September 30, 2009
Declamation Contest and Gifting of Books for the School Libraries
The fourth programme of the Publican Alumni Trust (PAT) Educational Initiatives Programme was an impromptu Declamation Contest and the Gifting of Book for the school libraries.
Video of the speeches made by each of the students is available. To go to video library, please click on the thumbnail below.
Pictures of the event as well as a report on the proceedings by Javed Jabbar are posted below. To view these pictures, click on one of the Library Buttons below.
Report by Javed Jabbar
Dear fellow Publicans, Salaams & greetings.
The Publican Alumni Trust event on Wednesday, 30th September 2009 from 11 a.m. to about 1.15 p.m. at the auditorium of the F.G. Girls Public School became an exceptionally enjoyable and largely-attended experience.
About 600 students, 300 from the Girls Public School, 300 from F.G. Boys Public School, from classes VIII, IX & X were seated on the carpeted floor because chairs were not used to allow for more space. However, Principals and teachers from both Schools and 16 Publican Alumni were seated on chairs.
At 10.30 a.m., about 1 hour before the event began at 11.30 a.m., 9 girls and 9 boys, the speakers nominated by each School, were asked to pick up slips of paper from a tray in order to prepare, by themselves, unaided by parents, teachers or friends, their respective speeches on subjects listed below.
Publican Nudrat Alvi ensured that these speakers did not have the benefit of anyone else's inputs till they went to speak.
The subjects for the Impromptu Declamation Event were :
1) For Class X : Topic 1 : "If I became President of Pakistan for 1 day, the 3 actions I will take are ...."
2) Topic 2 : Is our destiny made by our own actions, or is our destiny determined at our birth ?
3) For Class IX : Topic 3 : "I am on the moon. I have a rocket. I have to choose between using the rocket to discover new worlds beyond the moon or to come back to earth and home. What do I choose to do ? And why ?"
4) Topic 4 : In pursuit of development, we are damaging our beautiful planet.
5) For Class VIII : Topic 5 : "The 3 most memorable things that have happened in my life."
6) Topic 6 : "My favourite bird, my favourite animal and my favourite flower."
All 600 students were served with a patties and a soft-drink before the event began.
After Tilawat, Trustee Sabiha Pervez, who generously donated Rs 40,000/- for the purchase of books for the libraries of both Schools, briefed the gathering on the titles of the books and their relevance to readers. The books represent a wide and interesting range of subjects, from encyclopedias to dictionaries, from history to science, from art to culture, and from games and puzzles to humour and mysteries, mainly in English, but also some in Urdu.
NOTE : on an irresistibly personal note, 5 out of 11 books by the under-signed published to date are also part of the above gifts. Any other Publican whose writings have been published in book form is requested to urgently provide details or sample copies so that the same can be placed in the 2 Schools' libraries.
Each book is stamped on page 3 with the words "A gift from Publican Alumni Trust".
Then began the Impromptu Declamation event.
Despite the short time given to them for preparation, all 18 speakers showed qualities of courage, clarity and conviction as they spoke, some from notes, some using paper only for occasional reference. The child-speakers expressed themselves in a charming and engaging manner. They reflected degrees of social awareness, deep concern for Pakistan's future, originality, knowledge, humour and candour. Virtually all spoke in Urdu even though they also had the option to speak in English. No speaker exceeded the time limit of 3 minutes, with most using less than 2-1/2 minutes.
The audience remained engrossed and greatly enjoyed their expositions, So interesting and entertaining did the event become that some of the Publican Alumni who had intended to stay only for a short while, remained for all 2-1/2 hours.
The 3 judges were : Mrs. Shirley Hyder Valika, Mrs. Sabiha Pervez, Mr. Hussain Jamil.
Each of the Publicans who attended the event presented the gift of a book to each of the 18 speakers, plus a certificate of participation designed and produced by Trustee Ashraf Kapadia.
Trustee Shirley Hyder Valika on behalf of the judges, made the announcements about the 6 prize-winners i.e. 3 special prizes, and the 3rd, 2nd and 1st prize, comprising cups with inscriptions.
Cup Prizes
Name Class Position Marks M. Hassan X-B 1st 74 Waqar Ahmad VIII-D 2nd 73 Zainul Abideen VIII-D 3rd 66 Special Prizes
Name Class Position Marks M. Maryam VIII-C 1st 64 Maryam Fatima VIII-A 2nd 61 Hira Hussain X-C 3rd 60
Publican Dr. Masoor Afridi was the only person who responded to an invitation from the undersigned, who was conducting the proceedings, to spontaneously share some memorable moments from his own life, memories which were also much enjoyed by the students. Trustee Khawaja Fariduddin spoke briefly at the end.
The undersigned thanked all Trustees, and the Chairman and members of the Advisory Council for their work for PAT's mission. The specific work rendered by the Event Management Committee comprising Convenor Shamim Riaz and members Ms Nudrat Alvi and Dr. Masroor Afridi was also noted with thanks. The next PAT event will be held at 11 a.m on Tuesday, 20th October 2009 for the 3rd lecture in the Distinguished Publicans lecture series to be presented by Trustee Zaffar A. Khan.
At the end of the event, the Trustees and other Alumni were served with tea and biscuits courtesy the customary hospitality by Khawaja Fariduddin.
Publican Alumni who attended the 30th September 2009 event :
1. Mrs. Sabiha Pervez
2. Mrs. Shirley Hyder Valika
3. Mrs. Nighat Mir
4. Mrs. Yasmeen (Honey) Kapadia
5. Mrs. Farhat Iqbal
6. Ms. Nudrat Alvi
7. Mr.Khawaja Fariduddin
8. Mr. Zaffar Ahmed Khan
9. Admiral ( r ) Shahid Karimullah
10. Mr. Atiqur Rehman
11. Mr.Zohair Ashir
12. Mr.Shamim Riaz
13. Dr.Masroor Afridi
14. Mr.Waseem Ghani
15. Mr.Hussain Jamil
16. Mr.Fahim Siddiqui
17. Javed Jabbar
Thank you for your attention.
With best wishes,
Javed Jabbar
Chairman
Publican Alumni Trust