This year the 14th annual International Festival was held at the Raleigh Convention and Conference Center and ran from October 1st through October 3rd. More than forty international and ethnic groups participated in this year’s theme of “Celebrations of Life” which honored the ways in which different cultures acknowledge life’s passages. In harmony with the theme, was a gigantic wire sculpture of the Earth that was hung from the ceiling of the convention center, which appeared to carry a silent message of unity in the air.

Following the theme of the festival, the Pakistani-American Association (PAA) displayed Basant, the festival of kites, as a cultural exhibit. The cultural booth was decorated quite stupendously.  Walls were covered with yellow, green and red colored kites made for the occasion.  Dolls and mannequin like figurines dressed in basanti colored clothes were seen dancing to the beat of dholak. The dolls were placed on a model of a Pakistani house where men were shown flying kites on its rooftop. The flowerpots of yellow marigolds created a semblance of real Basant–a traditional and cultural event of Pakistan. The curious crowds gathered at the booth always seemed eager to know more about the Basant festival. Adjacent to this cultural exhibit was the Pakistani section of the International bazaar staffed by the APA volunteers. Here people were shopping their way through colors and textures of Pakistani clothes and crafts. 

The elegance of weddings around the world was the theme for the ceremonies section at the Festival.  The PAA chose to replicate the Mehndi  (henna) ceremony, which traditionally takes place before a wedding in Pakistan. The Mehndi ceremonies started at the stage with singing of Mehndi songs on dholak. Then Maryam Shaikh introduced the ceremony to the audience. A procession of young girls entered the room, carrying trays with lighted candles and mehndi paste. Behind them were women singing dressed for the occasion and a beautifully dressed Pakistani bride accompanied them. The bride sat down on a decorated chair and the women put mehndi paste on her hands. The bride was also treated with sweet gulab jamuns as part of the ceremony. The entire ceremony was played out very authentically. 

The Pakistani wedding ceremony was followed by a henna ceremony from a Turkish wedding on the Main Stage.  It was amazing to see the similarities between the two. The Turkish ceremony was almost exactly like the Pakistani mehndi ceremony.  The resemblance perhaps dates back to 700 years of Turkish influence on an area, which is now called Pakistan. The Turkish henna ceremony at the Festival certainly offered opportunities for Pakistanis to gain an understanding of how the customs are alike despite being from different countries. 

Groups from Greece to Pakistan and from Bangladesh to the Caribbean offered unity in another universal language: food. The purpose of the festival was realizing the diversity of different cultures around the world. The coming together of so many countries with their diverse ethnic foods made one realize that essentially all cultures are same with few differences. The Pakistani sidewalk Café was not only very well organized but also, was a popular eating spot. People tasted the tantalizing Pakistani food and one could always see a hungry crowd hovered at the café window. Despite the similarities that existed between the Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani food, the PAA Pakistani Café did vigorous sales.  As a result of the high demands, the café ran out of food on several occasions. 

In the spirit of cultural transition, another rite of passage was celebrated at the festival. On Friday October 1, 125 people including some Pakistanis were declared U.S. citizens in a three-hour naturalization ceremony held in the main arena. It was surprising and pleasing to see the cultural diversity that exists in the triangle area. The International Festival was a constant reminder of the many cultures that exist in this country, something that is not as prominent in Pakistan. 

The International Festival was a three day fun filled event for the volunteers of PAA who worked hard to represent their country.  For the past fourteen years, Pakistan has been represented at the Festival. In the past, Pakistanis have been conspicuously absent and shied away from it all to be part of the Main Stage activities. However, they continue to be timid towards folk dances that have the potential of displaying a very rich and colorful culture of Pakistan. One can only wonder why? There can’t be dearth or shortage of talent among them. When will they give a cooking demonstration of Pakistani cuisine or give a language lesson in Urdu. The Qissa Khwani bazaar from Peshawar could be replicated and the American public could listen to storytellers spin tales from that exotic area. A Pakistani singer could sing folk songs in Balochi, Pashto, Sindhi, Punjabi and Urdu, while people are sipping their warm qawa in the coffeehouse. Americans who still like the music of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan could enjoy and drink to the Pakistani rhythms and sounds in the Biegarten. Perhaps next year’s International Festival will present us with more of the hidden talents that exist in the Pakistani-American community in the triangle area. 

Volunteer Appreciation
Provided by M. Abdul Qadir

PAA would like to thank all the volunteers who had participated at the International Festival activities. The following is a long list of people who helped to make this event a success:

Farah Abbasi, Mrs. Zafar Ahmad, Huma, Jabeen & Robina Ahmad, Saeed Ahmad (chairperson, café), Najm & Rehana Arifeen, Nauman & Rashda Faridi, Seema Farouqi (chairperson exhibit and ceremonies), Athiya & Mujahid Hussain, Faiza Husain, Iffat Husain, Abid Husain, Iftikhar Husain, Mouzzam Khan, Nadeem & Naima Khan, Atif Ikram, Naveen & Nadeem Iqbal, Mr. & Mrs. Abdul Rahim Ismail, Zeba Jafri, Shahida Karim, Tariq Mahmood, Mohammed Pasha, Iram & Abdul Qadir, Sumaira Qazi, Qanita, Sajida and Summaya Quraishi, Asif Rashid, Sagar Rathie, Shameem & Shaikh Salahuddin, Ahsen Salim, Riffat & Naseer Sayed, Maryam Shaikh, Yazdani Syed, Asad, Arzoo & Effat Shamsi, Maryam Suboohi, Seema Sufder and Aini & Farkhunda Zafar.

Cary Cafe

Abdul Rahim Ismael, a quiet gentleperson who is always seen helping out with food at various PAA functions, is also the owner of a wonderful eatery in Cary: The Cary Café. Rahim, a native of Karachi, moved to Miami, Florida in 1970 where he started an Italian Pizzeria restaurant. He relocated to the Triangle area and started the Cary Café in 1995. The Cary Café is elegantly designed and has a warm ambience. Every one in the family cooks including his wife Vicky, 17-year-old son Adam and 19-year-old daughter Angela. Therefore, the emphasis is on Home Cooking and the style is Californian.  Cary Café is open for breakfast and lunch, serving omellettes, quiche, soups southwest chicken melt, spaghetti pie, pastries, coffee, espresso and latte. Catering is also available. Every thing served at the café is delicious but the Rocky Road Brownies are just heavenly. Oatmeal raisin cookies are also a perennial favorite having a delicate cinnamon taste and a perfect texture. Just the aroma wafting from the oven draws the kids from the yard and has them begging for a taste of these amazing oatmeal raisin cookies baked by Vicky Ismael. Cary Café is sure to please every one.

Qawwali Music of Pakistan
Reported by Hassan Imam

Brother’s Mehr Ali and Sher Ali, with a party of eleven other musicians from Pakistan, performed a concert of qawwali music on October 21, 1999 on the beautiful campus of Duke University’s Page Auditorium. Duke University’s Institute of the Arts had invited these artists of Sufi devotional music. Mehr Ali and Sher Ali acknowledges the family of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan as their “Ustad Gharana” or “Teacher Lineage”. Muhammad Ali Fareedi, an ordained Sufi qawwal of the shrine of the 13th century Sufi Baba Farid, taught Mehr Ali.

The day before the concert, there was a “Meet the Artists” dinner with Mehr Ali, and their group at the Tandoor Restaurant. This gesture meant a lot to these visiting Pakistani artists who were warmly welcomed by their own people. There were about 100 qawwali fans that attended and participated in a lively question and answer session on qawwali music and Sufi mystical tradition after the dinner. Professor Afroz Taj and John Caldwell conducted the seminar and the visiting ethno-musicologist Adam Nayyar of Lok Virsa in Islamabad answered questions. This seminar and dinner was co-sponsored by the Triangle South Asia Consortium, the Duke University Institute of Arts, Pakistani-American Association and the Urdu Majlis.

The qawwali concert by the visiting qawwals was simply outstanding. The huge page auditorium was almost full with Americans and Pakistani audiences who were throwing money to pay their respects and adulation to these artists. The last song Shahbaz Qalandar ended with audience chanting, clapping and dancing through out with the beat. These Pakistani artists have once again given qawwali a home in the USA.

New Family in Town
Reported by Asif Rashid

Nauman Faridi, his wife Rashda and their two-month-old son Rafey have recently moved to Morrisville, NC. Nauman, alumni of PAF College in Sargodha, has his BS and MS degrees in computer science from the University of South Alabama at Mobile. Here in RTP, he works as a software developer for Data General.

Nauman comes from a family of Sufi saints and Urdu scholars. He traces his lineage with Baba Fariduddin Ganj Shakar (1175-1265) and Shah Abdul Ghafur of Azampur (d. 1578), a great mystic and a scholar. From the ancestral hometown of Bachhraon in India, his family later dispersed to Pakistan, Germany, Spain, UK, Canada and the USA. This Bachhraon family also proclaims eminent and distinguished names in literature to its heritage such as Hamid Hasan Qadiri, author of classic “Dastaan-e-tarikh-e-Urdu” (1941); his son Khalid Hasan Qadiri, a professor of Urdu at University of London, UK; Khwaja Ahmad Faruqi, professor emeritus of Urdu of Delhi University; Mohammed Mohsin Faruqi, professor of Arabic at Islamia College in Peshawar and Professor Tahir Faruqi, chairman of Urdu at Peshawar University. Nauman’s father, Zafar Hasan Faridi is a retired vice president of Habib Bank in Islamabad.

Rashda is an artist who has studied at Lahore College. With a distinction and a gold medal, Rashda got her B.A. in Fine Arts from the National College of Arts in Lahore. There she also taught Fine Arts classes from 1996-98. She specializes in printmaking using abstraction-etching technique on zinc plates. Rashda’s paintings have been displayed at various art galleries in Pakistan including the US embassy in Islamabad. 

Soon after their arrival in RTP, they both became members of the Pakistani-American association and volunteered their time at the International Festival. Nauman is also interested in Urdu prose and mysticism besides designing web pages. Rashda likes Urdu poetry and her favorite is Parveen Shakir.  Their interest in Urdu has carried them to the Urdu Majlis meetings. This family simply loves this area including its Pakistani community.

Births 

Imtiaz & Farah Ahmad, a son;  Shakeel & Munazza Ansari, a son; Nauman & Rashda Faridi, a son;  Shaukat &  Shagufta Hafiz, a daughter; Yaseen & Iram Zaidi, a daughter  and Yazdani & Maliha Syed, a daughter.

Forthcoming Programs 

Annual Dinner and Iftaar Party followed by Elections for Next Executive Committee
On Saturday, December 11, 1999
At Glen Eden Community Center from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Details of the event are posted on the Forthcoming Events page

Copyright © 1999 Pakistani-American Association - All Rights Reserved