When arts and literature mix with one’s blood

According to KLF 2014's website, 'Navid Shahzad is known as an actor, poet, journalist and television pioneer.'

KARACHI: “I never thought of myself as wise or someone who could give advices to people.” This is how Navid Shahzad started talking at the session called ‘In conversation with Navid Shahzad’. The session was moderated by Sarmad Khoosat.

According to the Karachi Literature Festival 2014's website, "Shahzad is known as an actor, poet, journalist and television pioneer. Having taught English literature at the Punjab University, she was head of Pakistan’s school of Fashion Design for five years. She has also served as Dean, school of Liberal Arts, at the Beaconhouse National University, Lahore. She owns a company called Theatrewalley regularly produces dramatic performances; the latest being a performance of an Urdu translation of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew performed at the Globe Theatre, London, in 2012. Currently, she is the Academic Advisor at Lahore Grammar School (LGS). In 2003, she was awarded the President’s Pride of Performance for her contribution to literature and the arts in Pakistan."

For the multitalented lady, it is difficult to draw lines between acting and teaching. She is the daughter of  the late Justice S.A.Rehman, who also served as Chief Justice of Pakistan. Shahzad proudly spoke of her father as a ‘liberal’ man who allowed her to engage herself with the theatre. “But I realised very shortly that I couldn’t continue that as a career,” she shared with the audience. “I looked at the next best thing. So I brought my passion into the four walled classroom. And that is how I started teaching.”

“One day, somebody asked me itne wadday judge di beti or wo ustaani he, wo bhi English literature di? [Being the daughter of a very famous judge, you become a teacher, of English Literature?],” Shahzad explained imitating the expressions with disgust and the audience laughed.

“I have been teaching now for half a century, so I can be thought of as a dinosaur- not extinct though,” she spoke and the audience laughed. Shahzad started teaching post-graduate level students, “my students were older than I was.”

Calling herself fortunate, Shahzad revealed that she started teaching Shakespeare [in literature] at a very early age. She was the youngest teacher, aged 21, to be inducted in Punjab University. “Don’t you dare calculate my age now,” she said to the audience and sounds of laughter filled the hall.

“I had students coming in from Chak Jhumra [near Faisalabad] who wore no socks in their shoes. I was teaching them Shakespeare,” she spoke while going down her memory lane. “Aik din dimagh ki batti roshan hogayi [one day, the brain started working].” She was explaining Shakespeare’s famous Hamlet to her class one-day, she remembered. “One of the boys in the class stayed silent throughout. And after a while, he raised his hand and stood up.” That boy, in a nutshell, asked her what was so different about Hamlet because all that the story said, it was happening in his village and it was nothing new. It was that day when she found the key to teach Shakespeare’s writings in the sub-continent. “In a patriarchal society like ours, where daughters are pushed into relationships and they are confused young women who are scared.” The lady explained that the sub-continent has always had Shakespeare in it, with romance, violence and vengeance that the society is made up of.

And then there was a shift to her experience with theatre. “Theatre is my first love, apart from my husband. There is nothing like feeling the pulse of the audience and getting the reactions right there!”

Shahzad told the audience about her experience when working with Shoaib Hashmi, a veteran playwright, actor and professor. “He had a stroke three years ago, and he cannot speak today. He spent his entire life working with words. I owe a huge debt to Hashmi,” the audience applauded after her statement.”

In ZA Bhutto’s era, a lot of plays and dramas were recorded, she shared. “I didn’t want to be stereotyped. I wanted to play different characters.”

During the session, Shahzad recited poems written by her, in English, Punjabi and Urdu. The moment she would start reciting, the audience would say ‘irshaad’, and when the poem would reach an interesting point, the audience would say ‘wah wah, kia baat hai’. In the words of Khoosat, “your poetry draws a picture in the minds of listeners.”

She praised the Sindh Festival and presented a salute to it. “I am happy that literature festivals take place. Culture festivals like Sindh Festival should also take place.”

The session ended with the following words of Khoosat: “Shahzad has this hypnotic effect on her audience- nobody wants to talk when she is talking.”