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Lahore city echoes with shouts of 'Bo Kata'

Saeed Akhtar Baloch

Lahore: The whole city of Lahore was echoing throughout the day on Sunday with shouts of 'bo kata' amid beats of drums, dancing and singing, as the colourful Basant festivities, commencing a day earlier, reached the peak at mid-day and finally ended towards the evening.

The sky was covered with colourful kites being flown by all types of people irrespective of age and sex. Young girls in yellow (Basanti) dresses on roof-tops were singing and dancing on popular Pakistani and Indian tunes, while city roads and streets witnessed interesting scenes of kite 'looting' by juveniles.

Various functions were arranged in the city by the government and private organisations, which were attended by people from all walks of life, including politicians, diplomats and bureaucrats. Big city hotels, booked to capacity, had arranged a variety of functions, which were attended among others by famous stars of Lollywood.

PIA had arranged special flights to airlift passengers from Karachi and abroad. This time the number of overseas Pakistanis, who specially came to Lahore to attend the event, remained higher than the previous years. Pakistan Television Lahore Centre kept airing special songs and cultural programmes specially prepared for the occasion. The song 'Honi Guddi Tey Gudday di Mulaqaat Sajna' was highly appreciated by televiewers. Local newspapers also arranged programmes in various hotels and restuarants and other public places to mark the centuries-old festival.

The provincial government for the first time celebrated this event officially by holding a number of cultural events. The main attraction was the week-long 'Basant Fair' held at the Race Course Park by Punjab Horticulture and Parks Authority, where various contests of kite-flying, among a variety of cultural programmes including folk songs and dances, were highly appreciated by visitors.

A number of foreign tourists also witnessed the concluding ceremony of the Fair and appreciated the arrangements made by officials.

Another major attraction of the day was celebration of Basant in the ancient walled city and around it, where the festivities were at peak with kite-flying contests, drums beating and dancing. Special stalls of Kashmiri tea and traditional dishes were put up. Tycoons living in posh localities including Defence, Model Town, Garden Town, Iqbal Town etc arranged big parties at their houses. In such areas a number of jubilant youth were caught intoxicated, by the police. However, later the police released them.

Unusual hustle and bustle was also observed in and around the 'Red Light' area (Bhati Gate) in the evening, where drunkards were seen strolling around the locality. On Saturday-Sunday night, almost all the singing and dancing girls of the area spent a 'joyful Basant night' with their friends and fans. A number of people who went there to enjoy themselves with 'Mujra' were reportedly entertained free of cost.

Several diplomats from Islamabad had also rushed Lahore to attend the Basant-related functions in five-star hotels and other places in the provincial capital.

Meanwhile, ignoring the ban, the kite-flyers continued aerial firing, use of metallic wire as strings, and playing decks at top volume. A number of people were arrested for violating the ban. However, this time, due to strict measures adopted by Wapda officials, with the assistance of law enforcing agencies against metallic wire users, the incidents of power tripping remained comparatively low.

It may be recalled that the city administration had issued strict warnings to the kite-flyers, that anyone using metallic wires as strings, using loud speakers and playing decks would be arrested and punished under the law. The District Magistrate, Arif Nadeem, had banned ariel firing from roof-tops.