Basant “clearing the misconception”

Basant is a festival observed with great enthusiasm in the sub-continent (India and Pakistan) way before independence. People started celebrating basant back in the days when agriculture was the big profession and sarson plants gave their beautiful yellow flowers. It’s an agricultural festival .Different societies in the world are recognized through their culture and basant has been part of our culture long before any of us were born. This unique event has a lot more associated with it that we can’t realize. Basant is the identity of Lahore and is what makes Lahore the liveliest city of them all. There are many different opinions associated with whether to celebrate basant or to ban it, however no one considers the significance of basant for the not-so-fortunate people. Unlike the rich, they do not have the luxury of Broadband Internet, Wi-Fi, the poor don’t have HDTV, DVD players, Laptops etc. Basant originally was a sport of poor people, and was enjoyed greatly by them however this culture was then given a slightly different direction by the elites of the society. Invitation from places like “Salu ki Hawaili” and invites from different hawailis started the dance, drinking, and firing culture, and its sad to say that our rulers, and government officials were all part of it. Basant since then has been negatively portrayed and along came different opinions of religious extremists and intellectuals of the society. I remember for me and for most of the people of Lahore basant was an event filled with colors, joy, entertainment and gathering of relatives and friends. Basant in Pakistan, particularly in Lahore, my city, could be described as a mega event. It was the center of attention for people of all ages, young or old, everyone was in it. This event was the biggest of them all, you name it Diwali, Holi, and you name it. Basant alone was grander than any other festival celebrated in Asia, or for that matter in the World itself. Today, however a gloomy picture is laid in front of us with questions arising whether to include it in our culture or not.
In addition to a form of entertainment, Basant and kite flying was a source of income for many. The women, (as in a society such as Pakistan) who faced opposition as to go out and work, easily made kites and earned a sustainable income from the comfort of their home. Other than these different rooftops in inner Lahore were booked by multinationals paying huge amounts to the owners. Hotels were booked full and an inflow of capital through tourism and different people coming in Lahore pumped a lot of investment in the economy. An economic activity of almost two billion rupees is generated for the people of Pakistan through this event.
Higher authorities responsible for making decisions whether to allow basant or ban it should worry more about making it safe and keeping this part of our culture alive rather than sitting around and banning in because they are not responsible enough to take necessary measure.

Long live Basant
Long live Pakistan