my Sindhi Poetry

زندگي زهر تو بنا سائين

زندگي زهر تو بنا سائين

بندگي بي اثر تو بنا سائين

تو بن ڪهڙي چاهت پنهنجي

اڌورو اندر تو بنا سائين

جيئن ڪهڙو مقصد  منهنجو

ويران گهر تو بنا سائين

تون جي راضي ناهين راڻا

دل هي اڱر تو بنا سائين

سمجهه ساڃهه ڪا سوچ ڪانهي

پاڻ بي خبر تو بنا سائين

شام اداس تون ۽ مان

شام اداس تون ۽ مان

خالي آڪاس تون ۽ مان

لائبرري جي خالي ڪنڊ ،                                      

ڪتاب شناس تون ۽ مان.

اکين جا لڪيل اشارا ،

موقعا خاص تون ۽ مان .

نظري ڪجهه ٻيو ڪينڪي،

ايڏا بد حواس تون ۽ مان.

ڳوٺ جا پنڌ اڻانگا ،

بک ۽ تاس تون ۽ مان.

روزڪري سينگار اچين ٿي.

روزڪري سينگار اچين ٿي.

کولي پنهنجا وار اچين ٿي .

هر ادا تي سڀ عاشق آهيون،

سونهن جي سردار اچين ٿي.

تنهنجي ديدار جا سڀ ديوانا،

اکين ۾ تون بار بار اچين ٿي.

سهيلين سان سٿ ۾ گهمندي،

ڪونجن جي ڄڻ قطار اچين ٿي.

بخاري جي بيتن وانگي،

خيالن جي ڪا اڏار اچين ٿي.

ايئين کلي ڳالهائيندي نه ڪر.

ايئين کلي ڳالهائيندي نه ڪر.

سڄي دنيا جلائيندي نه ڪر،.

هڪ مرڪ ئي مست ٿي ڪري ،

هٿ ۾ هٿ ملائيندي نه ڪر.

نظر نه لڳي پوئي ڪٿي ڪائي ،

اکين ۾ ڪاجل لڳائيندي نه ڪر.

تون ته صفا بي چئي آن،

لالي لبن تي لائيندي نه ڪر.

ڪو ڪسجي نه پئي ايڏي حسن تي،

رئي ۾ اجرڪ پائيندي نه ڪر.

حسن اوهانجو امرت اسان لاء،

سڀن  جي سامهون ڀائيندي نه ڪر.

ڪئمپس اداس آ ، هو آئي نه آ.

ڪئمپس اداس آ ، هو آئي نه آ.

اڌورو ڪلاس آ، هو آئي نه آ.

گلڙن آهي هاڻي ته کلڻ ڇڏيو،

خوشبو نه واس آ ، هو آئي نه آ.

ڏينهن ڏٺي جو گهر موٽندي،

خوف ۽ حراس آ، هو آئي نه آ.

آخر تائين رهيو ڪو انتظار ۾،

اڌوري آس آ، هو آئي نه آ.

ڪنهن ٿي ساريو هر هر هن کي،

موقعو خاص آ، هو آئي نه آ.

سونهن سلامت رهي هميشه ،

عشق کي شاباس آ، هو آئي نه آ.

زندگي جو امتحان اڻائون آ،

ٿيڻو به پاس آ، هو آئي نه آ.

          

چهري تي نقاب عجيب لڳي ٿو.

چهري تي نقاب عجيب لڳي ٿو.

ادب ۾ حساب عجيب لڳي ٿو.

نظرون جي قاتل سي آزاد آهن،

مصنوعي حجاب عجيب لڳي ٿو.

لطيف يونيورسٽي جرڪي پئي آ،

وڇوڙي جو خواب عجيب لڳي ٿو.

تون جي ناهين ڪلاس ۾ته،

هر ناول جو باب عجيب لڳي ٿو.

انسانيت جو اگر قدر ناهي ڪو،

ملي جو ڏوهه ثواب عجيب لڳي ٿو.

عظمتن جا الڳ پئمانا ٿي پيا،

ڀوتار کي عالي جناب عجيب لڳي ٿو.

ايڪتا جو ڏينهن آيو

سنڌ سموري جرڪي پئي آ،ايڪتا جو ڏينهن آيو.

هر مارئي اڄ مرڪي پئي آ، ايڪتا جو ڏينهن آيو.

صدين جي تهذيب جا رکوالا جاڳي پيا آهن،

ڀٽائي جي ڀونء نکري پئي آ،ايڪتا جو ڏينهن آيو.

جهالت جي پاڙ پٽڻ جو عظم کڻي سڀ گڏ ٿيا هن،

دشمن جي چال وکري پئي آ، ايڪتا جو ڏينهن آيو.

اجرڪ ٽوپي سر تي سجائي، سڀ سهڻا لڳن ٿا،

هن جي سونهن به اسري پئي آ، ايڪتا جو ڏينهن آيو.

هنن جي همت هماليه وانگي ، محبتن جا دائي سڀ،
ڪوڙ جي دل جهري پئي آ، ايڪتا جو ڏينهن آيو.

دنيا ۾ پنهنجو مقام ماڻڻ لاء ، نوان وچن کڻي،

هر ڀيڻ ڀاء سان نڪري پئي آ، ايڪتا جو ڏينهن آيو.

هي خوشيون سدا قائم رهن ۽ هميشه لاء جيئي سنڌ،

ابراهيم جي دل ٺري پئي آ، ايڪتا جو ڏينهن آيو.

سالن کا سڪايل آهيان آباد ڪري وڃ.

سالن کا سڪايل آهيان آباد ڪري وڃ.

ويران دل کي ملي مٺي شاد ڪري وڃ.

تون بن جيون جهنم جهڙو ڪو سڪون ناهي،

ڪا گهڙي اچي هن سائل کي آزاد ڪري وڃ.

زندگي پيڙاء ۽ دردن جو داستان ٿي وئي آ،

ٻيو نه ته ڀلا رهيو سهيو به برباد ڪري وڃ.

تهنجي سهاري ساٿ زندگي سان نڀايون ٿا،

ڀلجي ڪڏهن تون به اسان کي ياد ڪري وڃ.

اڪيلائي جي عذاب کان ڀلو هو جهيڙو ،

پرچين نه ٿي ته ڪو نئون تضاد ڪري وڃ.

ڏس جانان ڪيڏا مجبور آهيون.

جيڏو ويجها ايڏا ڏور آهيون،

ڏس جانان ڪيڏا مجبور آهيون.

روز ملي به ملي نٿا سگهون،

ٽهڪن ۾ به کلي نٿا سگهون،

انهن زخمن سان چور آهيون.

دنيا جو ڪيڏو خيال ڪيون ٿا،

هڪ ٻئي سان نه ڪو حال ڪيون ٿا،

ٻاهر خوش اندران سور آهيون.

پيار لڪائي ڏوهه ڪيون ٿا،

ڪيڏو دنيا سان ڊوهه ڪيون ٿا،

دنياداري سان ڀرپور آهيون.

اچ ته گڏجي ڪا اڏار ڪيون،

جدائي جي  هي ندي پار ڪيون،

ڇو دنيا لاء ٿيا معزور آهيون.

زندگي زهر تو بنا سائين

زندگي زهر تو بنا سائين

بندگي بي اثر تو بنا سائين

تو بن ڪهڙي چاهت پنهنجي

اڌورو اندر تو بنا سائين

جيئن ڪهڙو مقصد  منهنجو

ويران گهر تو بنا سائين

تون جي راضي ناهين راڻا

دل هي اڱر تو بنا سائين

سمجهه ساڃهه ڪا سوچ ڪانهي

پاڻ بي خبر تو بنا سائين

اڪرم انسٽيٽيوٽ آف بزنس اينڊ ٽيڪنالوجي AIBTech ڪنڊيارو ۾ٿيل ثقافتي تقريب

ايڪتا ۽ ثقافت جو ڏينهن سنڌي قوم لاءِ عيد جيان خوشيون آڻڻ سان گڏوگڏ سنڌين لاءِ ثقافتي رنگ وکيرڻ جو سبب بڻيو آهي، هزارن سالن جي ثقافت جا وارث سنڌي جڏهن ٽوپي اجرڪ پهري سڀ ويڇا وساري ايڪتا جي جشن ۾گڏ ٿين ٿا ته هر سنڌيءَ جي چهري تي مسڪراهٽ سجي وڃي ٿي. ايڪتا ۽ ثقافتي ڏينهن سنڌين جي لاءِ ايران جي جشن نورور کان گهٽ ناهي. ڊسمبر جي سرد راتين ۾ به رات دير تائين ايڪتا جا سُر وکيرڻ ان ڳالهه جي علامت آهي ته سنڌي قوم هڪ زندهه دل ۽ ثقافت پسند قوم آهي، سنڌين کي سنڌي هجڻ تي فخر آهي ۽ ٽوپي اجرڪ سان محبت سندن ايمان جو حصو آهي. ايڪتا ۽ ثقافت جي اهڙن انڊلٺي رنگن سان سجايل هڪ پروقار ۽ شاندار تقريب ڪنڊيارو شهر ۾قائم AIBTech اڪرم انسٽيٽيوٽ آف برنس اينڊ ٽيڪنالوجي ۾منعقد ڪئي وئي. جنهن ۾اداري جي استادن، شاگردن، شاگردياڻين، صحافين، معززمهمانن جي وڏي انگ شرڪت ڪئي.جڏهن ته خصوصي طورتي نعيم قائمخاني، نوجوان اديب، ڏاهو، ليکڪ وفا شر طاهري، علي حسن قائمخاني، شاهنوازمڱريو، آدم چنڙ ۽ ٻين شرڪت ڪئي.

تقريب جي باقائده شروعات تلاوت ڪلام پاڪ سان ڪئي وئي، جنهن کانپوءِ سنڌي ٽوپي اجرڪ ۾ سهڻن گلن جهڙن ٻارڙن مختلف ٽيبلوز ۽ سنڌي لوڪ گيتن تي پرفارم ڪري ماحول کي گرمائي ڇڏيو. جيڪو ٻارن جي جوش وخروش ”جيئي سنڌ“ جي فلڪ شگاف نعرن سان ظاهر پئي ٿيو. جڏهن ته ٻارن پنهنجي ساٿين جي به ڀرپور حوصله افزائي پئي ڪئي ۽ کين ڀرپور داد پئي ڏنو.

ان ڳالهه ۾ ڪو به شڪ ناهي ته اسان جا ٻار صلاحيتن سان ڀرپور نموني مالامال آهن. ايڪتا ۽ ثقافتي ڏهاڙي جي حوالي سان شاگردن جون ڪيل فن خطابت ۽ سنڌي قوم سان محبت جو بهترين نمونو هيون. نائين ڪلاس جي شاگرد انصارسومرو پنهنجي جذباتي خيالن سان داد وصول ڪيو ته آصف نانگراج  وري ڏاڍي پياري انداز سان ڪيواس تي ثقافتي رنگ چٽيا. سميع الله کوسو پڻ پنهنجي خيالن جو اظهار ڪيو. ۽ سنڌ جي 5 هزار سالن جي شاندار ۽ زندهه دل تهذيب تي روشني وڌي، تقريرن کان علاوه  شاگردن مختلف ٽيبلوز تي پڻ پرفارم ڪيو. جن ۾”سنڌ منهنجي امان“۽ ”جيئي سنڌ جيئي سنڌ وارا جيئن“ تي پرفارم ڪندڙ ٻارڙن ڀرپور نموني داد وصول ڪيو.

ان موقعي تي ڳالهائيندي انڊس اسڪول جي پرنسپال رضوان ملاح ٻارن ٻارن جي صلاحيتن کي ڀرپور نموني ساراهيو ۽ سنڌي ثقافت جي مختلف پهلوئن تي روشني وڌي، سائين ڪريم بخش عباسي شاگردن تي زور ڀريوته اڄوڪي ڏينهن جو پيغام آهي ته سنڌي شاگرد تعليمي ميدان ۾ پاڻ ملهائين، سنڌي قوم جي وڃايل وقار کي حاصل ڪرڻ لاءِ ڏينهن رات هڪ ڪري ڇڏين. اداري جي ڊائريڪٽر سائين محمد اڪرم چانڊئي ٻارن کي ثقافتي تقريب ۾شاندار پرفارم ڪرڻ تي واڌايون پيش ڪيون، مبارڪباد ڏيندي محمداڪرم چانڊيو چيو ته سنڌي ٻار سنڌي ثقافت ۽ تهذيب جا عملدار ۽ محافظ آهن، سندن بيداري ۽ سجاڳي ان  ڳالهه جي علامت آهي ته سنڌي قوم ۽ ان جا ٻار باشعور ۽ باهمت آهن. جن جي سنڌ سان محبت لازوال ۽ امر داستان آهي.

تقريب جي خاص مهمان ۽ شاهه عبداللطيف يونيورسٽي خيرپور جي استاد،نوجوان ڏاهي ۽ اديب سائين محمد ابراهيم کوکر پنهنجي جامع پيغام ۾سنڌ سان غير مشروط محبت ۽ سچو پڪو سنڌي هجڻ تي زور ڏنو.سائين ايڪتا ۽ ثقافتي ڏينهن ملهائڻ تي مبارڪباد ڏيندي چيو ته سنڌي قوم کي ايڪتا جو وچن هر ڏينهن هر گهڙي نڀائڻو پوندو. جيڪڏهن جهالت، قبائلي جهيڙا جهڳڙا، ”ڪارو ڪاري“ ۽ خوني تڪرار ختم نه ٿا ٿين ته هن ثقافتي حسن جو رنگ بي اثر ٿي ويندو ۽ هي خوشيون صرف ٺينگ ٽپا ثابت ٿيندا، سائين محمد ابراهيم جو وڌيڪ چوڻ هو ته صرف ٽوپي اجرڪ پائڻ سان ڪير سنڌي نه ٿو ٿي سگهي. سنڌي ٿيڻ لاءِ سنڌ ڌرتي  ۽ سنڌ واسين ۽ سنڌ جي ثقافت سان بي لوث محبت سان گڏوگڏ ضروري آهي ته اسان جي عملي زندگي ۾سنڌ لاءِ جدوجهد جو عنصر نمايان هئڻ گهرجي. هن چيو ته سنڌي ازل کان شريف، امن پسند ۽ رواداري جا امين رهيا آهن. قومن جي تاريخ ۾سنڌي واحد قوم آهي جن ڪڏهن به ٻين قومن تي يلغار ڪري لٽ مار نه ڪئي آهي. سنڌين هميشه پاڻ تي ٿيندڙ اطيچار ۽ ظلمن جو منهن تي مرڪ سجائي مقابلو ڪيوآهي ۽ هميشه سرخرو ٿيندا رهيا آهن، سنڌين کي شاهه لطيف جهڙو استاد، ”شاهه جي رسالي“ جهڙو آئين مليل آهي. سنڌي اگر پنهنجي استاد شاهه لطيف جي تعليمات تي عمل ڪن ته يقينن سرخرو ٿيندا.

اداري جي پرنسپل سائين محمد عاشق عباسي تقريب ۾آيل سمورن مهمانن ۽ دوستن جو شڪريو ادا ڪيو، جڏهن ته مس ايڇ ڪي راڄپر، علي رضا، وفاشرطاهري ۽ ٻين پڻ تقريرون ڪيون. نظامت جا فرائض سائين رستم مڱريو ۽ نوجوان فهد شاهه ادا ڪيا، نوجوان نصير کوکر جي مزاحيه خبرن مسڪراهٽون وکيري ڇڏيون، جڏهن ته نصير کوکر پنهنجي منفرد آواز جو جادو جڳائي مختلف سنڌي لوڪ گيت ڳائي خوب داد وصول ڪيو. جڏهن ته شاگردن پاران پڙهيل شيخ اياز ۽ استاد بخاري جي واين ۽ غزلن ماحول کي چارچنڊ لڳائي ڇڏيا. ثقافتي انڊلٺ سان سينگاريل هن خوبصورت رنگا رنگ تقريب جي پڄاڻي سنڌ جي مشهور ثقافتي ”هو جمالو، هوجمالو“ سان ٿي، جنهن ۾سمورن شرڪت ڪندڙن شريڪ ٿي پنهنجي سنڌي هئڻ جو ثبوت ڏنو، دعا آهي ته سنڌي ثقافت ۽ سنڌ سان محبت جا هي ميڙاڪاسدا قائم رهن. محمد ابراهيم/ ڪنڊيارو

Aikta Day Celebrations in Sind

Celebrating Aikta day has become a very important event in Sind. People of Sind unite together to show their love and respect for their nation, centuries-old traditions and proud civilization. The event has become so popular, that its preparations, celebrations awareness walks continue for a whole week till late night without any tinge of fatigue or tiredness. This day creates thrill and lot of enthusiasm among students, senior citizens as well as kids alike. People feel proud in wearing traditional Sindhi Ajrak (a long sheet of cloth printed with beautiful patterns a traditional sindhi attire) and Topi (Cap). The jubilant masses sing traditional Sindhi folk songs, dance on Ho Jamalo (Traditional sindhi song accompanied with traditional dance) and chant loving slogans of Jeay Sind (Long Live Sind) making environment fill with the aroma of patriotism and love of Sindhi culture.

This year, this beautiful event was scheduled on 8^th December but the programs continued to entice/ attract masses and raise their enthusiasm throughout whole week. Every Sindhi regardless of age, colour and creed participated in such gatherings and sittings arranged by different institutes, organizations and associations. Sind has worn the beautiful attire of traditional dresses. Every corner of Sind from Karachi to Kashmore and Larkana to Laar and Thar offers the great show of unity, equality, brotherhood, love and peace. Everyone is independent in his/her show of reverence for centuries-old Sindhi civilization. The event is marked with literary sittings, intellectual talks, awareness walks, mass rally, music concerts and poetry reading sessions. Ajraks and Sindhi Topis are gifted and worn by everyone like crowns on their heads.

This day offers us to be united and stand together facing the challenges of modern world. The real message of this Aikta Day is to create awareness among masses especially among educated youth by reminding them our proud past. History stands witness that Sindhis have always remained as a peace loving nation with great tolerance and religious harmony. When the world was at nascent stage of learning the lessons of civilization, Moen-Jo-Daro was much quoted example. People of Sindh never remained oppressors or invaders in history. They never attacked or exploited any other nation of the world. On the other hand, throughout the rough course of History, Sind has faced a number of foreign invasions, attacks, adventures and occupations. Some of these malign invaders on the sovereign land of Sind are: Arabs, Turkhans, Arghoons, Mughals and the British. However, the brave sons of Sind never succumbed to their tyrant wishes and continued heroic struggle to uphold their national identity as well as cultural supremacy. Sindhi language and Sindhi traditions continued to thrive despite of so many challenges posed by foreign tyrants.

After 1947 Sind joined Pakistan following the so called scheme of partition. Since then Sind faces serious problems for her fate being decided by opportunist politicians who are devoid of love for Sind and her culture. Such negligence at the top level pushed Sindhi people into a deep ditch of problems. Sind faces serious crises and identity challenges. Our education system, under the auspices of power hungry political ministers and corrupt bureaucrats is almost at the verge of collapse. In terms of Law and order we stand at the bottom. Our people are not safe even at homes, kidnapping for ransom is out of control. Tribal clashes and evils like honour killings, target killings and ignorance are fanned deliberately by those who are at the helm of affairs.

When such negligence is shown at state level, it becomes the responsibility of individuals to stand against those odds. So people of sindh are united in the guise of Aikta Day to show their anger and disgust against such acts by promoting peaceful and loving culture of Sindh. Which advocates peace, learning, love and tolerance. This is the message of Aikta day and we Sindhis must unite for this beautiful cause.

Long Live Sind

Second Day of Six Days Training Workshop at The Department of English SALU Khairpur

Today was the second day of this workshop and the resource person was same Ms Bushra Khurram from Karachi University. She had won great appraisal yesterday so we were sure of such a wonderful session today too. One of her great quality as a trainer is to maintain the participants’ interest intact and making session living and interesting. She seems good at avoiding distractions and beautifully connects the ideas with her topic.
Today’s session was all about teaching listening and testing listening. In the beginning of session she got our yesterdays feedback and started the session with our idea about listening. As traditional learners we all believed that listening is a passive skill but later on she removed our anomaly by realizing us that this assumption of listening as a passive skill must be corrected. Listening is in fact an active listening and we must differentiate between listening and hearing. Listening and understanding go hand in hand. For teaching listening its necessary to have in mind Schematic Knowledge which involves factual and socio cultural knowledge, Procedural Knowledge i-e how language is used in discourse, Context Knowledge involving  knowledge of situation, physical settings, participants and co-text. Besides Schematic and Procedural knowledge we must have Systemic Knowledge based on Semantic, Syntactic and phonological knowledge.  
We often assume that we are born listeners and very good listeners. However this assumption misleads us and we often perform poor when we are tested in listening. Teacher must plan well how to teach listening in class room and must try to include real life listening situations in classroom. The main purpose of teaching in classroom is not to prepare students for testing but rather for enabling them to face real life challenges and situations.
Meanwhile during Lunch time participants enjoyed good lunch as well as free gossip with each other. The roaring laughter of participants was indicator of their being happy with the session.
After lunch the Group Activities were arranged and that’s what I really enjoyed. I loved the way Madam Bushra divided us in groups. The activities were wonderfully designed and I enjoyed the personally. I was lucky today in being grouped with someone was talk of town yesterday… And lo!!!! See my luck I was placed twice with same company……
Before the Day was called, we were given assignments to be submitted to Madam Bushra via her email.
The day ended with group photo of Participants with Madam Bushra and Chairman Department of English Prof. Dr. G.M Mashori with whose efforts such beautiful workshop is organized.

Third Day of Six Days Teachers Training Workshop at SALU Khairpur.

Today was the third Day of Six Days Teachers Training Workshop at SALU Khairpur. The attendance and the punctuality of participants speak about the success of this workshop. Today’s Resource Person was Dr. Fatah Soomro from Institute of English University of Sind Jamshoro. Dr Fatah has 15 Research Publications to his credit and is a hard working scholar who has travelled a long road of Academic pursuits from Mehran College Pano Aqil to Manchester University U.K. Having Masters Degree in Research Methods from U.K, He was requested by Prof. Dr. G. M Mashori our head, to conduct one extra session on research methods. This was not a part of workshop’s course content but the end of the day that particular session proved to be the most wonderful and productive session, especially for me.
Today I learnt about Action research and its possible classroom or pedagogical applications in the form of Exploratory Practice. Frankly speaking, I never liked Action research for class room situations as I found it bit difficult, time taking and to some extent not ideal in terms of pedagogical pursuits. But Dr. Fatah solved my all problems and confusions by presenting the idea of Exploratory Practice. For Action research we need to use Academic research tools like Questionnaires, Interviews etc. On the other hand, Exploratory Practice involves the use of various class room situations which are next to real life situations. In Exploratory Practice, the practitioner works for understanding, he focuses on understanding of issues through reflection and actions. Furthermore, Exploratory Practice uses normal pedagogic practices as investigative tools that work for understanding.  All this is a part of learning and teaching, not extra to it. Thus, Exploratory Practice integrates routine teaching activities in research.
Dr. Fatah being well aware of socio cultural background of the participants shared a lot of his personal experience in teaching here in Sind and learning there in U.K. All the day, he continued sharing his experiences. All these experiences were worth loving and worth sharing having great lessons and messages behind them. He was easily carried away by the distracters (most of us very smart in this) but his knowledge and content was praiseworthy.
With comparison to Madam Bushra our resource person for last two days, Dr. Fatah was lacking in certain areas like time management and adherence to course content, but at the end of day it was all well because of his expertise and knowledge.
I am enjoying each and every moment of this workshop and believe that it helps me in my professional development as a teacher.  I am anxiously waiting for the practical applications of this learning back to classroom.

Fourth Day of Six Days Training Workshop at the Department of English SALU Khairpur

This wonderful workshop entered into fourth day of its successful journey today. With change of two resource persons in last three days, we were expecting and looking for quite different Resource person today. And in the case of Syed Sohail Ahmed we had today, quite a new person. In terms of knowledge and international exposure, he was no match with madam Bushra and Dr. Fatah but as a trainer he was more interactive with comparison to them.

Syed Sohail Ahmed is a Ph.D scholar with M. Phil in Education. He holds Masters Degrees in Economics and English and is working as a Teacher Trainer. He has 05 research publications to his credit and has worked as resource person in different organizations such as NIM Karachi, AIOU, MEB Nexus etc. As a teacher trainer he covers the areas like Education research, Writing for Publishing, Communication Skills, E- Learning and Leadership Development.

This workshop offers us new opportunities of learning every day. Every resource person brings with him/her a new vista of meaning, learning, information and opportunities. Today we covered two areas s and language skills i-e assessing Speaking skills and assessing Reading Skills. As I have mentioned earlier, today’s resource person was more interactive than our last two trainers, so he engaged participants in designing, discussing, sharing and then presenting different assignments and activities based on speaking and reading skills. His idea of awarding participants the names of their choice based on Adjectives of their choice was really wonderful. I selected “Social” for myself   and at the end of day I became very much popular as Mr. Social rather than with my real name.

Today I learnt another way of making profile of students that Syed Sohail beautifully named as “Briefcase of Information about oneself”. This briefcase of information which consisted of four pockets viz Experience, Concerns, Expectations and Rewards was later displayed on board, shared with participants. This helped us to know each other more easily.

Today we learnt about Extempore, Impromptu and Text-reading speaking skills, along with speaking based on memorization. Another important activity developed by him was engaging students in developing Speaking Skill Presentations. Participants enjoyed these activities and felt much relaxed while performing them. They were then taught how to evaluate, and on the basis of their evaluation one of the groups was awarded first position. Rasheed Soomro the representative of winning group was on cloud nine when he received a rose as a prize.

Today in Lunch break we were served with Biryani my all time favourite….The working tea and cakes served with tea during break are the beautiful things that add charm to this informative and productive workshop. Well Done Department of English.

FIFTH DAY OF SIX DAYS TEACHERS’ TRAINING WORKSHOP AT SALU.

The fifth day of this workshop was marked  with closing ceremony of this workshop for last day “Saturday” being officially off at SALU, could not have been graced with the presence of worthy Vice Chancellor .Today’s resources person was Syed Sohail who conducted his interactive session on “Assessing Writing Skill” . He started with teaching how to write and what to write. Being interested in writing, I actively participated in the session but personally I did not like the idea of following the process of writing I always believed in writing whatever comes in mind i.e free writing. I am of the opinion of writing for writing’s. But today I learnt a great deal about writing. He shared with us a great deal of writing Abstract. This session got mixed response as writing Abstract definitely attracted University teachers and those who were doing M.Phil  but for others , it was too heavy to digest . And thanks God; LatifUniversity had a great show to offer us for University was celebrating “Cultural Day” at the Campus. Students and teacher wearing Sindhi Topi and Ajrak (Traditional Sindhi Dress) were present very nice and worth seeing  look . The Folk sindhi music and Ho-Jamalo were quite enough to attract students to dance and express their love for Sindh and Sindhi Culture. So, during one of activity I silently sneaked out of workshop room and joined those Jubilant Students. It was really a great fun to be their. During tea break most of the participants enjoyed this great show of Sindhi Culture at the campus.
Being Friday , lunch break was scheduled half hour earlier for Jumma prayer. Participants offered Jumma prayer at the campus Mask and then rushed to 16 Suit Guest House where delicious meal was served.
This lunch break followed the closing ceremony of this Sixth Days workshop. My colleague Paras Niaz was assigned the task of comparing. This morning when I asked her about chance of sharing comments their, She disappointed me by telling that my name was not among those who would talk in presence of Vice Chancellor. When I requested her for my entry she beautifully denied by telling that the names had been finalized by Chairman Department of English .At the eleventh hour, how ever, after lunch and  a few moments before the formal proceedings of  closing  ceremony began I was told to share my comments. The closing ceremony was graced with the presence of worthy Vice Chancellor Dr. Parveen Shah who presided over the ceremony, Dr. Sayed Maqbool Shah Dean Faculty of Social Sciences , Dr. Muhammad Yousif Khushk Chairman Department of Urdu, Veteran Professor Dr. Raza Bhatti and Dr.  Taj Lashari. The participants who shared their comments were Rasheed Soomro, Sindhu Mangi , Ibrahim Khokhar and Faiza Channa.. They all thanked HEC for arranging such an important workshop at SALU and Prof: Dr. G.M Mashori for his efforts to make it all possible and successful. There is no doubt that in Dr. Mashori Department of English has found an able, skilled and committed captain who moves the ship in right direction toward academic excellence and success. Dr. Mashori in his keynote speech shed light on the importance of this workshop and emphasized upon the utilization and the sharing of this learning back to classroom level.
Dr.Parveen ShahViceChancellorLatifUniversity Khairpur in her presidential speech congratulated participants for attending this workshop and Dr. Mashori for organizing this event in collaboration with HEC. She had good words of praise for Dr. Mashori who really deserved them. Later on worthy vice chancellor distributed certificates among participants. Later on the participants in the lead of worthy vice Chancellor moved to Video Conferencing Room of University where a live session with HEC representatives at Islamabad was conducted . The two participants Sayed Azhar Shah and Saima Larik shared the comments along with exchange of very nice dialogues between the HEC members and University representatives. Through out the talk it was Professor Dr. Ghullam Mustafa Mashori who won loud applause and encouragement in the form of praise by official and clapping by participants.
In short, it was overall a day for Dr. G.M Mashori. Hats off Sir!!!!!! . At the end it would be great injustice with Paras if I ignore her performance as a compare. Though she is not a professional compare but she performed well. She was very selective and smart in her use of words .Keep it up Paras. Future is yours …..

Last day of Six Days Teachers Training Workshop at SALU.

Yesterday was the last day of Six days teachers Training Workshop at SALU. Dr. M.K Sangi the Director Institute of English Language and Literature, University of Sindh Jamshoro was the resource person. I had a personal attachment with him for his field of expertise being in English Literature. As a humble student of English Literature and budding teachers and scholar in this field, everyone has expertise in this field attracts me. But at the end of session amid a huge round of applause, Dr. Sangi proved to deserve more than that. I have started loving him, and wanted to talk with him personally but unfortunately I could not because he hurried back to Sukkur after conducting his session. Among all resource persons of this workshop Dr. Sangi was more focused, well prepared and sharp-witted scholar with good sense of humour and literary taste. He kept the interest of all participants intact by exploring different opportunity of using literature in Classrooms as a tool of language learning.
He his detailed sessions on literary pedagogy and literary criticism helped us to develop new understanding of literature and its use. I really loved it and I am sure that every body else would have loved it. His session was so interesting and captivating that when lunch and finally the day was called, we wished if the clock could move slow. Though it was the last day and every body wanted to rush back to home but this scholarly talk kept us stuck to our seats.
The best thing of last day of workshop was not only Dr. Sangi but also the delicious “Quroma” which was served to the participants. Besides the Briyani of 3^rd Day, Today’s Quoroma was the second best choice of lunch.
In this way this most beautiful, informative and interactive workshop reached to its conclusion. These six days are most beautiful and memorable days of my life in recent past . I got number of good friends and learnt a great deal of understandings, both socially and academically. I dully appreciate the idea of Syed Azhar Shah for making a close group of these participants on internet. Love you Shah Sahb, for such a wonderful idea. At the end, I say every one out there “ I love you all and kindly excuse me if I hurt any body in any way”.

Brief Account of Six Days Teachers Training Workshop at Department of English SALU Khairpur

The Department of English Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, with the collaboration of HEC Islamabad organized a Six Days Teachers’ Training Workshop on English Language Teaching with the perspective of Testing & Assessment under ELTR program. The workshop which continued for six days from December 09 to December 14, 2013, was focused on Theory & Practice in Testing & Assesment of ELT. The participants belonged to Department of English Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur and college lecturers from affiliated colleges of Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur. Thus, it covered the vast area of upper Sind from Kandiaro to Kashmore and from Larkana to Obauro the border area of Sind and Punjab. The enthusiasm and interest of the participants was evident from their punctuality, regularity and active participation in different group activities. For the heterogeneous participants,         it was a nice opportunity of learning and exposure to new ways, practices & techniques in teaching & testing English. For the majority of participants it was a first opportunity of attending such workshop whereas some were very senior fellows. For this workshop the HEC engaged four important Resource Persons, having vast experience of teaching as well as training. They were full of knowledge, well trained as trainers and academically sound with strong profiles.
Ms.Bushra Khurram, from Karachi university who conducted sessions for first two days, was much focused, well prepared and an ideal person for teacher training program. She is Ph.D Research Scholar with about 60 publications and two books along with number of trainings as a trainer to her credit. Her two days sessions were theory based as well as practical. She was rich in training tools and kept the participants’ interest and participation active and intact. Her topics dealt with Testing, Assessment and Testing listening skills of students. She helped students in removing their anomalies regarding their traditional concepts of testing and assessment. She clearly defined the types, kinds, norms and criteria of Testing and assessment.
The second resource person was Dr.Fatah Soomro from the Institute of English Language and literature, University of Sindh Jamshoro. This young scholar was a sweet amalgamation of local, traditional teacher and rich foreign exposure. He was full of knowledge and rich in experience, who shared number of practical approaches with participants which acted as a source of inspiration and motivation for budding scholars and young teachers. He introduced the idea of exploratory Practice through which regular pedagogical practices can be integrated into research. This Idea was really wonderful and acceptable for majority of participants, as it was quite different from traditional approaches of research. Dr.Fatah with 15 research papers to his credit was very helpful for participants in  providing a very strong of testing with research.



Syed Sohail Ahemd was the third Resource Person of this workshop who conducted sessions for two full days. With 17 of years rich teaching experience and M.Phil in Education, Syed Sohail was the most interactive trainer of this workshop; He knew very well how to engage students in different activities and how to encourage participants. He conduced sessions on speaking skills and writing skills, with reference to testing and assessment. He won appreciation by participants for sharing wonderful resources for teaching English by using internet and other available resources.
It is said that all is well that ends well and this became true for this workshop with Dr.Mohammad Khan  Sangi, Director, Institute of English Language and Literature, University of Sindh Jamshoro being the resource person for the last day of this workshop. Dr.Sangi, the man of literary taste was a wonderful person who won hearts of the audience with his rich knowledge of literature and presentation skills. Though he did not engage students with activities so much with the comparison to other trainers but his presentation, preparation and material selection was worth appreciation. The Participants awarded him with the huge round of applause when he concluded his sessions. He offered new insights in literary learning, literary pedagogy, literary criticism and using literature for research.
This six days workshop was very informative, interactive and useful from participants’ point of view. The Department of English being the second largest department of Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur won appreciation from the participants, Higher Education Commission representatives and by worthy Vice Chancellor of the university Prof.Dr.Parveen Shah. The credit for organzing such  a beautiful workshop goes to the energetic, committed and smart Chairman, Department of English, Prof.Dr.Ghulam Mustafa Mashori, who himself is a very good scholar and passionate teacher. One of the positive sign of this workshop was, bringing participants from different parts of upper Sindh and providing them opportunity to sit with university teachers.  The dialogue between them helped them to know each other and share their experience. This workshop is a beginning of wonderful Professional Development Vision of Vice Chancellor and the Chairman Department of English.
During the closing ceremony which was graced with the presence of worthy Vice Chancellor and other learned Scholars, the participants were informed that the university with the full support of the HEC  is looking for organizing such workshops in future too.
During the concluding ceremony Ms.Noor Amna Malik Director General the HEC joined the participants though video conference facility, she interacted personally with the participants, the coordinator and with the Vice Chancellor. She in her brief talk highlighted the importance of such events. Moreover she told the participants comforward with the honest feedback of this event and she ensured that the HEC is trying its best to reach out to all such places & people and with help them in developing their professional competence.
This is the vision of the Department of English, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur in harmony with the vision of the Vice Chancellor, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur along with Higher Education Commission’s policy of ensuring quality education in Pakistan.