Reviving lost
spirit
PUBLISHED: 'SUNDAY PLUS', THE NATION | March 29, 2009
S ROMAN AHSAN
reports on a poetry recital competition organized by LACAS conducted amongst the students of
educational institutions in Lahore
Give to me the life
I love,
Let the lave go by
me,
Give the jolly
heaven above
And the byway nigh
me.
Bed in the bush
with stars to see,
Bread I dip in the
river -
There's the life
for a man like me,
There's the life
for ever.
Let the blow fall
soon or late,
Let what will be
o'er me;
Give the face of
earth around
And the road before
me.
Wealth I seek not,
hope nor love,
Nor a friend to
know me;
All I seek, the
heaven above
And the road below
me.
Or let autumn fall
on me
Where afield I
linger,
Silencing the bird
on tree,
Biting the blue
finger.
White as meal the
frosty field -
Warm the fireside
haven -
Not to autumn will
I yield,
Not to winter even!
Let the blow fall
soon or late,
Let what will be
o'er me;
Give the face of
earth around,
And the road before
me.
Wealth I ask not,
hope nor love,
Nor a friend to
know me;
All I ask, the
heaven above
And the road below me.
[‘The Vagabond’ -
Robert Louis Stevenson]
The souls inside us
shrivel, but have not lost their colour yet. The spirit still soars high in the
midst of storm. We have not given up yet. We laugh in the most impossible of
circumstances. We delve deep for those rare merry moments and share them with
others. We desire to unearth the real meaning of life. Our inner beings look
continuously for new mediums of catharsis. We search for our identity lost in
the persistent air of chaos. Truth will ultimately reign supreme, we console
ourselves, but the winds we fly against are extremely severe. Nevertheless, our
trust in the beauty of truth is stronger than ever.
On March 24th,
2009, “The Sirajuddin Poetry Recitation Competition – 2009” was organized by
LACAS at HRCP Hall, Garden Town, Lahore. This event marked the 18th
anniversary of the competition which is held in the memory of two great
teachers of English Literature, Professor Sirajuddin and Professor Urmila
Sirajuddin. The theme of the competition was “You dart into the world, child of
our time”. Students from different academic institutions in Lahore participated
in this event and warmed the hearts of the audience with their beautiful
recitations of poems. The poems recited by the contestants had been written by
different poets, classic as well as cotemporary. As a rule, every participant
had to recite their piece within the time-limit of three minutes after which
their marks would be deducted. The participants were from Kinnaird College,
different branches of Lahore Grammar School (LGS), Beaconhouse School System,
LACAS, Punjab University and Government College University. A very nice drawing
of “Winnie The Pooh” decorated the stage reminding one of the times when life
offered relative peace and harmony.
A presenter started
the event by paying tribute to Professor Sirajuddin and Professor Urmila
Sirajuddin. She said, “Professor Sirajuddin never took roll-call, but his class
was jam-packed by not only students of Literature, but many others who had
heard of the magic and magnetism of the Professor’s lectures. In contrast, was
another teacher of English Literature whose students would attend to make sure
they were marked present, but would slip out while the professor went droning
out! Amongst one of Professor Sirajuddin’s most brilliant students was Urmila,
later to become Urmila Sirajuddin. She had an aura of grace and compassion
which drew others to her and made her a role model for the students of her
time. More importantly, she will be remembered for her intellectual integrity
and passionate love of literature that inspired generations of students.”
The poems had
different themes and some of them reflected the frustrations and the crises
faced in the present times while others delightfully centred on light themes
cheering up the audience. Some of the titles of recited poems were “Crow and
Mama”, “The Bridge”, “New Force”, “Tiger” by William Blake, “Second Coming”,
“Benign Blizzard”, “Forgotten Child”, “Barley”, “Little Red Riding Hood and the
wolf”, “I see your face”, “Transformation” and others. “I see your face” by a
student of LGS, sifted lessons of melancholy while highlighting an aura of
innocence. In “Forgotten Child”, the message of atrocities committed in wars
was aptly conveyed, where a child whose mother is killed by a missile attack is
being addressed. Then the selection of “Second Coming” about the descent of the
final saviour to liberate the world from persistent turmoil was pertinent
indeed, yet failed to grab real interest. A poem “Transformation” recited by a
Punjab University student centred on an individual’s transition from worldly
obsession to devotion and faith. Faqeer Syed from LACAS rendered a very
impressive recitation of a sonnet based on a comical version of “Little Red
Riding Hood” in which the girl shoots down the wolf in the end. His narration
combined with a smooth delivery and crisp voice won the hearts of the audience.
After the
competition ended, there was some delay in the declaration of results by the
judges, and some senior members of the audience also recited some poems adding
colours to the evening. A teacher even ‘sang’ a poem rather than plain
recitation which was much applauded by the audience. The judge commented in the
end that the recitations this year were better compared to the previous year.
He said that people were reading better instead of being melodramatic, but
there was need to work on the pace and tempo. He opined that the readers
started off sluggishly, suddenly relaxing in the middle and this was the case with
all contestants from the bottom to the top. He said that the readers gave too
much pauses and there were pauses between the lines themselves. Mohammad Saleh
from LGS Johar Town won first prize, Hussain Azam Butt from Punjab University
was the runner-up while Faqeer Syed from LACAS got the third prize.
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