Dance from the desert
Troupe from Cholistan brings a myriad of colours to the city and 'Jhoomer', a mesmerising dance by a man in the attire of a woman
By Atif Nadeem
A Hindu folk dance and singing troupe is performing at 'Alhamra Cholistan Festival 2008'. The cultural caravan has traveled to Lahore from the famously drought-stricken areas of the Cholistan desert.

The new government in Punjab is beset with several grave challenges that it has inherited from the outgoing government of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. These include maintenance of law and order, provision of basic amenities of life to people at affordable price, improving of infrastructure, health and education facilities, promotion of business activities and so on.

Soon after its formation the Punjab government held emergency meetings with different provincial departments in a bid to streamline their affairs and give a go ahead for the projects of public welfare without delay. One such project that assumed immense importance during these meetings was about the construction of a Ring Road around the city of Lahore to ease the heavy load of traffic. It's supposed to be an elevated six-lane road linked with busy city areas through interchanges and roads. The government's expression of resolve to complete this project has come as a pleasant surprise for this cityís millions of residents and those involved directly in the project.

The project envisaged in 1991 has faced endless hiccups so far and delayed for one reason or the other. Originally it was Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) which proposed a road-loop around the city to take load of vehicular traffic and the World Bank prepared a feasibility report on this project.

In 1995, the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) presented its Ring Road scheme. The feasibility of the Ring Road project was finalised in 1997 during ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif's tenure but it could not kick off due to lack of funds. It remained shelved for years and made it to the government's priority list in 2003. The project was launched on December 22, 2004 by President General Pervez Musharaf and was supposed to be completed by the next year.

The situation on ground is that hardly 30 per cent work on the first phase has been completed after the lapse of three and a half years. A Punjab government official tells TNS on condition of anonymity that the repeated alterations in the original design of the Ring Road and involvement of contractors and real estate mafia in the game have been the major impediments in this regard.

He says originally the 62-kilometer road was supposed to encircle the city and pass through the empty fields on its outskirts. But the previous government shortened the distance to 43 kilometers and redesigned the model according to which the road was supposed to pass through congested residential and commercial areas, he says. In former case, he says, land acquisition would have been a much easier task than it is presently. "Acquiring agricultural land at market rate is much easier than demolishing houses and commercial plazas." He says a major allegation against the outgoing government is that it made changes in the design just to keep the Ring Road at a distance from Raiwind Road where Sharif family has set up its estate.

The official adds that repeated delays and changes in design have also led to drastic increase in the price of the project. Whenever the cost of construction material increases the contractors demand revision of tenders.

Syed Athar Ali Kazmi, President Real Estate Advisors' Association of Lahore tells TNS that the uncertainty related to Ring Road project has cost people billions. He says it is sad to find that the project has not taken any tangible shape even after a lapse of around four years. Kazmi says many real estate developers and investors have bought lands along the proposed Ring Road to set up housing societies, shopping malls, petrol pumps etc at high rates. "Just imagine what will happen when one fine day they are told that the Ring Roadís design has been changed and it no more passes through their lands," he adds. Kazmi says this has happened with many people who had bought land after seeing maps of Ring Road available with property dealers. "Many of them suffered heavy losses when the design was changed overnight." He hopes the new government refrains from making any unnecessary amendment in the plan, delaying the project further.

There are reports that Punjab's CM in the waiting Shahbaz Sharif is showing extra-ordinary interest in the project. Known for his ability to make bureaucracy work round the clock and get public projects executed on time, it is quite likely that he is giving worst nightmares to all the officials related to the project nowadays. The Project Management Unit (PMU) assigned with the task to monitor progress on the Ring Road project gives weekly report to the authorities concerned.

The estimated cost of the road that will pass through Babu Sabu, Niazi Chowk, Shama Chowk, Ichhra, Kalma Chowk, Ferozepur Road, Allama Iqbal International Airport, DHA, Mahfuzpura, Harbanspura, Daroghawala, Mehmood Booti, Bund Road, Old Ravi Bridge and New Ravi Bridge has crossed Rs 80 billion and may cost even more if the project is further delayed.

Khalid Farood, Project Director of PMU monitoring Lahore Ring Road tells TNS that work on the project has been started with a renewed vigour under the new government. He says there are certain bottlenecks like problems in land acquisition, removal of electricity poles and Wasa installations, non-availability of funds, alarming increase in construction costs that have hampered progress on the project. "The PMU will highlight all these issues in the reports that it will submit to the provincial government and seek their redressal," he adds.

Khalid tells TNS that so far 14-kilometre road of the 43-kilometre project has been completed and work is in progress to remove structures from Cantonment area. He adds that feasibility study is also being carried out on a 15 kilometre road that will link Multan Road with Ferozepur Road. If approved this will be the phase 2 of the Ring Road project bringing the total length to 57 kilometres. He adds that a lot depends on the availability of funds for the project. ìIf the required funds are available over the next fiscal year there is no reason the project doesnít get through,î he adds.

Blogging is a new name given to the hobby of diary writing. In these modern times when we look for recipes online, shop online, live a virtual life online, diaries too have taken the name of blog. The only difference in blogging and diary is that you don't hide your blog. Unlike diaries that all diary writers must have had hard time hiding, in locked drawers from spies and privacy invaders; blogs are the total opposite. Instead you force people to come to your blog and read everything you wrote. Hmm sounds wonderful. Now I realised what it means to be like an open book.

The most distressing thing about writing blog, however, is when no one comments on it. They would come and read it but would never be kind enough to leave a few words from their profound insight. Sigh. One would call people, message them and even add the blog link on the personal message space on msn so that everyone would know about its existence. Yes a person can go this low just to get oneself recognised, see around you all the bad guys do that. Well this is not desperation. No, no. Desperation is when there comes a time when you are so excited about your own blog, so obsessed with it that you log into the site umpteenth times a day; effortlessly re-entering the password again and again and yet again -- so much so that it becomes nothing less than a ritual.

With time, as things start to get old and we steadily begin to lose interest in them, our heart in blog writing too starts to fade away. Then you start to ponder over the fact; if no one reads my blog and more importantly never leaves a note, why and how does the number of profile views increase just like the rate of inflation swells in our country.

Initially, blogging makes you feel good about yourself. You begin to realise your worth; you finally have something in life to do apart from yawning. It's like finding your destination and knowing exactly what you want and why are you here on this planet. Our life becomes so organised just because we set out a special time of the day to connect to the virtual world and off we dive hard into the depths of our pseudo intellectualism and furiously start hitting the keys. As words magically start to appear on the screen, your imagination takes a ride with the nine muses. It races, gallops, jumps, hops and does all the Bruce Lee stunts. It comes flapping its wings heroically and unveils itself to the world waiting to read your thoughts. But wait, it's soon that realisation hits you hard like the head butt of Zidane. Ouuchhh.

People have so many of their own thoughts jumbled up in a complex, chaotic network of a 100 billion neurons. Already victimised by depression, hyper tension, melancholy and other miseries of life why would anyone want to know of your dilemmas when they have enough of their own? On the other hand though, isn't it tragedies of our lives that help us connect better with other people? Everyone hates to watch sad movies yet the cinemas are jam packed with over sentimental movie buffers who would come out of the theatre with puffy eyes and a solemn heart because they saw this happening to them too; or at least drifted by the fact that the situation was so close to real life. But how can I compare my ordinary nonexistent blog to a book or a movie. I can see everyone nodding their heads in affirmative.

Thus with all high hopes drowning in the shallow part of the pool, I reach a conclusion that it's futile thinking of something this trivial. And writing this piece on the whole issue was even insignificant than anyone could have thought. I was just trying to smash the glass of writer's block because it was killing me and all those who write even a single line would understand how nerve-racking the block gets. All apologies for taking up this space and venting out my deepest of thoughts on those who by now must be grumbling at my being so self indulgent but then again who isn't indulgent these days.

• Exhibition of works of Mughees Riaz -- "A River Runs Through It" at Ejaz Art Gallery till May 12.

• Online Writing Competition. Topics: Threats to democracy in Pakistan, Inflation Triggers in International Market, Future of Freelancing (work at home), Internet Marketing -- Tools and Techniques, Rising trends in Digital Art and Survival of the Fittest. The article should be of minimum 200 words and maximum 350 words. Specify your present address and contact number. Submit to articlehouse@gmail.com till May 13. The winner of the contest will receive Rs. 2500 plus special prizes of Rs. 700. Every submission will be awarded with participation certificate.

• Exhibition: 'Allah Ke Rung', Islamic calligraphic paintings in acrylic and water colour at Pearl Continental Hotel, lower ground floor halls on May 16-17. On May 16, Friday, it will be open from 1pm-11pm. On May 17, from 10am to 11pm.

• 'Punjnad' Roving Film Festival: Fifteen days full of the world's acclaimed feature, short films and documentaries in Lahore's five educational institutes: English Department/University of the Punjab (12-14 May), Lahore College for Women University (19-21 May), National College of Business Administration and Economics (May 22-24), Comsats (May 26-28).

• Talent Hunt Show (singing) at Alhamra, The Mall

every Saturday at 7pm

• Sufi Dhol: Every Thursday night there is music and dance performance at the Shrine of Baba Shah Jamal.

The music usually starts

around eleven o'clock while dancing usually takes place around 1:30am.

In fact they are creating an 'impact', views an administrative in-charge of a separate wing under the Home Department, commenting on the massive shuffle in the Punjab bureaucracy.

"This is all being done by Shahbaz Sharif, the string puller and patron-in-chief of this ruling coalition set up in the Punjab," posing that he knows Shahbaz Sharif's style of working. "The irony is that even I was unaware of the all of a sudden change of more than 16 senior officers in my wing," he kept on saying in a bad mood.

This was not the only case in that aforementioned particular wing of Home Department. From Mid April 2008 -- the formation phase of the government-to date, a few thousand transfers have been ordered by the newly appointed chief secretary of the Punjab, Javed Mahmood, who has shown his determination and competence while continuing with this practice to date, on daily basis.

These administrative shuffles made almost in every district, and also within the Punjab Civil Secretariat, from top to bottom, have created a wave of fear across the Punjab. People within the bureaucratic and political circles have started criticising the Punjab government, blaming Shahbaz Sharif, the string puller, behind this whole ongoing sequence of transfers.

Senior government official who were considered close to the previous regime, started moving towards the Capital with the assumption that they would not be able to work in the new set up. Many such officers have been made Officer on Special Duty (OSD). The examples are former information secretary Ashfaq Gondal and former Home Secretary Khusro Pervez Khan. Many senior high ups like Farkhanda Hassan Waseem Afzal took a couple of months' leave.

Certain bureaucratic and political circles termed this wave merely 'victimisation' and a sign of 'bad governance' for they see it as harassment by the government officials. This has also been on record, blamed by former chief minister Punjab Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and many others.

"This has created a bad impression of the new government," said a victim while talking to TNS on condition of anonymity. "In my view this is not a fair policy. A new officer takes at least one month to adjust to a new environment. Many a times he has to shift from one place to other with family. Ultimately, public has to suffer for this because it affects efficiency instead of improving it. However, if there are genuine reasons and true complaints against any official then it is the right of the authorities to shake him up. Overall, I believe every government official is loyal to state and he can survive only of he works hard and serves public," he said, adding, "However, such transfer policies should not be made general."

Keeping in view such reaction, which was also observed within the ruling coalition partners and PML-N, soon after the first cabinet meeting under the stop-gap CM-ship of Sardar Dost Muhammad Khosa, a 'Review Committee' has also been formed after getting a nod from Shahbaz Sharif. This committee, headed by CM Khosa, includes three representatives from the ruling coalition -- PML-N and PPP. This committee can ask CS to review the deserving or grieved cases of transfers, if proven true. In this connection, senior minister of PPP and the provincial parliamentary leader of the party in the ruling coalition Raja Muhammad Riaz has met Shahbaz Sharif and CM Khosa and expressed some discomfort on the way the transfers were being made in the province.

Rana Sanaullah, the sitting provincial law and parliamentary affairs minister of the ruling PML-N, told TNS that the issue had already been taken up by the government. "The issue has nothing to do with victimisation of bureaucracy. This is purely an administrative affair," he said. "Even PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif has asked the chief secretary to rethink on the issue," he said. The government is supportive of the transfers made on genuine grounds.

Rana added that the issue was also raised in the first cabinet meeting of the Punjab government and he was the person who took up the issue with CM. "I expressed my reservations on the way the transfers were being made before the chief minister Sardar Dost Muhammad Khosa. He disclosed that a review committee on these transfers has had formerly been convened on the directions of the PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif. The committee, with CM in the chair, comprises of Rana Sanaullah, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Raja Muhammad Riaz Senior Law Minister from PPP side, Sardar Zulfiqar Ahmed Khosa, Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman and two other members from both parties, he added. The committee would review the transfers to remove the grievances, if any.

One of the top most officials told TNS that there was a reason behind this 'madness' of transfers. According to the reports he received, many officers have been serving on the same position for the past several years. The reports were collected from the special branch before taking action. This was the first time that a peer report was also asked about the transferred officers. He gave two examples, one of a senior superintendent of a jail in Lahore who was on the same post for the past several years without any reason. The second example was of a replaced District Coordination Officer who was not eligible to become DCO but the previous government appointed him. "These officers must know that merit needs to prevail. If anyone claims victimisation, he or she must prove it, he said.

"Let me tell you that there is nothing wrong in it. This is beginning of change, in fact." The government officials should not become politicians but should be ready to serve and expect such change anytime. He said no doubt that every coalition set up has its own needs and demands but being the responsible high ups, they would continue to do such acts. Asked about this impact without bringing into the knowledge of many departmental and wings heads, he viewed that secretaries of the departments were administrative heads and competent enough to make these transfers. He further said that this was part of the 'change management' formula of running administration. "Sometimes you go for incremental approach and sometimes you opt for tectonic change approach," he said.

Chief Secretary Punjab Javed Mehmood says he took these steps to improve governance. He said it was necessary to give jerks to the administration to make them realise they were government employees and nothing else. "There is no political motive or victimisation. If anyone has such a complaint he should lodge it before the proper forum." Previously, he alleged, there was no culture of serving people. According to the reports, most of the officials, including those appointed in districts, would not sit in their offices, the Chief Secretary explained.

"I own and defend these jerks," he said, "I am the competent authority to do this so one should not make this a political issue or see it in a specific mindset." He added that being the competent authority he would continue transfers and to give a realisation to the public servants that they are supposed to address the issues of people.

"I have also opened the door of my office for general public to remove their grievances." He said that the society must think that these steps were in positive direction. He said that the government officials would have to change this culture of absenteeism, and ignoring public. He said this all was not new but always happened for a big change. "You have to shake up for a big change that is why massive level transfers have been made." This has nothing to do with Shahbaz Sharif and politics but governance.

Independent experts believe that every new government has been taking such steps. The objective is usually seems to make its own team or give a jerk to the government servants and get ready to work with a spirit in line with the elected political set up ruling at that time. They also stressed on the need for a proper and fair mechanism for appointments and transfers at government level. "However, this is not worrying or new in our system except that this was unexpectedly a strong jerk," an independent observer said.

A Hindu folk dance and singing troupe is performing at 'Alhamra Cholistan Festival 2008'. The cultural caravan has traveled to Lahore from the famously drought-stricken areas of the Cholistan desert.

The most conspicuous among the troupe is a character, Nagu Lal, 30, a Jhoomer dancer, who perplexes the onlookers because it is hard to guess his gender.

"Look at the lady swirling on her toes at the ranti, studded with 'ghungroos'," says Reshma, 22, a student visiting an earthen-ware stall placed at the festival. Ranti is a Rajhastani musical instrument. No, the dancer is he and not she, replied her brother, Irfan, an engineer by profession, who works for an architecture firm.

Curiosity forced them to have a closer look at Nagu Lal. The fact that he is a man who plays a woman's role and that too, so well that people find it hard to believe, makes him enigmatic and draws people to him in multitudes at such festivals.

Nagu, a father of six, is a resident of a village near the Indian border in the Cholistan desert. He performs every night at the festival with the same composure.

Cholistan is locally known as Rohi. This famous desert is 30km from Bahawalpur and spans over an area of 16,000sq km which sprawls up to the Thar desert stretching upto Sindh.

"People see me with their eyes wide open as they are unable to ascertain my gender while seeing me in the guise of a Cholistani woman. Certainly, it makes me happy," says Nagu.

"I cannot perform Jhoomer without ranti," he says. Ranti-players in this troupe are my gurus because I have learnt this art from them since childhood," Nagu says.

Ranti-players, Megha Lal, Sudheer Lal and Lakho Lal, have also remained famous Jhoomer-dancers but with the passage of time due to old age they switched over to ranti-playing.

"We performed a lot with ghungroos in our feet at various religious and cultural festivals but this art cannot be performed in old age as it needs energy and practice," he says.

Jhoomer has been the most popular folk dance among the Marwari Bheels, a Hindu caste for centuries but their ancestors passed down this art to their young ones to make this folk dance long-lasting.

"I was just eight when I first performed 'Jhoomer' at a wedding and then I realised that I had natural inclination towards this art. I started learning this art from my uncle while performing with them at different family, public and religious events," Nagu said.

Traditions bar these desert-bound artists to let their women perform in public as the women of this Hindu, Marwari Bheel caste, can dance and sing only at the family functions not for public entertainment programmes.

"We dance with our women at marriages and other events at homes as our women are not allowed to do that at public places on account of religious and cultural restraints," says Lakhu Lal, a ranti expert and Nagu's uncle.

The troupe's costumes made of rich-textures amuse Lahorites as a delicate combination of the fiery-coloured cholas of the ranti players and the multiple-coloured dress of Nagu, made them more attractive at the festival.

"The costumes of women in Cholistan are colourful with embroidery. Long embroidered shirts with baggy shalwars, dupattas and 'chunris', Ghagras which are prepared beautifully in strong contrast. Village women still wear heavy skirts made of 40 yards of cloth known as Cholas Hath Ghagra. Men wear embroidered and colourful Cholas (long shirts). Balaposh (robe like coat), heavy baggy shalwars, Turkish caps, turbans and zari shoes. There are plain and embroidered colourful Cholas, Bandis, Turbans, and Balaposh," said Sudheer Lal, clad in a fiery-coloured feet-long chola.

People have great faith in religion, Pirs, saints and shrines. They love music and singing. In the absence of other musical instruments even a 'Ghara' (pitcher) would keep the concert going. The Cholistan people tend to preserve their primitive customs and traditions in context of religious and cultural values.

"We perform Jhoomer while singing songs in Hindi, Saraiki and Urdu languages at the temples on the eve of religious festivals," say the troupe.

To highlight cultural richness through Jhoomer, Nagu mesmerises the art-lovers with his performance in the artificial-lit festival night with a 'ghara' pitcher on his head.

"I am adept in performing Jhoomer while keeping 'ghaara' over my head as I am used to mounting the sand dunes along with my family members and friends, especially when the spring season sets in after a long spell of drought," Nagu said.

Fire worship is still common among the Bheels like other Hindus as they purify their souls with a deep-daring confrontation with it.

Nagu's performance with fire was really awe-inspiring at the festival which stunned the onlookers as he played with fire like a child does with his toys.

"I perform with fire for my allegiance to 'Krishan Baghwan' at different temples in a bid to seek assistance and forgiveness of my god, Krishan. Being a Hindu, I believe in purification of my soul through worship of fire. This is what makes me more daring and bold while performing Jhoomar at public events with fire," says Nagu.

"It seems as if this troupe, especially Nagu, is performing just for the sake of art and not for fame or money. Nagu's art comes out of his soul as his performance makes people fix their gazes at him. Such an artist is really an asset," says Alhamra Art Council Assistant Director Zulfiqar Zulfi.