Karachi celebrates culture and heritage
By Shanaz Ramzi
In recent years, Pakistan’s most vibrant and alive city, Karachi, had been so ravaged by strife and riots that Karachiites had forgotten what it was to move about freely without fearing for one’s life. Social and cultural events had come almost to a standstill, with only pockets of activities taking place in exclusive surroundings, restricted to the enjoyment of a select few. With the objective of once again infusing life into the city and empowering it socially, culturally and economically, a group of professionals got together under the banner of KaravanKarachi two years ago and spearheaded a number of cultural activities. With most events held in the open on the streets and as accessible to the general public as to the elite, KaravanKarachi went a long way in bringing a semblance of normalcy into the lives of beleaguered Karachiites.
Last year, with the broader perspective of trying to promote peace in the city and cohesion in the province KaravanKarachi began working under the motto of ‘My Karachi; City of Quaid, City of Peace’ and launched its first event for this year – a mega sea carnival parade the likes of which has never been witnessed by the city before. With thousands of people participating in the festival’s many activities and scores of people attending it, the one happy phenomenon that marked the occasion was the carefree atmosphere in which people from every strata of society mingled with one another, enjoying the day’s festivities.
The other unique aspect of the event was that although it was masterminded by a handful of organisers, people from across the spectrum of Karachi’s citizens adopted it with the same spirit and gusto. Be it academe, representatives of commerce and industry or the public sector, all pitched in to make the carnival a resounding success. It was probably for the first time in Pakistan’s history that various government departments, districts of Sindh and the towns of Karachi joined hands with ordinary citizens to ensure that the event becomes a memorable one.
And an unforgettable event it undoubtedly was, with something to suit everyone’s tastes. With one of Karachi’s beautiful beaches forming the backdrop to the parade, it was for the first time that an event of such magnitude had been arranged on the beachfront, blocking traffic along a good portion of its length and allowing pedestrians a field day on the main thoroughfare.
As a preliminary to the main event, more than 3500 school children representing over 300 government, private and special schools had painted murals on canvas on the theme ‘My Karachi’. Placed together, the mega mural, extending over a kilometer in length, was stretched along the seaside wall at Beach Avenue (popularly known as Sea View) the venue for the carnival. Welcoming all visitors, the mural was the first project of its kind to be undertaken on such a grand scale by schoolchildren in any city of Pakistan and artistically portrayed the youngsters’ vision of their city.
Among the major attractions on offer were the 150 or so stalls that lined the two-kilometer stretch of service road overlooking the Sea View apartments, offering a wide array of food, handicrafts, games and commercial products. Many government departments had also taken the opportunity to set up stalls highlighting their achievements and progress and publicizing the facilities offered by them. The most popular of the stalls, though were the ones from the various districts of Sindh –such as Khairpur, Nawabshah, Sanghar, Shikarpur, Badin, Naushero Feroz, Thatta, Mirpurkhas and Sukkur -- displaying and selling their quaint indigenous crafts and products.
In order to ensure that there was never a dull moment, no matter which part of the strip one was at, six stages had been set up at intervals between stalls with different performances taking place on them. In fact, most stages had two different sets of performances, so that in the earlier part of the day, for the benefit of children attending the carnival particularly, there were performances by school kids, and later in the evening pop groups entertained the crowds.
In keeping with the spirit of imbibing pride in our roots, each stage had been named after an old part of the city. Manora featured private school performances followed by presentations of visiting artists from various districts; Manghopir hosted special school performances followed by street theatre; Keamari had government schools followed by pop groups; Mithadar witnessed martial arts followed by a muppets show; while Kolachi and Kharadar saw children from the audience airing their views on Pakistan and a puppet show respectively.
As soon as the chief guests of the occasion – the governor of Sindh, Ishrat-ul-Ebad and chief minister Sindh, Ali Muhammed Maher – arrived, they were accompanied by Yasmeen Lari, chairperson of KaravanKarachi, on a horse-carriage for a tour of the mural, stages and stalls. Hordes of surprised people gathered on either side of the buggy could be seen waving to them frantically for it is a rare sight in Karachi to see dignitaries at such close quarters. More accustomed to spotting them ensconced in cars with tinted windows, whizzing pass the general public, it was another treat to see them alighting onto the main stage, in full view from all sides.
The main stage had been erected on the opposite side of the strip, halfway down the length of the parade area with the beach as its backdrop. The formal proceedings of the evening, comprising tilawat, national anthem and three brief speeches, culminated with the release of pigeons to symbolize the desire for peace in the city. Then the much-awaited parade began. Led by the highly professional navy and Sindh police bands the colourful parade included various government, private and special school bands, ethnic dancers and musicians, police acrobats, sports cars and unique cultural and historical floats.
The floats were of course the most charming part of the parade leaving the audiences completely enthralled. To begin with, the floral floats by the garden department of the city district government -- with a little girl cocooned within one of its massive flower arrangements -- were an instant hit with the public. Also fascinating were the 1936 fire engine and the KMC building model made of solid teak, both provided by the city district government.
Among the cultural floats the ones brought by the various towns of Karachi and districts of Sindh with folk artists and artisans on board, proved to be highly popular. The floats that immediately come to mind are that of Mirpurkhas, with snake charmers displaying their skills and performing the traditional ‘sapera’ dance led by dancers in peacock costumes, and the Lyari Township floats with their ever-lithe young and old dancing gracefully. Khairpur’s floats decorated with historic buildings, brought to life by folk dancers were also very appreciated.
The KaravanKarachi float decorated with props of heritage buildings, and that of Government Boys’ Secondary School projecting a fire station with children looking out its various windows, received much applause. Just as fascinating were the police acrobatic motorcyclists and the demo of Rahnuma 915 by the traffic police. Bringing up the rear of the parade, the traffic police on motorbikes marked the signal for the next item on the agenda – the impressive commando demonstration by the anti-terrorist training center, Razzakabad. With containers stacked to a height of 50ft to give the semblance of a building, the commandos enacted a mock display of a hostage rescue operation from a multi-story building specially constructed for the event, after receiving a call from Madadgar – 15.
Hardly had the crowds finished cheering the commandoes as they made their descent from the building with hostages clinging on to their necks that the next item of entertainment commenced on the beach. Again organized by the Sindh police, the multitudes witnessed a rare presentation of martial art skills, armed motorcycle patrolling and the Madadgar 15 shooting.
As a finale to the festival, there was a magnificent display of fireworks courtesy the Sindh police. One must admit that the carnival went a long way in building the image of the Sindh police, for it was for the first time that the public could relate to their activities. In fact, so touched were the hordes of people present by the efforts of the organizers to project all the positive work taking place in the province and provide clean, free and unadulterated entertainment for citizens hailing from every strata of society that some actually came up on the main stage to express their gratitude.
Both the governor and the chief minister expressed the desire to make the Karavan SeaKarnival Parade an annual feature so that people from all over Pakistan and abroad could visit Karachi during the festival month and join in the celebrations on a regular basis. One hopes that this carnival will mark the beginning of many such programmes in the city celebrating its multi-dimensional aspects. Who knows, if such events become the norm, Karachi may soon become a viable tourist destination.
Click on the link to watch the documentary on KaravanKarachi written and narrated by Shanaz Ramzi:
https://youtu.be/HPZkcMah_rQ
