RAWALPINDI:On the second day of the Rawal Literature Festival organized by the Punjab Arts Council,(PAC) the first session titled “Literary Organizations and Their Role” Wednesday was held in which Mazhar Shehzad, Khaleeq-ur-Rehman, Sabah Kazmi, Ali Aszar Samar, and Nargis Jahanzeb participated as panel members.
The famous writer Jahangir Imran acted as the host in the session.
The participants said that the promotion of literary organizations played an important role in promoting literature, adding literature was a part of the civilization of any society.
“As civilization changes, so does literature. As civilization advances, so does language. Vocabulary increases and rules become clearer,” they added.
The second session titled “Fiction mai boltay shehar” was hosted by Dr Qasim Yaqub, in which Irfan Ahmed Arfi, Farheen Chaudhry, Dr Arshad Waheed, Mohammad Asim Butt, Akhtar Raza Salimi and Dr. Humira Hamad participated.
The participants expressed views that fiction was a bright book of life adding “Books are not life, they are only ether, vibrations, but fiction is a vibration that can shake the whole living being”
They said that it was not just a matter of poetry, philosophy, science or any other bookish movement.
In the session “Literature and Humor” Muhammad Suleman was the host while the panel members included
Yar Muhammad, Anjam Malik, Saeed Anwar, Aslam Mughal, Hameed Babar, Shagfita Khan and Imran Rushdie.
Discussing humour, the participants said that humour does not limit itself to making people laugh.
“Humor exposes the imperfections of the individual in such a way that the readers laugh out loud,” they added.
The first traces of humour in Urdu prose were found in ancient stories, on the contrary, examples of standard humour and elegance were found in the letters of Mirza Ghalib, they added.
During the fourth session “Film and Culture” there was an interesting discussion between Irfan Ahmad Urfi and writer and director Shoaib Haroon.
Shoaib Haroon said that culture was not a static object but a dynamic element.
“Culture changes with time and the promotion of culture is subject to the development of film,” he added.
He said that the film was more effective than other mediums or sources in terms of communication power and the act of making and watching a film was the result of the mobilization of the will.
Haroon said that the film encompassed all the arts, and conveyed serious messages to the audience in the guise of entertainment.
Sham-e- ghazal was also organized during the festival, in which famous ghazal singers Muhammad Ali and Aqdas Hashmi enthralled the audience by singing ghazals.
The audience was also entertained by Isfandyar Khattak”s performance of the Kathak dance.
A large number of people from the twin cities participated in the festival.