Des in Perdes: A Report on Pakistan Culture Day in South Korea

Pakistan Cultural Expedition : Rohi Celebration

A Report By Muhammad Abdul Basit

Pakistan Community in Korea

December 22nd Saturday afternoon was a delightful and prestigious hours of daylight in South Korea for Pakistani Community, as we were given an exclusive opportunity to exhibit our cultural diversity to the international community at Korea, especially those who were resident in Seoul and its nearby. Seoul Metro-Politian Government, the main financial supporter of the event contributed a lot for the beautified  execution of Pakistan Cultural Expedition event and played a highly appreciate-able role in making this accomplishment  possible. Mr. Im Kyoung Ho from Seoul Metro-Politian Government did a splendid job through his unique motivation and personal involvement.

Being the sons of soil, Pakistani community volunteers made this event a benchmark for very minorly populated Pakistani Nationals in South Korea and designed a beautiful thought inside the minds of international community people.  Miss Julia who is a Kazakhstan National said that evening that for hwe it was a nice and informative session  to know about the rich and versatile culture of Pakistan, which she evaluated to be far away from presently depicted picture in media these days. She also said that, " I am glad that Pakistani community finally got a chance to show themselves and introduce its culture. Performances were energetic, emotional and family like. I liked what it meant for students. Their faces were shining. Dances reminded me how we celebrate our special holidays in Kazakhstan."

The Event started with the recitation of Holy Quran, as Pakistan is an Islamic country and is customized to start official and non official ceremony in such fashion. Soon After Miss Saera Shabbir with her acquiescent words sung a few lines in the praise of Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him). The Secretary staging the performances shortly introduced the Pakistani Culture in context of the event organization and  invited the Chief Organizer Mr. Shahzad from Hanyang University for his Welcome Speech.  Thanking to the Seoul Metro-Politian Government,  Mr. Shahzad also welcomed the attendees of the session and announced the formal start of the event. He said that It was a remarkable chance for him and his team to artistify the hidden charm of their homeland and bring the international community together with a message of peace and love. He also showed all his respect to the Seoul Metro-Politian Government for scheming such policy and inviting cultural excursions.

In the formal Session, four provincial dance performances enlightened the multi-color dressing and  instrumental spring of music. In-between various video presentations were displayed using projection tools to let the audience know about the land features and seasonal beauty of Pakistan. Also, the awards and honors of Pakistan were compiled in videos for the participants, who were really overjoyed to feel the beauty and hidden angelic face our heavenly land. More than a hundred Participants belonging to different countries including Bangladesh, India, Kazakhstan, China, Vietnam, Iran and most obviously from Pakistan and Korea not only waved their hands with the melody of these performances but their hearts too. Organizationally Transnational Asian Women, Pak-Korea and PSA South Korea also attended this cultural expedition prgram. Despite of the limited human resources and close-hall type of event, many communities were attracted to the occasion.

The formal session of day was concluded here, and people were requested to visit the Pakistan Cultural stalls, those were structured within the hall selected for the cultural day. Pakistani Dresses , Jewelry, Traditional shoes, ornamental objects, antiques, paintings, handicrafts, regional handmade fabric items like Sindhi Topi, Chadar and others were displayed for the visitors. Also, there was a HINA stall free for ladies to have hina (Tattoo-similar) designs on their hands, where foreigners took more than interest. There were many posters and banners displayed showing the various aspects and information of Pakistan as a unique civilization.

After the formal Session and stall visit, the participants were reseated to share the informal session being full of fun, amusement and interactivity. Many questions regarding Pakistan Culture and presentations were asked by Mr. Hasan Hafeez, who was hosting this session and the participants were gifted for their tasks and right answers. Lastly the session was concluded with the formal remarks from Organizers and participants were offered Desi (Pakistan) traditional Food, that was highly tasted and spicily enjoyed as last activity of the day.

Although the cultural day ended here, but the immortal feeling of love, respect and mutual understanding originated from the sun setting that day among variant nationals. Precisely, it was a limited episode of bilateral effort made by Seoul Metro-Politian and Pakistan Community, but a never ending motivation to bring the hearts and feels together for the sake of local and global objectives of humanitarianism. Long Live Pakistan, Long Live Korea

Organizers from Pakistani community, mainly comprising of Pakistani Students in Korea voluntarily  came forward and portrayed a long lasting image of their cultural and national veracity. Pakistan is a country of 180 Million people having multi-linguistic, sundry regional traditions and a variety of cultural substances including art, dances, songs, sports and foods. Pakistan is one of the few countries having all four seasons with their epical beauty and all possible geographical and climatic themes over its strategic piece of land. In this event, it was attempted to present as detailed picture of Pakistan as possible, pixling the every bit of this God-Gifted soil.

No culture is ever complete without musical essence of poetry and songs. Pakistani culture like others has a long series of musical trends branched in regional, spiritual and folk streams of love. Covering them all, Sufi Song , Musical song from Pakistani talent and a Pakistani Urdu Song was presented to feel the heart beat of a spiritful nation. Also some poetry was shared with the audience to touch the literary limits of socio-cultural Pakistan. Maintaining the decorum of Multinational gathering, an English  Song was also sung by a participant, that was highly enjoyed by the Non-Pakistani attendees as well as Pakistani community present.

The other awe-inspiring  feature of this afternoon was B-Boys Dance group performances, who additionally raised the level of fun and interest higher that afternoon. They performed two dances separated by an interval of half an hour and involved all the hearts leaving behind the cultural contrasts of various nationals attending the event. Also A solo-performer Mr. Ali Ahmed from Pakistan Student Community in Korea hold the stage for few minutes with his funny and multi-linguistic skill of pleasurable joy. 

After the ending of Pakistan Cultural Expedition Event, Mr. 최한락 said that Food was good, Performance was very lively and energetic. One of the visiting participants was overjoyed with the event day and she shared her feeling in these words, "I would like to go again, If I get a chance." Her name is 류건욱 and she is a Korean.

Note: This report is released for submission to Seoul Metro-Politian Government , also for  international electronic media publicity and press-media in Pakistan.