You have two rigorous days of non stop activities, educational sessions, seminars and then you get to see Ali Azmat… to me, that was a much deserved break. School of Tomorrow, International Education and Cultural Festival, by Beaconhouse School System was a recently organized two day event for students, parents and educationists bringing them all together at one platform to discuss their issues and come out with plausible solutions to those.
School of Tomorrow was a festival of sorts that aimed to prepare students for tomorrow. The sessions featured some of international professors sharing their experiences from around the world and helping local teachers adopt the best practices in Pakistan. Students from all over Pakistan attended the event to the point that on the last day they had to close the gates as they could not accommodate more inside the premises.
The festival was a free event for public that not only marked 40 years of the organizing school system but also came out as an opportunity for the youngsters to take part in panel discussions, workshops, etc. related to different fields, including robotics. To top it all, it had entertainment elements like play, short film festival, dastaangoi and concert.
Now, coming to the concert part. The festival ended on a high note as Ali Azmat stepped on stage to enthrall the students as well as their parents. After all, Ali Azmat is amongst the few singers in Pakistan who has managed to stay in our hearts generation after generation. We are pretty sure a young father would have some songs by Ali Azmat he could relate to while his child would have some other song by the veteran as a permanent feature of his ipod playlist.
It was commendable to see Ali Azmat perform for a couple of hours without any breaks and still turned out to be super charged till his last song. He started off with his evergreen Neend Aati Nahi to set the mood for the show so that the audience could get enough time to settle down for more fun. From there he went onto Yaaron Yehi Dosti Hai which has always been a hot favourite amongst youngsters, be it 19 years ago or now. These two songs were enough to charge up the audience for the next highly energetic song – Mera Mahi.
From the same album, Inquilab, released in 1996, Mera Mahi compels you to get on your feet and bang your head along with the tune. Yaar Bina from Junoon’s album, Azadi, followed which took us back to the times of booming music scene in Pakistan. A time when the plethora of music channels wasn’t there but great videos kept coming in.
Next up was the soothing Taara Jala from Junoon’s 2003 release Dewaar and Khudi that was perfect for the occasion, as it inspired the youth to stand up and do more for the society.
Ali Azmat also sang his solo tunes post Junoon career. His Bollywood song, Maula, was quite appreciated as well since most of the young lot could recognize it immediately.
Since he has been doing rounds in Coke Studio too, it would have been unfair if he didn’t sing one of his renditions from the show. And the best he could deliver at this point of time was this season’s Rangeela. The song is fresh, upbeat and is typically Ali Azmat, groovy with a meaning.
With a little over two hours of performing live, Ali Azmat showed no signs of mellowing down. He was completely charged and so was his audience and there are very few people in this country who can make the crowd hooked to one performer for so long. School of Tomorrow had an interesting two-day activity but the finale was no doubt the cherry on top.
Pictures, courtesy Facebook
