The ludicrousness of the situation has me getting this racking laugh out of my system before I pen my review of Bridal Couture Week for Dawn. I flew out for the event because I have been going on and on about the significance of a bridal platform for Pakistan and I wanted to justify my nagging scribbles. So there I was, in the chilly city of Lahore driving out to the Royal Palm for a press con that was apparently introducing visiting designer Muzaffar Ali from India to us. Great. Time check. I was running half an hour late. Damn.
Apparently not enough damn. The Summit Hall was empty half an hour into the scheduled time, with just a couple of lost reporters and cameramen strolling here and there in search of direction. Another half hour and several calls later the organizers appeared and apologized that there would be no press conference…WHY WHY…because Abida Parveen and Shamim Ara were in critical condition at the hospital and the reporters had quickly sorted out their priorities and rushed off for the better story.
Despite the inconvenience of driving out in the cold – from DHA to the Royal Palm – it was impossible not to see the lighter side of the story. I mean WTF, would fashion journalists walk out of a India Couture Week press con if say Amitabh Bachchan was taken ill? No of course not, because a separate set of journos covers that beat. It’s called entertainment and guess what? Fashion doesn’t fall under entertainment! LOL!!
Moral of the story: there are no fashion journalists in Lahore (except for a few) and everyone’s init for the fun and glamour…and of course for the society pages. What would Lahore be without society eh?
Credit to the organizers, especially Shanaz Ramzi of HUM TV, Jalal Salahuddin of J&S and Vaneeza Ahmad, Producer of BCW, for making Muzaffar and Meera Ali available to the (literal) handful of people present and making the trip worthwhile.
NOTE: Satire apart, I wish Abida Parveen and Shamim Ara the best of health and speedy recoveries. Traditions in film and music, after all, would not be the same without them.
