Friday, March 8, 2013

English Medium only

Basant in Lahore

This spring yellow kites were replaced by yellow balloons and a rush of language and pros that Lahore has long awaited. As the hub of cultural commotion for centuries, and the birthplace of many internationally recognized writers and poets like Bapsi Sidhwa, Mohsin Hamid, it is quite bizarre that such an event has never been held before. Literary Festivals have become the rage in South Asia since the Jaipur festival was established in India in 2005. Festivals have sprouted all over the region since.

The festival was held in Alhamra Arts Complex, and more than 30,000 people showed up for the various panel discussions that covered topics from literature, arts, and poetry to social issues and political dilemmas. Who would have thought a female Kathak dancer (Naheed Sidiqqui) would lure the audience with her elegant moves from an art lost in the Mughal era, in the middle of a terrorist-fest state? For the New York Times and other mainstream newspapers and journals a literary, artsy ambience propping up in Pakistan was odd, amusing and unforeseen. After all where do ‘books’ fit into the Mullah and Militant outlook that is seen.

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