Just one of these days, I was randomly scanning through the radio having nothing better to do, as I sat in my car, waiting for the longest signals of all times to turn green, some RJ on air so caught my attention that I went on listening to him, intently, until I reached my destination.

I will have to admit that I'm really looking forward to listening to him again this week, only if I had but remembered what day, time and station it was. However, what surprised me most were the metaphorical torrents of calls and texts pouring in from people living all over Pakistan, from Karachi to Lahore to Sahiwal and Gwadar. Now that is unbelievable. I had no idea that I had been missing on so much...Radio had once again become so popular, how, I could not fathom.

With the advent of the television, radio was on its way to becoming an endangered specie not only in Pakistan but the world over. However, the turn of the millennium also saw a revival of radio culture. And the year 2000 onwards witnessed a huge popularity of the FM radio. FM radio quickly infiltrated the massive broadcast landscape and acquired a stupendous audience.

The audience, however, mostly comprised the youth. It largely but failed to cater to its former listeners. Amna Omar, a political science teacher in a local school, remarked, "it's too commercial. In our days, radio used to inculcate a civic sense but now I guess it's all music." This goes on to reiterate the fact that radio is now popular only among the youth.

Another school teacher, reminiscing about the exceptional dramas and ghazals aired on the good old radio, pointed out that "even the music was good then".

A fellow student said "a 30 minute programme on radio has about 20 minutes of advertisements and the programmes aired lack substance" which may yet be termed as a slight exaggeration by some.

The custodial staff in a local school unanimously agreed that radio had fallen from its former glory. The gatekeeper, Noor Din Muhammad said: "Back then radio was the only means of entertainment and local and world news. The whole family used to be hooked on to it and eagerly waited for their favourite programmes to be aired everyday, but now hardly anyone even owns a radio set".

Faizan Ali, a student remarks, "who needs a radio set in this day and age, when we have our mobile phones which is more convenient?"

Like him, the majority of people I spoke to believe that the reason why radio has become so popular all of a sudden is also largely that every other person today owns a cell phone and radio is thus available only on the click of a single key. Mobile phones and to some extent the internet have become the other means by which radio is accessed today. This is analogous to music and video cassettes being replaced by CDs and DVDs. The format has changed but the thing itself has survived this 'draconian' evolution of the radio.

Today radio is all about performing arts, poetry, politics, worldwide music, urban noise, lively radio jockeys, popular entertainment and advertising, vernacular speech, fractured language, all modes of talk and an array of cultural voices from the mainstream to the marginal. It is not only pure entertainment but there are programmes where guests belonging to various professional fields are invited too.

One comes across radio hosts like Sidra Iqbal and Fasi Zaka, who are renowned journalists. "Then there are channels like City FM 89 and Radio 1, who have gone so far to promote young talent in Pakistan that once FM 91 was actually searching for this girl named Maryam, who had randomly posted her song on the internet, to bring her to the forefront," told Mustafa Khan, a student.

The youth may call it radio at its best while those that relished the Radio Pakistan of the past may, overcome by nostalgia, call it a corruption of the radio culture.

A college student, Aneeqa Wattoo said, "I used to think that radio was the type of thing that was heard by some dreary bores and oldies but once I heard a programme on a particular channel, I was truly pleased. .Radio is both promoting new and upcoming talent as well as promoting arts, and it also has to offer a lot as far as general knowledge is concerned".

Another student, Nishay Sohail, an A-levels student suggested, "yes, radio has definitely become popular. See, we generally don't prefer Pakistani stuff but radio currently has become a trend and what I know from my experience, young people actually think listening to radio is cool, which in a way is really pleasing to know".

Sophyia Anjum, an RJ as well as a Senior Producer at Radio 1 FM 91, said: "Radio is by far the easiest and most popular means of communication. For those people who still believe that radio is for old people, think again. With the advent of the FM stations, the radio industry is on a roll! People can relate to it, understand it better because it has become real. To be honest, with all the loadshedding some time back I'm sure people had no choice but to switch to radio but well on a serious note whoever commutes to work daily, mostly is tuned to a radio channel."

Radio has slowly but surely made a huge come-back in Pakistan. It is once again eagerly sought for as a means of absolute quality entertainment if not also for heavy literary stuff that dominated the radio of our grandparents' generation.

So yes, the radio industry is here to stay, at least for another two decades or so. So happy listening!

• WPAF 2008 Classical Night

tonight at 9:15pm at Alhamra, Gaddafi Stadium. Ticket: Rs. 300

• Play at WPAF 2008: 'Permasher Singh' by Maas Foundation today at Alhamra, Gaddafi Stadium at 5pm. Ticket: Rs. 50. The play is written by Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi and directed by Aamir Nawaz. Maas Foundation has performed this play in India, Lahore and Islamabad.

• Aeriel Theatre (Netherland) presents Clever Peter at WPAF 2008 at Alhamra, Gaddafi Stadium. Today is the last day. Timings: 5-6pm. Ticket: Rs. 100

• WPAF 2008 -- UET Dramatic Society is presenting a play 'Death Beat' today from 5:30-6pm. Ticket: Rs. 200

Venue: Hall 2, Alhamra, Gaddafi Stadium

• Exhibition: '4 Eyes -- A Photographic Journey' is opening on Thursday, Nov 27 at Lahore Chitrkar at 7pm . It will continue till Nov 29.

Danka and Lahore Chitrkar are collaborating to organise an exhibition of photographic works by Waheed Khalid (Pakistan) and Lukas Berger (Austria).

Taken during year 2008, the photo selection (30 pictures)

portray a range of cultural activities, portraits and architecture of Pakistan.

Contact: Lukas Berger: 0344/4219860, Waheed Khalid: 0300/4710675

• Exhibition titled 'Transparent Society' opening at

Ejaz Art Gallery on Tuesday, Nov 25 at 6pm.

The exhibition is on till Dec 2. Its all water colour on paper by Masood A Khan.

The genre 'Islamic Art & Architecture' is generally used as a broad brush stroke to bracket the rich, vast and varied legacy of art and architecture belonging to Islamic civilization.

A common question that arises in the categorisation and use of such genres is: what is the common denominator that defines Islamic art and architecture? Interpretations range from the 'puritanical', which look at 'Islamic Art & Architecture' through its stylistic references, to the theoretical, which dwell upon the more philosophical and esoteric realm.

The third 'International Conference on Islamic Art and Architecture' (ICAA) was held at Lahore's National College of Arts, and brought together established scholars and practitioners from across the world.

In addition to the discussion of core themes, the conference touched upon the additional dimension of the relevance of the values and traditions of Islamic art and architecture to today's world.

The conference opened with a series of exhibitions, most notable of which was a rare collection of Islamic calligraphy art put together by renowned calligrapher Irfan Qureshi -- and displayed as a narrative from its birth to its various stages of evolution. Works also included architectural research by Taimur Khan exploring proportion and symbolism in the world's sacred monuments, intricate architectural drawings of Spain's Alhambra from the personal collection of Professor Abdul Rahman, and the works of twelve young miniature artists. In an effort to promote traditional crafts, a parallel exhibition of traditional Pakistani crafts was held at Tollington gallery.

Seminar themes on day-one were devoted to developing a traditional and theoretical background to the conference, where renowned traditionalist Kamil Khan Mumtaz presented the tradition-modernity-innovation paradox, and Indian educationist S M Akhtar questioned the term 'Islamic Architecture', clarifying it as a colonial construction. Day-two of the seminar was characterised by a more fluid discourse on the application of Islamic Art and Architecture in the contemporary world, such as the discussion proportion and harmony by Dr Paul Merchant. Day-three concluded with training workshops aimed at putting knowledge to practical use.

Basing his discussion on the establishment of the city of Madina 1400 years ago, scholar and educationist Abbas Hussain elaborated upon the core values and principles pertaining to Islamic urban life, relating these to today's intensely urbanising developing world where cities are agglomerations of poverty and discontent. In the context of the present global environmental crisis, architect Ayesha Noorani spoke on the symbolic use of water in Islamic architecture, giving it a new context by relating it to Islamic teachings about water use and conservation, with particular reference to the current global environmental crisis.

While the majority of sessions were accompanied by discussion, among the most stimulating themes developing from the conference was the paper 'Framing the Discourse on Islamic Art & Architecture', by Professor Gulzar Haider from Canada. The paper brought to the fore the metaphysical assertion that art and architecture have the power to "provide continuity among what has been and what is", and on the other hand have also been used by the powerful as "expressive instruments of power over the psyche of the ordinary population".

As such, Dr Haider's presentation opened up one of the best-silenced construction projects in the Muslim world today -- Mecca's 'Abraj al Bait'. The 595 metre tall building is a multi-billion dollar high-rise complex which is situated only across the street from one of the entrances to the Masjid-al-Haram -- literally "hovering over" the holy site.

The building complex which has been written about on platforms as distant as the New York Times, is to have a four-storey shopping mall, residential towers, heliports, and a conference centre. And while the building contains all the architectural elements typical of what are accepted as the elements of 'Islamic architecture' -- from the minaret to the arch -- it materialises the critical conflict between the sacred and the profane in architecture, demonstrating two bitter truths. Firstly, that the power of global financial capital is prevalent in its ugliest form in even Islam's most sacred city. And secondly, do ordinary Muslims have any voice at all in the decisions, form, and use given to the one site every Muslim associates with most deeply?

Whether or not events such as the ICAA form the 'fashionable' topics of our time, their role in providing the much needed platform for asking essential questions and broadening our understanding of issues we often take at face value cannot be underestimated. Needless to say, controversy and heated debate are symptoms of healthy forums such as the ICAA, which created a medium for a broad mix of age and inclination to interact in open deliberation over valid controversies. Also, the act of questioning discourse and perception enable the revisiting of the core values of Islam in a world overshadowed by facade and dogma.

The appropriateness of holding the event at an educational institution as opposed to behind the closed doors of a five star hotel was a welcome step. As reiterated by one of the participating students at the event, it would do good to allocate a longer stretch of time for discussion over issues that were raised during the sessions, in order that steps towards resolving and understanding follow the initiation of questioning.

"Most debut feature films are failures in one respect or the other," said Oliver Stone. Soch a feature film written and directed by Nida Khan, which had its premiere at The World Performing Arts Festival 2008, has a lot of things going for it, but in the end is let down by its weak characterisation of the main protagonist and its plot.

Its premise: when three elite friends (and the fourth who is actually a middle-class girl) hear the news of Benazir Bhutto's assassination, their world is changed forever. Or is it?

The opening of the movie is interesting, inspired by old Greek choruses, one hears whispers of different people talking about what is happening in the country. Because the audio is overlapping, it makes for a fascinating collage of voices in the dark.

The film's protagonist Fizza played by Sara Cheema and her friends find out the news while sitting in a fancy cafe. Later, Fizza has a Jerry Maguire moment and writes an 'honest' article denouncing Benazir Bhutto and every other politician as corrupt and no good for people. When her editor refuses to print the article, Fizza thinks that people do not know the truth and should be told and so her quest for 'change' and 'think' begins.

The problem is that as a viewer you don't have much sympathy for what Fizza wants to do. It is unclear throughout the movie of who Fizza really wants to change and think. It's a problem of storytelling. While Fizza vents out her anger with her friends of corruption and injustice, she does this in expensive cafes, bowling alleys, restaurants and shops. My problem with her as a character was that she distributes pamphlets among the 'common man' yet only wants to write and expose corrupt politicians. What has that ever done to change anything? Why doesn't she stop going to her expensive hangouts and go out and understand what the real problems of people are.

In a film story, there is a key event, a crisis and a resolution. The objective is that the protagonist goes through a life-changing experience. Each of these happen in Soch but Fizza as the main protagonist does not change anything about herself.

On the other hand, the rest of the friends are better sketched out. Zara's character played by Nida Khan, who is a middle class girl who works in a fashion house, has a beautiful monologue where she accepts her background as what it is. Omar, the son of a politician played by Usaf Shariq, goes through the life changing experience, when he is injured in a bomb blast and is horrified by how insensitive everyone has become and a special mention for Faryal Gauhar's scene chewing scene as a socialite.

The cinematography by Hasan Ali is worth a mention. Smooth dolly shots, especially in the dialogue-intensive scenes, give Soch a vibrant feel. Kudos also for lensing well-lit night scenes -- of which the movie has many -- which are notoriously difficult to shoot.

Let's make one thing clear; making a feature length film is not an easy feat. Nida Khan's debut in all other respects was a good effort. Her ear for what people actually said at that time is awfully true, her skills as director assured, what she needs is a screenwriter and then Nida Khan will be the one to watch out for.

'Life Back' by Italy/Germany based group was performed on the 16th and 17th of November at the World Performing Arts Festival. The play refutes all the conventions of popular drama. It has no chronological series of events, very little dialogue and a considerable part devoted to mime. It cannot be classified entirely as Absurdist, musical or mime.

'Life Back' opens with two clowns snoozing (they are clearly not fast asleep) on the stage, as if on a journey or tired from one. Once awake, they take off their noses, wigs and costumes to reveal a more gentlemen-like appearance with suits and ties. One of the clowns, now without the makeup, comes on stage to brief the audience as to what the play is about. The monologue, however, reveals very little and we are informed it's a play about two friends, Joe and Jack. While "Jack likes the sea Joe likes to spend vacation at the mountains." An argument follows and Jack is 'murdered' by Joe off-stage. The latter comes alive after his friends' prayer. Joe comes on the stage with the coffin and prays for some miracle. The dead Jack comes to life and the two friends enjoy swimming in an imaginary lake. What follows is a series of 'scenes' with no chronological development of events and events not related to each other.

The play carries all the elements of Absurdist theatre with a great deal of mime and music. Two characters are suspended in a space called stage without any identification of time -- both time in space and time of the day. There is no plot to follow. One thing happens after the other, without any chronology of events. Many quintessential elements of the Theatre of Absurd, however, are absent. Absurdist drama finds solace in silence when words fail whereas the play evades silence to substitute it with music and swift movements.

No one can refute Shakespeare's "world's a stage" cliche. While the world can be represented through stage, the stage shouldn't always be taken as a symbol of the world. Some plays demand it while others defy it. In 'Life Back' the stage space cannot be taken as a symbol of life and world, despite the title. It is a phase in life, an individual space devoted to two friends who keep changing roles, the most repeated being the culprit and the victim. The association of the two words 'Life' and 'Back' dodges the play itself. The only way I could relate the title with the play was through human desire to live life and the force to retreat to the animal instinct.

It is the obese Joe seen as the murderer, the ring master, the oppressor. Throughout the play, Joe is the controlling figure. While he is a smiling, laughing character Jack is seen crying miserably, helplessly like a lost child.

At various moments in the play, you want to leave the hall because you give up -- one thing happening after the other and nothing making sense to you. The moment you resolve to quit, the colours at the stage change and so does the music and costumes. Like a Beckettian play, you are anticipating action but in the absence of a plot, substantial action would not make sense. The attempt at looking for meaning in a meaningless work is the quintessential element of the post-modern chaos. It is most applicable in the play. The inseparable clowns are consistently attempting to ward off their clownish apparel to assume roles that would define them. The taking off of the clothes is an acceptance of their failure.

The two characters effectively used their bodies as 'props.' Joe superbly switched the roles from a bony, malnutritioned Jew in a concentration camp to a proud 'animal' in a circus responding to the audience's applaud. He works impressively with his voice and substantiates the 'unheard, unspoken cry' of man. Listening to Joe makes you thank the actors for little dialogue because of the poor spoken English, difficult to understand because of the accent.

Certain symbols in the play are too dominant to overlook. The dead bird in the cage followed by a 'human animal' (Jack) becomes a shocking representation of the beast within. This goes back to the beast within man, where friend becomes the oppressor. The 'human animal' yearns for the protection of the womb -- Jack plunges at a woman in the audience calling her 'mom.' Joe comes dressed as a woman, ties little dolls on the wire like clothes and one by one cuts the strings they are tied with.

All said and done, Jack is rewarded for his 'stunts' and dances with one of the girls in the audience. The two go back to their roles -- two clowns appear on stage once again. The play could be another day at the job. It could be the edification of the veneer that stereotypes different roles. The play offers interpretations at many levels. If that is not what you are looking for, you can enjoy the play looking at the individual 'scenes.' While the entertainment value of the play is questionable, themes and symbols offer profundity.