BASANT ON TEMPLE ROAD
By Nauman Mufti
Punjab University announced the results of first professional exams. All my friends including myself had passed. Now it was time to celebrate!
Arif Agha, Aquil Haider, Tajummul, Shahid Bashir, Afzal Saeed and others had all thrown wonderful parties at their homes. I wanted to do something too, but my family was in Karachi and cooking a feast by myself was out of the question.
I was living at my ancestral home on Temple Road. The two storey house was at edge of the street very close to Mozang Chungi and Abid Market. From its rooftop I could see Butt Jewelers across the street and the signboards for Shezan Bakery and numerous electronics and home appliances stores. One day at the start of February I took the stairs to the rooftop and looked skywards, I saw kites everywhere. Basant was only a week or so away. It was there I had an idea. Why not invite my friends on Basant to a rooftop party. There was one problem however. What could I do for food? I considered getting some snacks from Shezan but that did not seem right. I mentioned my dilemma to my aunt who readily offered to cook for us. Gratefully, I accepted and the party was on!
In addition to my friends mentioned above, I invited my friends from the hostel including Qayyum, Sadiq Zia, Talha, Mateen and others. I think Aamir Ali came as well.
Besides kites, we had a small cassette player and some empty tin cans. Kites of all sizes and colors filled the sky. I forget who among us was a better kite flyer. Therefore, whoever wants to claim their expertise kite flying please go right ahead. Whenever someone from our roof cut a kite, we screamed ‘Bo Kata’ at the top of our lungs. Our neighbors on their roof tops were much better equipped with powerful stereosystems with massive speakers, but they were no match for our full-throated vocals supplemented by drumming of the empty tin cans.
We stayed up until sunlight was replaced by reddish hue of the sunset and thus ended an afternoon to remember.
Hi Nauman
ReplyDeleteBasant celebration on roof top of your home was very exciting and different also. We have enjoyed many delicious treats as our Lahori friends arranged home cooked food for us and it was a blessing for us hostelites as home food has its own taste. I still remeber the party at Aqeel Haider home in Saman Abad and Shahid Basheer's house in GOR. Munno Bhai also had thrown a fabulous treat. These were really wonderful days especially for us from hostels like Sadik, Mateen and Talha including me. You know the first professional result was more relief for me than anyone else in our circle thanks to wrong information given by a Physio demonstrator. If you remeber, few days before the result was announced, Madam Physiology was having the result in her office. Everybody was curious to know. I was told that I have failed in Physiology. Oh my God, it was a shocking news and after that I spent 2 days in hiding in my New Hostel Room. But when the result was announced, I have passed. We could not believe it and Afzal Saeed offered me to go to Punjab university to check. We bribed a clerck there and iI have passed. We just danced with joy in the lawns of Old Campus.
Sorry I went away from Basant. You know who was the best "PATANG BAAZ". It was Munno Bhai, I mean Afzal Saeed. In the process of Patang Bazi, he also got his fingers injured but the treat of Parathas cooked by your Aunty made her forget the fingers. It was a memorable day of my life as after that we never celebrated basant.
Qayyum
TALHA REMEMBERS POST EXAM CELEBRATIONS
ReplyDeleteHello dear friends;
I remember the post-exam party at Arif Agha’s place. The food was delicious and then there was a competition who can eat the most. In the end only Arif Agha and Aamir Ali were left and probably it was Aamir Ali who won.
Talha