The final group photo.
When Shakespeare assigned the dialogue of 'Beware the ides of March', to the character of soothsayer in his play, 'Julius Caesar', he could not even have imagined that centuries later, the alumni of department of English, Bahaudin Zakria university, (or O'DELL as the prefer to be called) would select the same date, 15th of March for their first formal reunion in the year 2014.
O'DELL, which is actually short form of OADELL, 'organization of alumni of department of English language and literature, came into existence in March 2013, when a renowned teacher of the department Ramna Fayyaz, and Fariha Munir Shah (former visiting faculty member) gathered a good number of old students of the department on one platform and organized an informal gathering in Ramada, Multan. Ramna was elected the treasurer of the organization, whereas Fariha Munir was elected as the lifetime chairperson of O'DELL.Whereas, Mustafa Kamal became the president.
This year, O'DELL was officially endorsed by the head of department, Madam Saiqa Imitiaz and the reunion was arranged on a bigger, greater level, on the university grounds, in the newly built, independent building of the department.
Another factor, which acted as a catalyst for organizing this event; was the presence of three dynamic old students like Hassan Muhammad, Asif Ansari and Ashfaq Rehman, who are now stationed in Multan as members of district administration and police force. They made great efforts to take this event to a bigger level, which it truly deserved. They put in, lots of efforts, on personal and official level, together with Ramna Fayyaz to make it a great success.
The reunion was divided into three parts. First was informal session, which started at 4 pm. It included, a chariot ride. A free ride for all the guests to tour, the marvellously pruned, tremendous acres the university has spread onto.
The entire buiding was adorned with fairy lights. Little hand made candle lanterns, carved out of paper by the students of the department. Pictures of the yester-years, were framed and put on display for all to see. Flower arrangements and flower petals, added colour as well as scents in the air. Ramna Fayyaz's creative was behind these artistic additions.
The informal session also turned out to be the best part, as welcome tea was served in the brand new hexagonal lawn. Sidra and Sumera Khalil, alongwith a gentleman entertainer, invited the guests to different games. Like, the competition of eating qulfis, wearing bangles, singing, etc. It was totally a fun filled time. Where people remained relaxed and at ease, to rekindle old friendships with classmates from years gone by. Enjoyed, the treats of samosas and gol gappas, reminders of the days of university canteen.
Not to forget the LOVE JAIL, where people were arrested on request by paying the money and their friends were invited to pay for their release. Surely an entertaining part.
Fun Gala continued with the spirit of festivity and jubilation. Following a brief interval at sunset, for Maghrib prayer.
After that, all the guests were taken to the palatial auditorium. Where the formal session of the show started with the recitation of holy Quran and a hymn to glorify the personality of the holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammed (peace be upon him). Head of department, Madam Saiqa Imtiaz addressed the gathering.
The participants were requested earlier to submit the slide shows of the pictures of their student life. Uzma Asif was among those, who contributed the beautiful memories of the past in form of a slideshow but the show was completely stolen by the genius of Hassan Nasir. The slide show he created, not only had pictures but also videos of all of his friends and class fellows, their various trips and class room sessions, lots of music and dancing. It was something, which made everybody roll down the floor, laughing their hearts out in the beginning but within minutes, had everybody in tears as well, reminding them of the times gone by. It was a great treat for the eyes and ears of the entire gathering. It was even bigger and better than the professional singer, who kept on entertaining the audience till the end.
Finally, the entire gathering was taken upstairs, on the terrace, for the scrumptious, sumptuous barbecue dinner. Full of traditional food and sweets to relish.
Ramna Fayyaz had also arranged, flying lanterns as a treat for the eyes of the guests, alongwith the dinner.The reunion concluded with a sparkling green tea. And the musical show went on late till midnight.
The next alumni reunion is planned to be organized in March 2015. We wish and pray to see all of these bright participants again next year and year after year to follow. Alongwith many more newcomers in O'DELL.
God bless you all. |
