SRINAGAR: A two day festival aimed at reviving interest in fading Kashmiri culture began at Islamic University of Science & Technology (IUST) today with fanfare and gusto.
A student initiative, supported by Kashmir Observer, Samanbal-Meeting for Celebration- was joined by hundreds of enthusiastic students from within and outside the varsity.
There was excitement in campus air with students making every effort to add colour to the festival.
The Talent Club of IUST, the organisers had invited a galaxy of guests.
Since the festival coincided with the saffron harvesting season tourism department too had joined hands with the Samanbal team to make its Saffron Festival a success.
Minister of Tourism Ghulam Ahmad Mir and Director Tourism Mr.Talat Pervez were also present.
The minister unveiled the logo of Samanbal and announced free training for students interested in adventure sports like mountain climbing and para- gliding.
Umar Makhdoomi and Taben Shah, two bright anchors from IUST welcomed the guests.
The briefing of events was announced by Dr. Afroz Bisati from the Department of Arabic, IUST, after which Iqra Hussain and Asif Shabir took it forward.
The festival kick started with mimicry and stand-up comedy which saw participation from four colleges, Islamia College, IUST, Central University and Kashmir University (South Campus).
While the show was on here, in other part of the campus, Creative Writing Workshop Competition had already commenced. More than 30 students took part in the competition which had the theme Gifts of Nature. Collage making had the participation of four teams; Islamia College, Central University, SSM and IUST, each with 3 members. There was no theme given to the students and they had to make Collages according to their own choice.
Three documentaries were also screened at the festival for which the participating teams were from Central University, Kashmir University (South Campus) and IUST.
Noted Kashmiri poet and satairist, Zareef Ahmed Zareef graced the occasion and gave a mesmerising talk to students on the Kashmiri culture in his typical style.
The Childrens Theatre group from Help Foundation, Shehjar performed a heart-warming play pertaining to the plight of children and the problems faced by them. There was also a guest performance by Ghulam Mohiudin Abdali from the Cultural Academy who enthralled the audience with his soulful singing in Kashmiri. Besides him, noted television actor and comedian Mr. Nazir Josh also entertained the audience with his Stand-up Comedy.
Another highlight of todays event was the first screening of the trailer of the film Raftaar which is the hard work of a small group of students belonging to IUST. The films storyline revolves around a stunt biker.
The activities for the day ended with a vote of thanks by Dr. Fouzia Qazi.
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