Cultural evening held to raise funds for BSML

Islamabad
To raise funds for the Bright Star Mobile Library, (BSML) the ambassador of Italy, Adriano Chiodi Cianfarani and Serena Hotel, under its Social, Environmental and Educational Development (SEED) programme, organised a cultural evening featuring world famous guitarist, Carlos Ambrosio. The event was held at the Shamadan Hall and attended by a large number of supporters though not everyone was a classical music devotee.
Addressing the gathering, patron of the BSML, Ambassador Cianfarani said education was important for the growth and progress of any country and it is one of the priorities of the Italian/Pakistani development cooperation. Adding that he was pleasantly surprised when his government suggested Carlos should come to Pakistan to promote the cultural ties between the two countries, he informed they were classmates in school. “I am happy to reconnect with him,” he said and concluded by thanking Serena Hotel for its support; members of his embassy for organising the event and hoped everyone would enjoy the evening.
CEO Serena Hotels, Aziz Boolani said SEED was an important part of Serena Hotels programme to promote and support education and other initiatives that improve the life of less privileged persons and they were happy to cooperate. He then presented a cheque of Rs250,000 to Saeed Malik, the man behind BSML.
Saeed Malik thanked the Italian ambassador and Aziz Boolani for their support and said a few words about the project after which a short documentary was screened showing the mobile library and the effect its visit has on children.
There followed about an hour of classical music in which compositions from the 19th and 20th centuries were played and while there is no doubt about his skill, it was the passion with which the artiste played that made the concert special for classical music aficionados — his love for the guitar was evident! Selections from different composers delighted the classical music enthusiasts but the loudest applause was heard for the exuberantly rendered fusion piece. Sarfaraz Ahmed on ‘tabla’ and Sarang (Abida Parvin’s son) on ‘tanpura,’ joined the Italian maestro on stage for a short rendering of a western classic which came about after a very short rehearsal. More of the same would have gone down well with the audience as a whole but it was time to wrap up and bring the concert to a close. Regretfully titles of compositions and their composers cannot be given as there was no written programme and announcements that were not clear could not be heard at the rear of the hall.
Guitarist and composer, Carlos Ambrosio began playing the guitar at the age of six. He has toured the world intensively since 1970, giving thousands of concerts around the world and recording recitals for radio and television companies in almost all the countries he visited. Winner of international competitions, he has given conferences, lectures and master classes at the Montclair State College (USA), the University of Jyväskylä and the University of Turku (Finland), the Sibelius Akademie (Helsinky), the Conservatory of Istanbul and the Mimar Sinan Universitesi.
The Bright Star Mobile Library project was initiated by Saeed Malik who, on seeing the dismal state of education in the country, felt that books were the way to broaden children’s minds; to introduce them to different subjects and to help build tolerance for others. Discovering that virtually none of the public schools in and around Islamabad had libraries, he decided to take books to the children. He then called in some contacts to help get the project going. The U.N. World Food Programme donated the two vans; Pakistan’s National Library, the Asia Foundation and the San Francisco Public Library donated the books.
Like for most nonprofit organisations, funding is fragile. The project runs on a shoestring budget, relying on donations and volunteers. At the moment, BSML reaches about 5000 children and growing. A permanent reading room is also on the cards.