Salahuddin Haider
Local and village style phool patti designs, displayed so far mostly on tankers, trucks and auto rickshaws was first introduced by former Swiss consul general Emil Wyss, and now it is becoming popular among most diplomats, the latest being Japanese consul general Toshikazu Isomura. He inaugurated it at his consulate during an impressive ceremony here along with the annual calendar exhibition for year 2020.Japanese are extremely courteous, lovely, and traditionally heritage loving people. Phool Patti, has now find place from rotten roads, narrow lanes, and streets to diplomat’s residences and offices, and it seems that soon it will become and industry, winning much needed foreign exchange for the country.At the calendar exhibition, an annual feature with the Japanese diplomatic mission, Isomura also invited two little known artistes Tariq Khan and Iqbal to display their arts, hitherto unknown, to a galaxy of people, crowding the consulate main hall Tuesday afternoon.Both Iqbal and Tariq demonstrated their work by working on canvases before the guests, invited for the occasion. More than three dozen such canvasses painted with what was so far written on the rear portions of trucks, dumpers, tankers and auto rickshaws to the great delight of the people. Colours were captivating and designs picked from Japanese
art, that also showed cherry blossom people, which is just two months away and is celebrated with great enthusiasm in Japan every year.In his speech Mr Isomura pointed out that calendars depict Japanese scenery, daily life style, and cultural heritage in a compressed manner that allows to gage the
essence of Japan. He also talked of coming Olympics in Japan this year in June in which several Pakistani sportsmen will also participate. Unfortunately, Pakistan’s national game hockey will be missing because of the failure of the Pakistan Hockey Federation to uplift a game in which Pakistan once was on top of the world, with three Olympic golds and four world cup titles.
