PAGB manages to stay afloat despite COVID-19 torrid 2020 currents
by Tahir Ali
Boston - 12/31/2020: It was on the 24th of June 2020 when the newly elected Board members took upon the reins of the Pakistan Association of Greater Boston (PAGB), with a clear directive from the PAGB election commission 2020 - "The PAGB was launched in 1990 and is now entering its fourth decade. Over these past thirty years the Association has done well to organize the social and cultural life of the Pakistani diaspora residing in the greater Boston communities. You are now entrusted with continuing this service." [Siraj Khan: President, Farzeen Fareed: Vice President, Nadia Rehman: General Secretary, Shehla Gull: Treasurer, Mohammad Shoaib Khan: Director of IT, Fozia Qamar: Director of Social Affairs, Tahir Ali: Director of Public Relations]
Parwez Wahid, leading the commission added, "The current state-of-emergency put restrictions on public gatherings which is a major function of the PAGB. This presents some immediate challenges on how to proceed in the months ahead until these restrictions are eased. The Director of Public Relations, Mr. Tahir Ali, has offered use of his Zoom account by which Board meetings can be conducted."
Meeting in person during the Covid-19 Pandemic was not possible, so virtual meetings took place in July. At its first PAGB Board meeting one of the main decisions that needed to be taken was knowing August 14 was just around the corner whether we just let it pass by or still celebrate it in some way. The Board, however, took the challenge and decided to celebrate the Pakistan Independence Day using the Zoom platform, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Following the resounding success of the 14th August event, Siraj Khan, the President and the PAGB team were encouraged to take on bigger challenges. Timing was such that the 30th Anniversary of PAGB was not too far and coincidentally so was the death anniversary of the legendary poet, Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Siraj decided to add a caveat and merged the two celebrations in one. Hence the idea for the event "PAGB's 30th with a tribute to Faiz" was born and the event date set for Friday November 20, 2020 to coincide with Faiz's 36th death anniversary. The event was titled 'Lab Azad HeiN'.
Siraj Khan welcomed the audience and Fozia Qamar started the event by and shared the fact how the Indian film actress Shabana Azmi respected Faiz and her video clip was shown singing the title song. The same was narrated especially for PAGB by the popular Pakistani movie actress Mehwish Hayat thus setting the stage for Heather Schmid, the Grammy Academy Member who exclusively rendered in her own melodious voice the same for this event. Salman Alvi from Karachi sang 'Aaj Bazaar meiN' along with 'Kuch Ishq kya kuch kaam kya'. Tina Sani introduced by Fareena Sultan sang her signature ghazal, 'Bahar Aayee' and 'Kuch pehle in ankhon.' Both Salman and Tina sent their personal messages to PAGB as well. Aslam Ali of Toronto, who is very well known in Boston and Canada was one of the first professional singers to perform in Boston when the Pakistan Association was emerging. Aslam rendered 'Dasht-e-Tanhayee' and 'Hum DekheiN Ge'. Rakhshanda Ahmed also from Toronto, offered 'Shaame firaq' in the first half. Shua Arshad of Boston sang, 'Aye kuch abr kuch sharab aye' and 'Aake wabasta heiN'. Faiz Ahmed is equally liked in the local Indian community. When Dr. Meena Sundaram, a cardiologist sang live on zoom, 'Aapki yad aati rahi raat bhar' and 'Yun saja chand' one could tell that she sings from the heart. One can easily ascertain that Faiz's poetry knew no borders. This became even more obvious, when the segment 'Faiz's contribution in cinema' was presented by Siraj Khan.
Faiz in Pakistan cinema: Anjum Taseer from Sweden spoke about Faiz's role in the film 'Jago Huwa Savera' where the song 'Ab Chorro Gham ki Baat' was picturized on a fisherman rowing his boat in the river. Najmi Masarrat of Dubai re-ignited 'Mujhse pehli se Mohabbat mere Mehboob na Maang' which was picturized on Shamim Ara in the film 'Qaidi'. Siraj Khan recited the opening lines of the poem 'Hum jo tareek rahoN meiN mare gaye' and the rest was shown as it was picturized on the big screen on Shamim Ara in the clip from the movie,'Farangi'. Followed by 'GuloN mein Rung Bhare' sung by Shoaib Khan, from the same movie . The song, 'Shaam huwi ghar aaja' picturized on Nayyar Sultana from the movie 'Sukh sa Sapna' was rendered by Najmi Masarrat from Dubai.
Siraj reflected upon on how Faiz is loved and embraced in Bollywood, even today. First Salman Alvi rendered, 'Raat yun dil meiN teri yaad ayee' which was followed by a film clip from film 'Janwar' where Shammi Kapoor [yes of Junglee fame] is on the big screen singing the same ghazal to his lady love. The film poster of the 2014 movie 'Haider' was shown with the title song 'Aaj ke Naam' playing in the background. Meesha and Dilip Acharya of San Francisco sang the ghazal 'kab yaad mein tera sath nahi' originally sung as a duet by composer Khayyam and his wife Jagjit Kaur in the Indian movie 'Anjuman', and from the Pakistani film Ghunghat, 'Mere piya ko dhoond ke lao sakhi' was nicely performed by Rakshanda Ahmed of Toronto, following an excellent presentation by Khwaja Irfan Anwar, son of Khwaja Khurshid Anwar, on his father's friendship with Faiz and their respective deaths within 20 days of each other.
On the literary front, Dr. Arfa Syeda Zehra spoke on Faiz and Urdu language, Faraz Ali from Dubai offered 'Zindaan Nama ki ek shaam' - Siraj likened Faraz style to Zia Moheddin. Tarannum Ahmed from Dubai recited, 'Raaz-e- Ulfat'. Maarij Kirmani of Cambridge recited 'Rafeeq-e-rah and shared a personal anecdote with Faiz, while Javed Zaidi of Boston recited his own poetic tribute on Faiz. Other local reciters included Farida Ahmed with 'Rung hai dil ka mere' and Kewan Khwaja on 'Khalq-e-Khuda ke Raaj' and former PAGB President, Dr. Malik Masood Khan with Faiz's 'Aaj ke Naam' and taking us back in time with pictures of Faiz when he was in Boston for an event with PAGB. Dr. Malik Khan embarked on a journey down memory lane, rekindling 30 years of PAGB with photos of past events. he also revealed that 'Hum DekheN ge' was actually completed by Faiz when he was in Boston in January 1979, which gained popularity when Iqbal Bano 'boldly' sang it during General Zia-ul-Haq regime.
Every event has its finale and Faiz event was no different, Moneeza Hashmi in a recorded message from Lahore, said, "first let me begin with thanking Pakistan Association of Boston for inviting me here today," and she was more thankful for marking PAGB occasion with Faiz death anniversary, and added: "Ab aap logoN ne hum logoN ke saath rishta jor liya." Moneeza, in her message went on to say that whereas some memories with her father do stand clearly in her mind, "some good and some not so good." Moneeza read out a few letters that she received from her father. In a letter she wrote, "mera boht jee cha raha hai ke mein aapki khoob khidmat karoon, pyar karoon" Moneeza read her father's response, ".. aur ye ehsaan chukane ki kya baqwaas hai hamara tumara ehsaan yahee hai ke pyar karte raheiN." Moneeza also recalled a moment when she was young and asked her incarcerated father to send her a doll on her birthday, but instead she got a letter on her birthday, which she read out. She admitted that she got very angry when she received a letter in place of a doll. She had realized over the years the value of the gift, the doll wouldn't have lasted that long, but the letter is immortal.
The virtual presence of Moneeza Hashmi in our event called for a surprise gift for her. I tapped on my contact assets and invited Mayor Joseph Petty. The Mayor presented Moneeza Hashmi the City's highest award [key-to-the-city] for promoting art and culture. On top of that the Mayor made her day when he read out a proclamation; 'Proclaiming November 20, 2020 as "Faiz Ahmed Faiz Day".
The program ended with a vote of thanks from each member of the Board led by the Vice President Farzeen Fareed. Sharing the center stage as emcees were also Shehla Gull, Nadia Rehman.
After the event Siraj arranged for an interview with Moneeza Hashmi and myself. Here are some excerpts of that conversation:
MH- Thank you for having me on the show. I am humbled and honored by Mayor Petty's 'KEY-To-The-City' award and especially proclaiming November 20, 2020 as Faiz Ahmed Day. The event was nicely done and presented. I am also learning more about my father. So much has been written about him, that I have discovered even more. People are sharing things about him that I didn't know. Why, just today I saw a photo of my father that I had never seen before. So, Aslam Ali is your brother he did well.
TA- It was nice of you to share some of his [Faiz's] personal letters that he wrote to you. That in my opinion was the highlight of our event.
MH- I believe that my father is loved and idolized by many, so we have to share him. We are in the process of publishing a book. In this book we will be sharing some more of the letters and personal anecdotes. A lot has been discussed and written on my father. But in this book, we will bring out different aspects of him. For example, he was a different father, an absentee father because of his "unexpected" travels. The book is expected to come out in 6 months.
TA - What do you want our readers to know about some of the work you do in promoting culture. How can PAGB and the Foundation work together.
MH- Basically we are promoting culture beyond my father, it's a much broader spectrum. We are trying to promote Pakistani culture so in the end Pakistan is benefitted. How can PAGB and the Faiz foundation work together: It's reciprocal. We will show your events here and you can show our events there in US.
TA - You shared with our audience your experience from a daughter and father point of view. We showed how Faiz's poetry inspired and is used in Bollywood. We started by showing a photo of Faiz and Dilip Kumar talking. Do you want to share any light on the meeting of two legendary giants? Afterall Dilip Kumar was and still is an icon in Bollywood.
MH- I was and still am a great fan of Dilip Kumar. When my father was going to Bombay, he asked me what would I want from Bombay, and my knee-jerk response was Dilip Kumars' autograph. And when he returned empty-handed, I was not happy especially knowing that he had met the superstar. His answer shocked me beyond belief, "Meri beta, meiN oosse kaisa maaNgta, woh to khud mera autograph maang raha tha.' Dilip Kumar really has a high regard for my father, and he is also highly regarded in our family. He visited us when he was in Pakistan.
Like father like daughter: I found Moneeza Hashmi very pleasant and a down-to-earth lady. It was a pleasure talking to her.
PAGB Events in Chronological order:
PAGB participates in the 'Live Telethon Pakistan' on ARY TV with Waseem Badami and Sohail Ahmed (Azizi) - Saturday, July 25, 2020
[ This was a star-studded event, featuring 50 participants ranging from an 8-year-old Alina Naqvi to 100-year-old Saffia Hassan, in the 90's Zainul Abedin and Aziz Sultan. Dignitaries included Ambassador Dr. Asad Khan, Barry Hoffman and Mayor Joe Petty. Young talents: Insia Razi, Iman Naqvi, Sheza Iqbal, Artist Ahad Fareed. Sitarists: Shazain Khan and Ikhlaq Hussain. Fencing Olympiads: Amina and Hamza. Performances were also given by the PAGB Board members and others - Shoaib Khan, Shua Arshad, Uzair Khan, Zafar Naqvi, Fauzia Sayeed, Tahir Ali, Nadia Rehman, Ghazala Alam, Javed Zaidi. [. Special guests included: Munawar Saeed and Neelofar Abbasi of PTV, Natasha Noorani and PIA Plane Crash Survivor: Zafar Masud. [ Fozia Qamar and Siraj Khan worked very hard and did a superb job as Emcees ]
PAGB revives 'Ayye Urdu Boliye' - September 7, 2020
PAGB and Moqah Foundation of Pakistan held a joint event on - Friday, September 11, 2020. -- https://youtu.be/
PAGB 30th anniversary and Tribute to Faiz Ahmed Faiz - Friday, November 20, 2020 -- https://youtu.be/
PAGB helped raise funds for the 'Umbulizer Covid-19 Ventilators' for Pakistan - Saturday, December 19, 2020 -- https://youtu.be/
Siraj Khan at the helm, Tahir Ali as the Zoom Navigator and with a fantastic PAGB Crew on deck were able to safely steer the PAGB vessel over turbulent waters and docked safely on the Island 2021 with the New Year Resolution to do more of the same and then some.
Respectfully submitted by Tahir Ali [Director PR, PAGB and author of the book 'The Muslim Vote Counts' published in USA by Wyndham Hall in 2004]
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