Placer County California Celebrates August 14 th with Patriotic Fervor
By Ras H. Siddiqui
Pakistan’s Independence Day was celebrated in California’s Placer County with a small gathering held at the residence of Aslam and Fouzia Godil on Saturday, August 14 th, 2021. In this age of the COVID-19 pandemic it was prudent to keep things small, outside and for the vaccinated. But no effort or enthusiasm was lacking here as a tastefully arranged evening of food, patriotic fervor and entertainment was in store for all of us. Expectations were high because when Pakistani American doctors and their friends put together an event it is usually quite elaborate and high quality. The décor was impressive right off the bat as Pakistani flags greeted everyone all the way from the entrance of the residence to the backyard which was transformed to reflect a love of Pakistan.
Dinner was served first, with a cake cutting ceremony carried out by community youth kicking off the formalities. And speaking of youth, Faraaz Godil was the emcee for the evening. He not only did well but this young American also presented some very impressive Urdu poetry mixed in with his presentation. Haroon and Hassan were next invited for the invocation and recited the Surah Rahman from the Holy Qur’an along with its English translation. And an interesting mix followed as American-born Ayesha Godil sang the Pakistani National Anthem and her Pakistani mother Fouzia sang the American Anthem (normally this would have been the other way around). The audience fully participated in both. And to top it off Indian American Seema Minhaj next started the entertainment segment by singing Lab Pe Aaati Hai Dua one of the most famous poems of Allama Iqbal. It was great to see some Indian Americans in attendance here.
Asif Haq next elevated the patriotic mood for the evening with the singing of a fine “Mere Piyare Watan.” Sania Jan, another community youth, shared some of her Pashto-speaking KPK background along with her thoughts on visiting family in Peshawar and seeing Lahore. Maybe she can visit Karachi next time too since an often-overlooked fact is that it is the largest Pakhtun city in the world. It has more Pashto-speakers than either Peshawar or Kabul, Afghanistan.
The next segment was a skit performed by our community luminaries Naeem and Durriya Syed. As always theirs was not just a comedy but a thinking routine. Their performance was a unique use of today’s social media tools and how events that unfolded during Pakistan’s historical birth would be portrayed today through them (e.g. Hashtags). They both wore predominantly white clothing with lot less green than white. This was, we found out, an attempt to highlight the cause of minorities in Pakistan (the small white strip in the Pakistani flag) and Quaid-i-Azam’s August 11, 1947, speech in which he guaranteed freedom for all religious beliefs in the new country of Pakistan. The question must be asked: has today’s Pakistan kept that promise?
Khalid Siddiqui sang Sohni Dharti next and Amer Khan presented some inspiring poetry by Josh Malihabadi along with verses in English and some choice words on the topic of freedom. An interesting twist here is that the music for Sohni Dharti was originally composed by the legendary Pakistani Maestro Sohail Rana and Amer just happens to be his nephew.
Young Mustafa next shared quite a story on his trials and tribulations of flight delays in Pakistan (flight delays in America can be equally cumbersome but are less exotic). And next it was the Q/A session coordinated by Musarrat and Zareen which generated a great deal of interest. In a nutshell the questions asked of anyone in the audience were : “1) What has Pakistan given to you? 2) What have you given back to it?” This was a very patriotic group and the answers were very interesting and diverse. My own answers to these are very short: 1) Pakistan has given us a great deal. 2) I have given back very little. One longer answer was given by Rukhsana Riaz as she shared not only her association with the Quaid’s lesser-known sister Shireen Jinnah, but the sacrifices given by not just the officers but the families of Pakistan’s Armed Forces (like her own) for the country. Two Indian guests were also asked to share their thoughts here and one of them had this answer - Pakistan had given her wonderful friends!
And next Pakistani-American Rapper Zaki Bhai (Syed) had a great deal to add and share besides his definition of identity. His “Pakistan Zindabad” presentation was quite well received here. Doctor Samreen Jamshed next sang a vibrant “Tu Mera Pakistan” and Musarrat Afshan closed the individual on-stage singing with “Yeh Watan Tumhara Hai.”
The event did not end there as gifts were given out to the best “Pakistani Dressed” people who attended. Gifts for four separate categories were presented, best dressed youth boy and girl and best adult lady and man. And last but not least many people got up on the stage to collectively sing along to famous Pakistani patriotic tunes including “Dil Dil Pakistan” and “Jeevay Pakistan” to name a few. And later, there was some off-stage dancing too.
To conclude, it was quite an evening. The nostalgia was quite prevalent, and a strong sense of our cultural duality prevailed for at least this one evening. Pakistan Zindabad!
