ISLAMABAD: Artisans and vendors set up stalls on the second day of the Lok Virsa Youth Cultural Mela on Saturday, which also included dances, dhol performances, cultural pavilions, traditional food and a musical night.

The three-day festival is being hosted by the Ministry of Information Technology in collaboration with Lok Virsa and the Sindh Cultural Department in order to raise awareness among the youth about the cultural heritage of Pakistan.

The Sindh Culture Department had set up a cultural pavilion, which offered traditional music, dances and handicrafts as well as artisans at work.

One corner of the pavilion was decorated with a traditional mat and a charkha on which a woman dressed in traditional Sindhi clothes and shawl and wearing bangles sat weaving thread.

The process of weaving thread was very interesting for children, most of whom were seeing it for the first time. Ten-year-old Ibrahim Zafar sat next to the charkha and seemed very interested in the process.

“I like this machine and I will tell my friends about it as well,” he said.

A woman from Tharparkar, Jaitho has been weaving thread and making clothe and blankets for years on the charkha. She could not speak or understand Urdu and her uncle translated for her when she spoke to Dawn.

She said she is a mother of five and that she sends her children to school and provides for them with her work from weaving thread, from which she earns about Rs100 per day.

Sohail Khan, who hails from Swat had set up a stall outside the Sindh pavilion where he was weaving the famous Swati shawls. He said he is happy to be part of the mela as it is off-season in Swat.

“They are paying me one Rs1,000 per day plus food, accommodation and transport. Off-season in our area is a nightmare for artists like me,” he said.

The Sindhi Musical Night was held in the Open Air Theatre. The singers who performed included Tufail Sanjrani, Jinsar Samo, Akbar Khamiso, Farzana Bahar, Bhagchand Lakhani, Dilbar Jalal Chandio, Nirodha and many others.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2018