ISLAMABAD: The second day of the five day Post Graduate College for Women (PGCW) Rawalpindi open week, kicked off festivities through a colourful display of skits and a salad competition here on Wednesday.
A series of short Urdu skits were performed by various all-girls colleges of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, where the prerequisite was to perform from a selection of works by Mushtaq Yousafi, Ibn-e-Insha and Shafiqur Rehman. Each skit lasted anywhere from five and seven minutes, limited because of the number of colleges performing (16).
Though the comical skits, a mix of occasionally witty dialogue and slapstick comedy had most in stitches, many in the crowd also became targets of friendly taunts and jeering. When one actor asked another what would be on a calendar if the Taj Mahal had not been built (Ager Taj Mahal nab anta toh calendar pei tasveer kiss ki chapti?), an audience member proclaimed “[Bollywood actress] Ashwariya Rai ki”. But perhaps the strongest performance was by Khadija Omer College, Rawalpindi whose play was a not-so subtle jibe on the current political situation. A group of smart aleck students harass their teachers in a classroom setting by giving twisted answers to her questions. The political satire nature of the play was strengthened with witty dialogues and had the audience laughing, partly at the irony of the situation the play was representing.
Islamabad Model College for Girls, F-7/2 took home the first prize while Khadija Omer College and Bilquis Khanum College of Education, Rawalpindi took the second and third prizes respectively.
In tandem to the skits, a salad competition was in a separate block of the College where two student representatives from each college competed to present the most delicious salad complete with salad dressings and cutlery settings. The principal criterion was the taste; however, presentation and effective use of space were also contributing factors in the final decision. “We are completely unbiased and have cut marks for unnecessary presentation and improper usage of space”, stated Mona Mehmood, one of the judges. Russian salads, Oriental Salad and pineapple salads were among those presented to judges for tasting. Some had the foresight to include cocktails with their salads.
The open week will continue until March 3 where the college with the most number of trophies will be awarded a shield. Each day has been divided into various activities, which are then impartially judged by outside individuals invited for this purpose by the PGCW.
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