them up. Anywhere between fifty to hundred people would be involved in this arduous procedure. The actual concept of a marquee is that it is made out of a single stitched piece, using very few poles in the centre and some on the sides, as opposed to poles at every 30 feet or so in shamianahs.

Although the marquees currently in use are different from the original ones as the fabric is considerably lighter, they do still prove to be expensive because often they are custom-made. High-end parties, even those that are part of wedding festivities, have become theme-based to a large extent, with the result that the traditional looking shamianahs are the first item of decor to be dispensed with, since they look incongruous with the theme. Instead, marquees are especially designed, keeping in mind the colour scheme of the occasion and the party theme.

Hence, today, marquees are available in a vast variety of sizes, colours and fabrics. Net marquees with curtains; fabrics ranging from jamawar to jacquard to velvet with glitter, crystals or diamantes in a mind-boggling variety of colours are available for the asking.

Although there is a common misconception that marquees can come only in certain sizes, their sizes actually vary greatly — from 45 by 45 to 270 by 270 metres (by joining marquees together) — in order to cater to a variety of plot sizes.

However, with marquees, safety is still a matter of concern, as they tend to be heavier than shamianahs. Waterproof marquees are even heavier for they are mostly made out of canvas (weighing roughly 16 ounces per square metres) and installed up to a height of 35 to 37 feet can prove to be very dangerous.

In fact, waterproof marquees are only recommended for smaller gatherings, as they are stretched over such a great height. The humongous tents can be very risky in rain-storms. What’s more, since so many people are packed inside, they can get quite suffocating, especially with large crowds.

But, the good news is that both marquees and shamianahs can now be equipped with air-conditioners if the client so desires, so that even a tightly closed marquee or shamianah installed in peak summer months need not necessarily mean that the guests will rot with the heat and suffocation.

Similarly, in cities like Lahore and Islamabad where the humidity level is high, room coolers can be used with marquees or shamianahs. There is no doubt that the tent making, be it shamianahs or marquees has now transformed into an industry. Their volume has increased phenomenally, for where weddings and other events would once have had 200 to 500 invitees at the maximum, it is not unusual for the numbers to now exceed 1000.

Weddings alone now have six to seven functions linked to them — milad, dholkis, mayun, mehndi, nikkah, reception and valima and it is no longer feasible to depend on womenfolk operating from their homes for the production of these massive numbers.

Also, with such varied demands in the designs of these glorified tents, a high level of professionalism has to be involved in the creation of these structures. A whole new industry has now come into being.

Winter camp in Lahore

Holding a festive function inside a shamianah has its own romance. There was a time when weddings, read mehndis, could be held erecting a tent on the lawn, in the open space next to your house, or on the street, where you could get away with blocking the way. Not anymore. Air conditioned environment has made shamianahs a wintry thing in Lahore for the most part, with only the few richy-rich opting for an AC-fitted shamianah in the middle of summer’s heat.

Unlike Karachi, the weather in Punjab and the Frontier does not take too kindly to tented festivities. An odd, roadside book fair or Sunday Bazaars, aside, the hot season from May to August, especially, is not a time to party under a tent. The heat and humidity can be very oppressive even in September, so the party-poopers chill it out indoors. During the monsoon season, if it’s not humid, then it’s pouring: hardly a time for tents.

As for the majority out there who don’t have the luxury of air conditioned indoor environment, they wait for better days ahead before throwing a bash. The remaining few who must put up a tent for one reason or the other, do so because they are out of a choice. Pedestal fans are the minimum of the must-have accessories of the tent paraphernalia.

Shamianahs start reappearing in real earnest around October, which is also when the wedding season kicks in. The best weddings — of the rich and famous variety — are held in the thick fog of December. Many will go out of their way to insist on tying the knot only in that season. This is when affluent neighbourhoods flaunt the choicest of tents.

For the last few years, the craze is on for the huge, round, all white, parachute tents. These are enclosed on the sides with an extension of the tent itself, and not walls of old-fashioned qanats. Inside hangs a huge crystal chandelier, invariably, and you have the fanciest of hand woven rugs for a floor. A thick plastic or fibre glass sheet is laid in a corner over a matting to serve as a dance floor, and huge charcoal-filled heaters, the size of a dish antenna, are a must to keep warm.

Another similarly cozy tent usually accompanies the main one where food is served. This is a typical wedding or a party scene on a cold, foggy December night in Lahore’s upscale suburbs that now stretch miles out into what is otherwise wilderness. The so-called best and the most elaborate tented bashes, New Year’s, for instance, are held in what are fashionably called farm houses, a euphemism for super luxurious suburban living that’s the farthest thing from a farm. And the tents swing and rock right till the break of dawn. Lahoris, who can foot the bill, just can’t wait for winter camping. — Murtaza Razvi

A road blocked

Nothing is more exasperating than finding your road blocked with shamianahs. You’ve had a hectic day at the office and you wish your car had wings so that you could reach your home in a jiffy — there are times when the madcap traffic just seems to overwhelm you. Braving the traffic, there’s nothing else you can do — and with the destination just a few blocks away you make a turn and smack, right in front of you is this shamianah blocking the way. You mutter a few non-communicable words under your breath and turn into the next lane and, horror of horrors, that is also covered with a bright, coloured shamianah. This actually does happen when the wedding season is at its height, if one feels that I’m exaggerating.

And its just not the wedding season that’s to be blamed for this barbaric cultural lapse — aqiqas, birthdays, chehlums and any other rites that need to be celebrated or performed, are done right on the roads on the less affluent areas mostly, due to lack of space as well as convenience, and here I might add due also to the non-availability of community halls.

These colourful pavilions not only make your life miserable, for after all lanes are for vehicles, they destroy the roads with the holes that are created by the huge iron pegs so mercilessly hammered in to support the poles. Once I asked a supervisor who was conducting the business of setting up a tent on a newly carpeted road, which incidentally for years had been filled with potholes, whether he didn’t feel any remorse in breaking it — his reply was — “everyone does it so why should I care.”

So is there any law that says that blocking of roads by shaminahs is illegal? If yes, then why isn’t it implemented? If no, then why isn’t one being made? Are we or are we not a civilized society? –– Khursheed Hyder

Looking to the future

Salim Sherali owns one of the oldest catering businesses in town. He is of the opinion that we have come a full circle and the adage ‘history repeats itself’ is likely to be proven true in the catering business as well. Says he, “We have reached the peak in experimenting with marquees. You name it and we’ve done it. I was the first one to design light-weight marquees, and made them out of especially printed muslin big flowers to give the effect of a French drawing-room. The top was in two layers, and to give the effect of a big hall, I had stretched the fabric from one end to the other. There were just four pillars in the centre. Fabric marquees became popular after that, but we had to be very careful with the installation.”

In fact, Sherali asserts that it was he who introduced the net marquees as well, making them initially out of sturdy net, much to the chagrin of his karigars, who insisted that it would be too light and would fly off in a strong wind. He says, “I had to ensure proper distribution of weight so that the net wouldn’t tear, and it worked beautifully. Next, I introduced two-fold light nets, one in the outer layer, and one in the inner, followed by single-fold nets, thus reducing their cost.”

Sherali has his own in-house facility complete with tailors and claims he has worked out such a system that his fabric is never wasted. Once he introduces a design he uses it quickly, at regular intervals before opening out the marquee to re-use the fabric. In this way he also manages to cater to a cross-section of the society by providing the elite classes with his latest designs, and later making them affordable to the other classes as well.“This way, all my customers are happy.”, says Sherali.

Sherali has big plans for the future, but is not willing to give away too much at this point. He evasively says, “I for one, am planning on bringing in something very different and creative to change the trend. I am thinking of reviving the ‘phool-kari’ shamianahs of yore. Obviously, they can no longer be hand-stitched as it would prove to be very expensive now, but history repeats itself, and it is time to revive our old designs in an innovative way.” –– S. R.

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