IT was a week that started with an eye-catching cultural event. On Jan 15, 1974 this newspaper reported that the day before a Kazakhstani troupe called Gulder made its debut in Karachi with their vibrant performance. Apart from a large variety of items — 27 in total — presented in 90 minutes by 42 dancers, singers and instrumentalists, the thing that garnered more attention was the similarity between the Kazakhstani folklore and the ones found in northern areas of Pakistan. For example, the fur caps worn in Hunza, colourful frocks, Indus valley jewelry, and the dombra that resembled the do-tara and rabab… reflected the links which existed centuries back between Central Asia and our part of the subcontinent. The group also performed songs and dances of other regions such as Poland, Malaysia and Burma.

One more programme related to that part of the world caught the media’s attention the same day. An exhibition of Russian books opened at the University of Karachi’s library. The books were mostly about science and technology. Speaking on the occasion, Vice-Chancellor of the university, Mahmud Husain, who inaugurated the show, said a scientist would remain ill-equipped if he was ignorant about the developments and advances achieved in the field of science by the Soviet. He thanked the Soviet Union for selecting Karachi University as the venue for the five-day exhibition.

And on Jan 19, an exhibition of paintings by Yasmeen Khan and Shireen Siddique opened at St Joseph’s Convent School. Other than figurative studies, the two young artists through their 40 artworks had depicted day-to-day life and landscapes of the region. The display was an annual feature of the school held for the students after completing a three-year diploma course in fine arts.

Another kind of creativity was rewarded on Jan 18 when Prime Minister Z A Bhutto gave a carpenter named Noor Ahmed Rs2,000 for presenting him with a table. The cash was handed to him in appreciation of his ‘excellent woodwork’. Mr Bhutto also gave instructions that Mr Ahmed be given a piece of land measuring 1,000sq-yds and a loan worth Rs80,000 for setting up a factory in F B Area.

By the way, winter had set in, that time of year when weather becomes chilly. But, unfortunately, on Jan 17, the media warned that mosquitoes in the city had made citizens’ lives miserable as almost all the localities had been affected by them.

The next day, it came to light that the incidence of malaria had registered one hundred per cent increase in the Sindh capital during the winter season due to unhampered breeding of mosquitoes. The investigations regarding the prevalence of the illness from seven sections of the outpatient department of Civil and Jinnah hospitals revealed that every third patient with fever brought to the hospitals showed symptoms of malaria. At least 1,000 positive cases were detected and treated in the last six weeks while the number of patients treated at municipal and private dispensaries and clinics in that time period could not be ascertained. Most of the suspected cases were referred to the Malaria Detection Posts set up by the Malaria Eradication Board at the main hospitals.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2024