The World Association of Flower Arrangers(WAFA) a not for profit organistion of international floral art societies,recently celebrated its 29th year as the global authority on floral design and aesthetics in Boston,USA.
Amongst the 30 participating countries was also a group of Pakistani ladies associated with the Floral Art Society of Pakistan who participated in this grand event and made a mark and a noticeable impact in the World Flower Show that was attended by floral design enthusiasts,art lovers,competitors,conservationists and connoisseurs of international culture.
In the World Flower Show Competition there were a total of 31 classes of competitions with such name tagsasInsects,Beasts,Minerals,Music,Candy,Evolution,Wheels,Zipper,Fireworks,Birds,Electricity,Mirage,Dance,Synergy,Storm,Stones,Xray,Seasons,Glass,Surprise,Maic,Painting,Writing,Space,Fire,Travel and Critter. Out of the Pakistani Ladies participating in this grand show those who emerged on top in their categories were Maryam Bangash 1st in Critter and Travel categories of the competition and Sameena Ahmed 1st in X Ray .In the Surprise category,Nishat Khan was the top winner,while Naushaba Khalil was in the forefront in Sunset category and Humaira Babar was 1st in Wheels category..
Some of the Pakistani ladies who won positions other than the first were Yasmin Raziuddin,2nd in XRay category,Maimuna Haji,2nd in Evolution category,BiMaleka Hssain,3rd in Magic category,Sofia Aijaz 3rd in Sunset category,Farha Aquil,2nd in Writing category, Wiqarunnisa 2nd in Wheels category and Abreen Irfan,3rd in Dance category.Those who won consolation prizes were Nasreen Shah(Insects cat),Bina Iqbal(Beasts cat),Muleika Syed(Sticks cat),Zeenat Afridi and Anjum Muddasir(Music cat),Salma Feroz(Evolution cat),Shela Dutta(Zipper),Shandana Bangash(Electricity cat),Zarin Patel(Dance cat),and Tabassum Shah and Nafissa Tapal(Fire cat).Other related achievements are that in the overall grading Pakistan came third after US and UK and one of our ladies,Farhana Azim gave a thirty minutes demonstration on My Homeland depicting the resilience of people of Pakistan,this being an honor bestowed on only five of the thirty one countries,present.
Mrs Noshin Sarfraz,a flower and horticulture expert who accompanied the Pakistani Group told us on her return to Pakistan that this accomplishment of the skilled ladies did not get noticed by the media although many Pakistanis who visited the World Flower Show considered it “a breath of fresh air for them” and that included businessmen,diplomats,chartered accountants,doctors and many others.
