The Welcome Festival 2011 White Noise & Groovy Night 7th & 8th May, 2011 4 PM onwards 4 Mall, Lahore.
The Festive Shopper The Occasional Shopper Special Festival Edition
The Festival is Here! I
t’s finally that time of the year that every one waits for. After endless days of staying back in college around the clock, either for decorations or performances, the college is finally prepared for the festivities to begin. So to the first years we give a warm welcome to this tradition of NCA which the rest of the country envies. On exhibit are a variety of talented performances over the span of two days. Wait what? Did you say TWO DAYS? Damn right, finally after so many years of utter bad decorations/no decorations, confusion and chaos, the festival has returned to its original form! Not only do we not have to sit in the auditorium for one ridiculous length of time, but now we can enjoy all the activities during a more comfortable time of the day. More so we won’t have a police force of staff and faculty baton charging the students out of the college by 7 O’clock. So once the heat has done its job for the day and the temperature settles to something more negotiable, we can safely say that the true tradition of NCA festivals have been revived and THE FESTIVE SHOPPER is here to take you through it all. The Festival committee has worked tirelessly for making this a success to a loud round of applause for them and another one for all those performing and helping with backstage. LET THE FESTIVITIES BEGIN!
No more sweaty festivals
Societies in the Spotlight The Welcome Festival is an excellent opportunity to acquaint oneself with the many extracurricular societies that NCA has to offer. Here is a little introduction for them all, and we’d strongly advise you to watch out for the performances that follow Alif Adab: Literally meaning the abc of discipline, Alif Adab is all about sophistication. Unlike the director himself, the societ y focuses on the serious side of the theatrics. It was originally founded by Saji Gul, and has bagged a long list of accolades since then. The initial purpose was to focus on the works of eminent Urdu playwrights like Saadat Hasan Manto and others, but eventually they leaned in favor of original scripts. What makes Alif Adab different from other societies is their long standing record of success, in pulling off over the top performances. Under the directorship of Hashim Ali, this time Alif Adab intends to do ‘something that has not been brought to the table’. So let anticipation take toll and be prepared to be impressed by Alif Adab’s performance this year! Mime: Predictably, and perhaps justifiably, you’ve all imagined people with painted faces, dressed in white and black making pretend walls. Remarkably, NCA is the only college where mime features within a separate society. Established as Andrab Nexus ages ago, they also have a long list of best-this and best-that awards. No dialogue may be one of the reasons why many first years are eager to join them. Hey, half the act is in the bag! Also, while any other society comes with a crazed director yelling himself hoarse, Mime is directed by Anum Lasharie and they actually believe in being nice to each other. Good luck figuring them out! Skits: The certified funny people: the sole purpose of this society is to crack jokes at YOUR expense. So obviously, when we tried to interview them, not much sane conversation en-
Performance Schedule Day 1 1. Paper Dress Show 2. NT MIME 3. Slide show 4. Puppeteers 5. Nautanki 6. DJ Night
sued. The current director, Saad Ahmed, defines skits as craziness at its best. Skits is the only, exclusively college based society. While other societies work around scripts, Skits performs thirty seconds to one minute long skits based on teachers, students, issues or anything else related to NCA. They spare NONE! Not the principal, not the teachers. Heck, not even the guards! This usually leaves them at the receiving end of a long line of cold shoulders, and rarely at the receiving end of awards. Hence, ironically, the joke that’s supposed to be on you often turns on them. Dance: Yes, these are the people who’ve mastered those impossible acrobatic moves that none of us, ordinary mortals, can pull off. It was founded in 2004 under the directorship of Adnan Jehangir. The current director, Ahsan Fazal, fondly recalls his few years in the society and informs us that t h e y have a list
Day2 1. Alif Adab 2. The End Films (Wehshi Films) 3. Dance 4. Mime 5. Skits 6. Western
of awards under their belt. Dance society puts up a set of planned performances each year, in which, particular care is taken to allot equal share of the limelight to all members. N.T. MIME: Founded by Mansor (a.k.a mana) and Shiraz Malik. with Ali Jameel as its current director, N.T. Mime was a reaction against the rigid classical form of mime. Not to be confused with Mime, their movements are freer and more loosely constructed. The element of surprise is important in their performances and their commitment
is such that the director is reported to have sustained serious injuries while performing (Clearly, someone has a death wish). With the festival spanning over two days, they hope to make this performance memorable. Nautanki: Known for their particular brand of humor, Nautanki is currently under the directorship of Shahid. Their regular grueling workshops, come rain or hail, are a sight to see (or miss, depending on you) Nautanki truly believes in pushing the spirit of theatre to its limits. Apart from a few brave souls, Nautanki’s membership is clearly deficient in girls (perhaps due to their rigorous training schedules). But that has never stopped them from putting up outrageous dramatic comedies on stage, year after year. Puppeteers: Puppeteers put up performances that go beyond theatre and delve deeply into craft. Therefore, they are reputed for their elaborate backgrounds and impeccable production. This also entails a lot of hard work and one truly needs to be dedicated to be able to give it the time that it deserves. Under the directorship of Rameez Burki, puppeteers has informed us that it intends to ‘ambitious’ this year. We’ll leave you to wonder what that means. Fun fact: Puppeteers is also reputed to be funded most generously by the organization committee. Western Music: Under the directorship of Fawad, these hermits are stowed away in a room that screams shrine of music to the occasional visitor. Stacked with an assortment of musical instruments, this is the place where they play away without being funded at all! All for the love of music. Western Music received one award for their experimental fusion music performance in the year 2010. But off the record, this society has produced many famous musicians.
The Festive Shopper
Preparations
S
o amidst the entire racket, we must also remember to place some well deserved credit on the shoulders of those who made it all possible. A few days before the festival, The Occasional (Festive?) Shopper team sought these people out to gain an insight into the preparations involved. What is most exciting this time is that after years of minimizing the festival, the two day elaborate affair is back! And so while it’s expected to be twice as much fun, it’s got the organizational committee working round the clock since it also needs twice as much planning. The decoration team (headed by Sara Shahid, Waqas Pervez, Najeeb Jatoi and Ayaz Rasheed) has had a real challenge on its hands. On the cards is a play of fluorescent colors and controlled lighting in pitch black. The rest of the details, we will all just have to wait and see. The paper dress show put up by the First Years is back after its brief hiatus. It should be fun to see how far their imaginations stretch. The theme for the first day has been set to white, keeping in mind the weather and the fluorescent lights. The second day, however, is supposed to be hippie inspired. The organizers felt it important to clarify that it does NOT entail skipping your daily shower so you may just have to hold your horses. Zaheen Taji and Saima Noorani have masterfully overseen the entire event while Amna Rahim is the head of protocol. Suleman Mengal heads security, Ashab Zaman manages lights and sound while the duo, Huzefa Ali and Awais Azher will coordinate our very many socities.
The Team
Najeeb jatoi Decorations
Zaheen Taji Chief Organizer
Saima Noorani Chief Organizer
Ayaz Rasheed Decorations
Sarah Shahid Decorations
Ashab Zaman Lights & Sound
Huzefa Ali Society Coordinator
Waqas Pervez Decorations
Murtaza Abbas Decorations
‘Bloody’ First Years
I
am a ‘bloody’ First Year. I wake up each morning at the crack of dawn after pressing snooze nine times when the alarm initially rings. I whine about the 80 (read 800) insects that I had to draw a week ago. I have had my share of being called PVC (For the ignoramus, it stands for Poly Vinyl Chloride, a form of plastic). Do I sound cantankerous? I do, right? Wrong. I only state the facts with no emotions attached. Every day, at 6:50 am, I embark on a voyage. The giant yellow box comes roaring towards the bus stop. On one of these days, I reached my stop earlier than usual. Ecstatic about it, as anyone can be, I whiled away the time by flicking invisible particles off the car air conditioner vent. As soon as the box huffed and puffed to a halt, I realized that I had left my toolbox at home. And so began the run. From the car to the bus to Munir Bhai to the car to my house. I was convinced that he would keep his word and wait but alas, thirty seconds before I reached the stop, a friend called:“Kahan ho?” “A second away! Bus ko roko.” “He’s not stopping Aglay stop pay ao.” “WHY IS HE NOT STPING? JUST STOP HIM!” “He’s not stopping. Next stop.” “What’s the next stop?” “Ummmm. Board wala.” “Board!? Or defence mor?” “Board. Just come to the next stop.” Line goes dead. Meanwhile, my mother was driving at full speed, aimlessly overtaking cars and saying, “WHERE DO YOU WANT ME TO TAKE YOU!?” I shouted back and as we yelled and screeched, and hollered and bickered, a giant yellow box went rattling by. Now imagine it in slow motion. Bus crawling by... My eyes popping out... Violent gesticulation... “Therrrrreee ittt issssss”, complete with a change of voice. The car swerved towards the right, my mother pressed the accelerator a little too generously, we overtook the bus and screeched to a halt. Silly inertia. I grabbed my things, waved my arms wildly and hurried up to the door. Finally, the chase was over. Wait. That was not Rafique Chacha. The girls did not look familiar either. Confused girls, hijab clad girls, girls with nose pins, girls picking their noses, and girls looking at me with disgust. I leaned over and took a good long look at the painted words “GC UNIVERSITY”. This was not my bus. I smiled sheepishly at the driver and said, “Umm, aap
Seher Saeed Food
jaein.” What’s more is that when I looked towards the left, I could see that my car was almost gone. I kept walking in hope that it would stop. I was out of credit and couldn’t call anyone. A few seconds later, my mother probably glanced at the rearview mirror and stopped immediately. She had seen me! I was ten steps away from the car when a giant yellow box went roaring by. Long story cut short, I triumphed in the end. Munir Bhai only chuckled and said, “Koi nahi, bibi.” when he heard my story and after five minutes of dangerous, deadly anger, I burst out laughing. It is not every day that you run after a bus on the road. However, I do witness some things every day: people doing last minute homework every morning, phrases like “Give me one zebra and two elephants” and people drawing shoes that don’t look like shoes, and hands that look more like feet. Talking about feet, I must introduce you to The Feet. Many a times have I squirmed for two hours in the auditorium. The person beside me, on the right, is nodding in his painful state of semi-sleep while the person on my left is making hearts and writing lyrics all over the page. I am guessing it’s Taylor Swift. I squirm uncomfortably. A few people are chewing away on their pens, and some are brave enough to try gnawing at bottle caps (Gnawing, scrutinizing the bite and gnawing again, in that specific order). I lean back and try to make myself comfortable but something soft brushes against my back. To my dismay, they are two pairs of feet. Through the tangle of legs, clothes and shoes, I realize that they belong to two people sitting right behind me. Thinking that it would be rude to tell them not to encroach on my territory, I stare at the feet hoping that they would shrivel up and slither away, but to no avail. I try glaring at the proud owners of the feet, but they fail to see me. Then I try fidgeting non-stop, moving forwards, then sideways, looking at the feet, pushing them by leaning against them. It is a futile attempt. I am dejected. For many days to come, I meet different kinds of species. Hairy feet, huge feet, tiny feet with long nails, feet with toes that will not stop wiggling and feet with nail polish chipping off. Sometimes a single foot is thrust casually forward. At other instances, I realize that a foot, or feet, gender unknown, is looming nearby for I get whiffs of a famil-
Aamna Rahim Protocol
Suleman Mengel Security
iar pungent smell every now and then. Holding my breath, I look towards the heavens. Oh dear God, what did I do to deserve this? My attention is diverted temporarily when I hear people at the back, trying to sound funny, “Ooo ooo oo aa aa, moooooooo, meowww”. The teacher looks up, feigns a smile and says, “Please don’t insult animals. They are such beautiful creatures.” Next, a comparatively normal class is disrupted by George of the Jungle wearing a loin cloth and a dirty wig. Multani dressed up as a voluptuous Veena Malik also stands out. He is wearing a sleeveless skimpy top. These are two of the few first years proving how dedicated they are to Alif Adaab. The class is almost over, but before anyone can escape, Mrs. Malhi makes a sweeping entrance. With a stack of stapled papers in her hand, she says, “Roll Number 123, Roll number 45, Roll number 7, lagta hai aap ko college say bahir nikalnay ka bohot shauk hai. You have been failing and missing classes repeatedly. Roll number 89, Roll number 140, 76, 10, 72, you all should start packing your bags, you missed seven weeks of college.” The list goes on. Numbers upon numbers rain down. I can see people holding their breaths, going red in the face, but soon the court trial is over. Simultaneous exhaling follows and the class ends. Soon enough, we all are back in the giant yellow box. Serpents hiss, the doors close. Rafique Chacha shouts something that I can barely understand. It sounds something like “Usaarayaagayeooooooo!” (He probably means, “Is everyone in the bus?”).
Waseem-ullah Decorations
We embark on the return journey with the fan buzzing, roughly the size of a regular pizza. It is like a small toy that the driver plays with, continuously switching it on and off. “Kyunkay bibi warna yay kharaab ho jaye ga.” We gallop along. Past Popy and Pomy Pan Shop, past AlBurraq Motors, past Rickshaws called ‘Road Prince’s, past deceiving motorcycles that sound like ambulances, past the railway lines and over the graveyard, past Bismillah Burger Point and barricades with men clad in army uniforms. All this while Farzana Jamun does not cease to chatter and the seniors bless her with menacing looks. I am amazed at how her energy does not die by the end of the day, unlike all of us. We keep going, staring at nothing through the windows. We keep going till the giant yellow box gets us home.
The Festive Shopper
Festive Quiz
We out our illustrators to the test and asked them to come up with situations for the festival happening in odd situations! Here are a few!
The Shopper Poll
What if...
1. How would you dress for the festival? a) Full desi glitter overkill; I must represent all colours of the rainbow
b) Replicate to the best of my intelligence whatever the gods of fashion have lately decreed in their capitals: London, New York, Paris, and College. c) Do I really have to get up? Bathe? Change? mehhh, forget it… d) Festival kay liyay kaun tayyaar hota hai? e) Kal tayyaar hon ga
2. What is your standard greeting? a) Slightly stretched sing-song “Hellooo” followed by a sweet and well-intentioned but entirely perfunctory compliment b) “Hiiii! How are you?” *muah* “You look niiice!”
At the beach!
A
s things get geared up for the festival, our team, here at The Occasional Shopper decided to carry out a survey to discover how we can sketch an image of the college through the eyes of the students themselves. Results follow: Q. Who do you think would be perfect for the post of the principal of NCA? • Banksy • Nimra 3rd yr Arch: Me! Who else? (like Duh) • Nelson Mandela • Donald Trump • Spongebob! • Mr. Arfan Ghani • Doctor! • Nasir... By way of explanation, “He deserves it dude.”
c) *vague bemused smile* Hey… how’s… uh... How’s work? Would you like a cigarette?
d) *ignore* *blank stare* Flat, bored “Hi” *occasional forced smile*
Q. If NCA had a uniform what should it look like?
e) ‘Yo! Wazaaa…! bata day phir, Kya scene hai?’
• • • •
Less is more. Aviators Rags, what else? Gande kapre, jitne bhi hun • 3 quarters and a t-shirt
3. Places in college you spend most of your day in? a) David/ Sculpture/ Verandas/ Studio
b) Studio/ Sculpture/David/ Canteen/ Where I can stay out of the sun c) Audistairs (the nether regions thereof/higher up) d) David/ Canteen/ Audistairs/ Studio
Q. If the air conditioning of the auditorium fails again during the festival, could you come up with an alternative cooling arrangement?
e) David/ Audistairs/ Canteen/ wherever I can find someone to tag along with
4. Which of these statements best describes your attitude to deadlines?
• Shoppers • Phoonke, creativity lies in the convention.
a) *gasp* Deadline! In four days?! Ab kya hoga! Hand me my disprin!
During war!
Q. How would you like to get even with people who smoke in the auditorium?
b) Let’s miss theory so we can work for major
c) Jury subah hai? Naa kar yaar… acha give me one last drag, then I’ll get to work... … …*goes to sleep* d) Party now, deadline dekhi jaey gi, masla hi nai hai.
e) Deadline? What Deadline? Oh. So? Ho jaey ga yaar… tum nay kar liya hai? Tum kar lo phir mujhay day dena
Soak their cigarettes in oil and TNT(hehehe) Oye, give these cigarettes to me! Make them eat the Canteen brownie Water fight!
• • • •
Ha Ha (Points finger) Please let us rag you. You don’t know what you’re in for. Scene bad hai dude!
Q. What would you say to Welcome the First Years to the National College of Arts?
5. How did you end up/ decide on NCA?
a) Ever since I was a little girl I always liked drawing and I am really good at arts and crafts na… like I paint these vases and make my own cards with dried flowers, barray khoobsurat b) I got rejected by the foreign universities I applied to
c) I just applied man, it sounded like a nice place, and I dig art and all the higher things in life… d) I want to GET SOMEWHERE in life
e) I got rejected everywhere else/ I heard this was a fit/bumbu place/ I don’t really know how I ended up here
1
Calculate your score • Mostly As: Nasreen / Shahid • Mostly Bs: Plastic / Burger • Mostly Cs: Jahaz • Mostly Ds: Shape • Mostly Es: Dragon
2 3
4
Crossword Trivia
5 6
Across
7
3 The auditorium is his lair, and the smooth running of your lectures his raison d’etre 4 Where sarwar is the server 6 Permanent living fixture at the gate 10 Lend it all you want, you’ll never get it back 11 colour of doors in the architecture department
8 9
Down
1 NCA’s first student publication 2 King Of Sheets 5 Courtyard housing a perpetual public display of affection 7 Occasional special addition made by (5 across) to your milkshake and food 8 The sole shelter for the sleepy 9 Food in tight pants
10
Answers
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
the occasional shopper hadis chacha ali raza cafeteria main ramzan chacha
7. hair 8. library 9. nasir 10. stationary 11. red
Under Zia!
• • • •
11
The Festive Shopper
Whose Performing?
The Skits
NT Mime • • • • • • • • •
The End Flims
Ali Jameel (Director) Imad Hamad Fatima Sabuhi Zoren Nauman Ali Munaza
(Wehshi Films)
Dance • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Western • • • • • • • • • • •
Ahsan Fazal (Director) Kamran Faiq Dilhum Qureshi Ahmad Awais Talha Mufti Feroz Faisal Sehar Nasim Salman Bahsarat Esha Shakeel Almah Malik Ali Rao Anooshay Ali Mohammad Ali
• Ryyan Un Nabi Butt (Director) • Rmaam (Assistant Director) • Ali Ammad • Shahnawaz Nindwani • Kashif Raza • Usman Abassi • Waqas Taj • Husnain Salahuddin • Farooq • Babar • Safdar • Abdullah • Zafar • Meera Kazmi • Ghazala Rehmat • Shaaz • Mohammed Amin
Performers • Saad Ahmed (Director) • Zain Naqvi (Assistant Director) • Wali Akhtar • Bilal Saeed • Bilal Ijaz • Nyrah Mushtaq • Nudrat Fatima • Zarbakht Tufail • Waleed Zahi Production • Haider Ali • Ayesha • Sana • Aresha • Aqsa
Puppeteers
Nautanki
Fawad Nadir Adil Khalil Sarim Ali Hassan Ashraf Lala Ahsan Wali Akhtar Roushan Maha Kashif Sunny DJ Naveed
• Shahid (Director)
Performers • Hussain Jamil • Ghazi Sikander • Mashaud ul Hasan Ali • Faraz • Ali • Khwaja Issa • Osama • Aadil • Mohammed Amin
Production • Mohsin • Sami Baloch • Marium Shahzad • Saad Javed • Hajra Qazi • Sara Hijazi • Marina John Khan • Shajia Fatima • Waqas Pervez • Adeel
• Rameez Khan (Director) • Irfan Asghar (Assistant Director) • Ayesha Akber • Moattar Zafar Butt • Sarah Ghayas • Sania Naveed • Abdul Hannan Server • Suleman • Naveed Niazi • Umair Ehsan • Hyder Ali • Anil Wagela • Muneeb Khan
Alif Adab
• Hashim Ali (Director)
Performers • Areeba Maqsood • Alina • Amna Abbas • Sikander Nawaz • Fatema Gain • Ebraheem Arif • Sibtay Shaheed • Donia • Ahmed Khan • Obaid ur Rehman • Umair • Ahsan Ali • Sindhu Zaib • Sanwal Tariq • Awais Azher
Production • Kiran • Sindhu • Anum Bhatti • Hira Ilyas • Saad Qasmi • Aliya • Asma Hassan
This edition of the Shopper was brought to you by Main Team
Mime
• Anum Lasharie / Sanwal Ghani (Co- Directors)
Performers • Waleed Qureshi • Omar Sajjad • Anum Lasharie • Ibrahim Saeed • Ahmed Gulaiz • Subtain Hassan • Rabia Ehsaan • Anum Amin Production • Saba Zahid • Raza • Rashid Hadees
Madyha Leghari Nyrah Mushtaq Zoya Gul Hasan Abu Bakr Asif Sania Azher Syed Hasan Haider Zain Naqvi Haider Ali Uswa Amjad Saba Zaman Hadia Zahra Muhammad Ahmad Khan Zoona Jerral
Illustrators
Ali Arshad Ameer Mustafa Fahd Dasti Mustafa Saddozai