Future musicians and thespians awarded diplomas at Napa’s convocation ceremony

Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah was the Chief Guest at the day-time event

The National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) convocation ceremony was held on Tuesday. Students from both Music and Theatre departments gathered along with their parents to receive diplomas.

The day-time event was attended by Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah, Provincial Minister of Sindh for Culture, Tourism and Antiquities Syed Sardar Ali Shah, Napa’s CEO Junaid Zuberi and President Emeritus Zia Mohyeddin.

Zuberi gave a brief introduction of Napa’s 18-year journey and how Mohyeddin manifested a dream into a reality. It was followed by Mohyeddin’s articulate speech on why he despises giving interviews on television and digital platforms, what constitutes culture, and how the phenomena gave birth to classism in society.

“In the last 75 years, there has been a great deal of argumentation about culture. Is culture the outcome of a whole way of life? Is culture simply the selected highlights of a society’s most intellectually and artistically enlightened citizens? Is it the best of a civilization? Or is it a conglomeration of desperate antagonistic forces which reflect on disintegration and decisiveness of a society at a given period of time like right now?” he asked while adding that cultures create worries about taste and choices and that inherently births classism.

Mohyeddin also spoke about the growing ignorance towards arts and culture and how society gives lesser importance to artists as compared to other professions. “There is no denying that we have talent in this country. I have always maintained that talent needs talent to blossom. We at Napa are trying to do our best for them to gain sufficient confidence and pride in their profession. But our societies still have a lingering suspicion that actors, and musicians too for that matter, do not have a proper job and therefore do not do any real work,” he said.

“We still regard an actor to be a vagabond and a wastrel. I am aware that our efforts can only bear fruit in a less intolerant society. I see no way out of the mediocrity which currently rules our perceptions and imaginations unless we give up making compromises. We are now living in a devastatingly tortuous period. I can offer you no words of wisdom that can mitigate the anguish we’re surrounded with. I can only hold on to my belief that work is life and there is no point in life other than work.”

Despite all the eloquence and poise, the event had its shortcomings. The dignitaries were separated by the families of the graduates not just by sofas and chairs respectively but by a massive fountain covered with a light arrangement that made it almost impossible for the families to see anything on stage. Students, seated in a hidden alley near the stage, couldn’t even hear the speeches at their own graduation.

Even without any fancy expectations, what’s a convocation without acknowledging the names of the graduates you’re awarding a diploma? Yes, the graduates silently walked the stage with no cheers or celebration of their time at the institution

Why was the event so mismanaged? The Express Tribune asked faculty member Sunil Shanker. “It is not mismanaged. It’s happening after five years and there’s a large group of people. If we had called names, then there would’ve been rounds of applause and cheers and that would add more time to the event,” Shanker told The Express Tribune

Hussain Raza, a vocalist who graduated from Napa in 2020, said that he had no expectations as such and was just glad that it happened. “My bar on this was very low. At least it happened, I’m glad about it. There were some discrepancies, there always are. Not calling out names to welcome graduates on stage is something that does not happen in any convocation. My mom called me when I was in line to ask if she missed mine and I told her I’m next. But well, at least it happened. I’ll take that.”

The families of graduates too had a bittersweet feeling about the entire experience. “We were expecting much more. There’s usually a perspective that you come to graduation, you see your loved one go on stage, take their degree and celebrate it then. But we didn’t even realise when the degree distribution started. We were waiting for my brother to come on stage, and we missed out on the moment we were waiting for so long,” said Rao’s sister, who was there to attend his brother’s graduation.

Concluding, the CM and the Minister for Culture remembered the tragic Peshawar mosque bombing and stated that violence and extremism in this country can be fought with arts and culture as they’re “tested weapons.” Speaking about how Sindh, the province of the Sufis, is culturally literate and holds an event every day, CM requested the Minister of Culture to present a cultural calendar, with locked dates, along with his budget so there’s awareness about the variety of ways Sindh celebrates its heritage. It was to imply that the more the youth is involved in arts and culture, the less intolerant the society would be.