Enter Raja: Making Punjab “Destination Happiness”

By Waqar Jappa

If you are reading this blog in a hope that the writer will transport you to some fairy world of ONCE UPON A TIME……. where you might get a chance to amuse your good selves by learning about the achievements of certain Raja who once ruled certain state and left a rich legacy behind but unfortunately, his inept successors could not actually get along well with the circumstances that followed. I warn you to stop it here right now. You will be highly disappointed. Nothing of that sort is going to happen. Long gone are the days when stories used to begin like that.

Now times have changed, so have stories and of course, Rajas. If you are still sticking to this blog, I appreciate your taste for “Bad (tameez)” literature. Anyways, it’s your choice. There is very little that I can do about it except producing more of it!

That brings us to the hero of our story- The RAJA.  Rings a bell?  Sounds familiar? Isn’t it? Bravo! I can understand where you are coming from.  Wait. Let me guess. Hmm. No. You are wrong. He is not the Raja that is stuck in your frame of reference. I can dare you. I can double dare you, he is not that black jeans, black shirt, black leather jacket and black glasses wearing guy dancing  with Madhuri Dixit from the 90s blockbuster Bollywood movie RAJA.

And in case you might be wondering about your second best guess, let me disappoint you, he never ascended Pisa tower with Shusmita Sen just to sing some Dilber Dilber song! Enough!You have lost me. You know, the problem with most of you is that much of your guessing is coming from movies.

Expand horizons of your mental faculties and try something new.  How about talk shows? The political ones. No. Actually stop it. I am afraid the next thing your genius will unleash is going to be read something like RAJA RENTAL. Too much! Let’s drop our quest for The Raja for a while with a promise that I will reveal to you the real raja before I finish this blog and talk about the man and his team who are striving very hard to make Punjab a “Destination Happiness”.

Yes! Destination Happiness. Trust me it’s not just a fancy bureaucratic promise, this man has got a plan. Mind you a workable plan! Right from vision to idea to implementation and if his track record is to be believed, he is damn good with the latter. Things have changed since he ascended into Information& Culture Department some 6 months ago. Every single attached body with Administrative Department is undergoing an overhaul. His unending energy is driving and inspiring us all to rise above ourselves and contribute something meaningful to the society. He literally is a man in hurry who is walking into chaos and creating order, making things happen.

Making Punjab a “destination happiness” is a lofty task but it is doable. This is how we go about it. Here is the roadmap.

• Punjab Culture Policy: Don’t pretend to be surprised if I tell you that we don’t have a National Culture Policy leave Punjab alone! Probably, it was the great revolutionary poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz who made a serious attempt to come up with a policy draft when he was Chairman Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) but it never saw the light of the day until recently. Now after the 18^th amendment, culture with many others is a provincial subject and the good news is Information and Culture Department, Government of the Punjab is seriously working on a culture policy draft that will be ready by first half of this year. This is the much needed guideline document that will set the course for making Punjab destination happiness.
• Al-Hamrah Unplugged Season-1: Close your eyes, take three longs breaths, stretch your imaginations and think when did you listen to some sweet and soulful music lastly? Long ago. I guess. Lately, with my apologies, all you have been listening to is noisy trash with lot of glitz and glamour. Enough of the suffering. The wait is over. Get ready for a soulful musical roller coaster that will transport you into a world of happiness and elevation.   

Al- hamrah Unplugged Season-1 is about to release and soon it will be on your T.V screens. It’s an amazing music production by Lahore Arts Council, Information & Culture Department. Let me take the liberty to say “its music of the youth, by the youth and for the youth.” Before I switch to my next point, ask yourself, when did you last hear a Government sponsored musical season ever launched?  Gentlemen! It’s history in the making and a proof that things are changing for better. Wish Al Hamrah Unplugged Season-1 luck!

• Artist Khidmat Card: Yes, gone are the days, when our artists would die on roads protesting and lamenting for not being taken care of by the Government. Information & Culture department is mindful of the needs of this rarely gifted segment of our society. It believes in their talent and aims to never let it die just because of financial constraints. Trust me this is going to be a” plastic magic” thing that will spread smiles on the face of the artists residing in any corner of the province.

This “Khidmat card” will be issued to individuals who have made significant contribution in any field of art such as; music, dance, film, T.V, theatre, painting, calligraphy, sculpture etc. Currently, Information and Culture Department is collecting data of the artists from all over the province to make sure that every artist is accommodated and nobody is left behind in this wonderful journey of happiness.

• Saluting Aitezaz Hassan Shaheed: To many this 15 years old kid from a small village in Hangu who gave his life to save his fellow school mates by stopping the suicide attacker to enter his school and take many lives would be just another ordinary son of the soil. But that’s not true. It takes lot of courage to even think about what he actually did- sacrificed his own present for a better future of his fellow school mates. He no doubt, is a symbol of courage and resilience against all those who want to harm the mother land.

He might not have books written about him and history of resilience against the nefarious mechanics of the enemies of the mother land might not give him his due space.  But, Information & Culture Department in collaboration with one of the country’s few good film makers have made a film called “Salute”. Soon it will be shown in all educational institutions of the Punjab.  It will go a long way in promoting the narrative of peace in the young minds. At the same time, Aiteezaz would find a place in the hearts and minds of the young students who owe him much.

In the end, in case you are still wondering about the Real Raja I promised to tell you in the proceeding paragraphs, let me help you put your tails down. Here is the name. Stop it. Before I tell you, let me ask you, don’t you know him already by now? Come on! Guts don’t lie. Have a good read and wish Destination Happiness luck!

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Writer is a part time actor, occasional documentary film maker and a regular blogger. He has an M.Phil in media studies.