"Reviving Lost Spirit" - by Roman Ahsan

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 24^th, 2009, “The Sirajuddin Poetry Recitation Competition – 2009” was organized by LACAS at HRCP Hall, Garden Town, Lahore. This event marked the 18^th 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.