Fall festival: Meeting of minds and the spoken word

Opening day of the event features qirat, debate and sports competitions.

ISLAMABAD:

The three-day annual fixture “Fall Fest” kicked off at Preston University on Monday. The opening day of the festival incorporated sports, qirat and debates, where students of Preston and 13 other universities challenged their prowess in each category. The inter-university sports competition (comprising of cricket, badminton, table tennis and football tournaments) commenced and was declared open at the Islamabad Sports Complex, while back on the premises of Preston University, a qirat competition ensued where participants were required to recite the last three verses of Surah Hashr.

They were judged on the basis of content, pronunciation, presentation and oratory. The first position was won by Muzzamel Shah Hashmi, of International Islamic University. Second position was awarded to Hamid Younus of Preston University, Islamabad and Hafiz Tayyab of Preston University, Lahore got third position.

The last pocket of the competitions was the bilingual debates in Urdu and English. Participants had to convince their peers, teachers and guests why they are for or against the famous quote by Benjamin Franklin “well done is better than well said”.

Most students were supporting the quote and gave examples from history and their personal lives to drive their point home. Participant Attabatali Mashood, Preston University, spoke about the depreciating value of words without action citing examples of negligent parenting that he has seen in his surroundings. While Tehreem Gul Afridi of Women’s Institute of Science and Humanities Islamabad and third winner gave an array of examples of prominent figures such as Martin Luther King, Hazrat Ali (AS), Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Dr AQ Khan, Mother Teresa and Abdual Sattar Edhi.

In Urdu debate, Hamza Tarar of University of the Punjab, Lahore won the first position.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2011.