Annual festival: Colours of spring in the air
Students enjoy a timeout with kites, food and music.
ISLAMABAD:
To break away from the humdrum of routine, a spring festival was organised at the premises of the National University of Modern Languages on Friday.
As music blared, students from different colleges congregated in flying kites. With the sky full of colourful kites (one etched with images of Amir Khan and Aishwarya Rai could also be seen as many tried chasing after it), boys and girls stood in groups devouring some channa chat and gol gappas.
While some were engrossed in intense matches of kite flying, others browsed through an assortment of stalls. Scores of girls were seen looking at jewellery, dresses and decoration pieces at a stall jointly set-up by the embassies of Iran and Afghanistan. Each boasted of their own culture; while the former displayed traditional Mina Kari decoration pieces with plated gold and brass tea sets, the latter had pieces of Afghan jewellery with handmade and wooden crockery. “We want to familiarise people with the more subtle and softer side of our culture,” said an Afghan stallholder.
A few girls could be seen flying kites, with some help from their male counterparts; “stop pulling at the string, I can do it myself!” yelled one spirited girl to her friend as he kept trying to give her directions.
Some students burst in bhangra moves after a particularly good save on their kite pumped by the dhol beats, being played by a dholak band garbed in yellow. All in all, even amidst the immense crowd, youngsters were seen having a healthy retreat.
To break away from the humdrum of routine, a spring festival was organised at the premises of the National University of Modern Languages on Friday.
As music blared, students from different colleges congregated in flying kites. With the sky full of colourful kites (one etched with images of Amir Khan and Aishwarya Rai could also be seen as many tried chasing after it), boys and girls stood in groups devouring some channa chat and gol gappas.
While some were engrossed in intense matches of kite flying, others browsed through an assortment of stalls. Scores of girls were seen looking at jewellery, dresses and decoration pieces at a stall jointly set-up by the embassies of Iran and Afghanistan. Each boasted of their own culture; while the former displayed traditional Mina Kari decoration pieces with plated gold and brass tea sets, the latter had pieces of Afghan jewellery with handmade and wooden crockery. “We want to familiarise people with the more subtle and softer side of our culture,” said an Afghan stallholder.
A few girls could be seen flying kites, with some help from their male counterparts; “stop pulling at the string, I can do it myself!” yelled one spirited girl to her friend as he kept trying to give her directions.
Some students burst in bhangra moves after a particularly good save on their kite pumped by the dhol beats, being played by a dholak band garbed in yellow. All in all, even amidst the immense crowd, youngsters were seen having a healthy retreat.