Gathered together to pay tribute to the legendary Qurat-ul-Ain Hyder, the few devoted writers present were no measure — numerically speaking — to the creative genius of this legendary writer who passed away at the age of 80. Every other way, the reference called for Ainee Apa was a warm-hearted gesture to the doyen of Urdu literature. A joint venture of the Academy of Letters and the Quaid-i-Azam Library, the meet was addressed by a number of literary luminaries, who appreciated, analysed and applauded her work. The majority of the speakers talked of Aag Ka Darya which is known to the world as her magnum opus, although in her lifetime, she would often be irked at the continuous attention being paid to this one book, for she rated her other creative writings just as well.
Writer Afzal Tauseef, whose book about the late writer shall be printed soon, however, brought out the creative strength of Hyder by references to her other works. She also made pointed references to how the late writer had been brought to her wits end by the exploitation she had had to suffer at the hands of the local publishers, when she had once come to Pakistan with the express idea of settling here permanently. Few people know also that during this last poignant departure from Lahore, the writer was seen off at the airport only by her sister Afzal Tauseef and Nisar Aziz Butt! The only other person who suggested that more time be given to talking about this latter part of her life was Anwar Sadid who chaired the meet. A poem eulogizing the writer was also read out by an admirer.

The flowers were exotic and the arrangements were well…far, far removed from what one has been brought up on. But then, this was none other a celebration but by women who have perfected the skill of displaying flowers to make it all appear like a futuristic architectural wonder! Thus it was that imaginations had been allowed to run truly riotous on the occasion of the annual competition by the Lahore chapter of the Floral Arts Society. Divided into three sections, the show was a tribute to the fertility of human perception of the subjects under which the interpretations had had to be made. While in the Tea For Two section, a competitor had created a quaintly romantic setting by connecting two containers with twigs and roses, it was the Diversity Is Thy Name theme that bewildered the spectators for the sheer number of foliage that nature has. Being restricted to foliage in this category had apparently done nothing to dampen the spirit. Instead, the competitors had simply gone overboard in creating arrangements. All marvels wherein the sheer multiplicity of material used was mind-boggling. Similarly, in the section entitled When Tomorrow Comes the stress was on multiplicity of flowers that had been put together in what appeared to be attempts at enforcing the fact that here was language that could easily be described as intellectual. So those who came believing that floral arrangements are just visual pleasures had another thought coming because on show were architectural marvels, whose messages had to be read with great care. A first-time addition to the Society’s show this year was the inclusion of a children’s corner where the little ones had produced collages of dry floral materials under the head Story Time. More of visual delight and intellectual stimulation was added to the evening by demonstrations by Anjum Rehman and Farida Kaleem, who created visions of contemporary and modern floral expression through flowers and foliage.