The Pakistani Student Association recently accepted the Most Improved Club Award for the 2013/14 year, and last Friday they held their first event at the Blind Duck.
“Rock with Raghav” consisted of performances by many local artists, a dance number by the Hindu Student Council, and a performance by award-winning Indian singer Raghav.
Before ending his performance, Raghav surprised audiences by bringing Bollywood stars Isabelle Kaif (who made her debut in Dr. Cabbie, a film that was released the same night) and Vinay Virmani onstage. The concert was promoted on social media through selfies with the celebs tagged #PSAUTM on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. By the end of the night, there were multiple lines at each entrance of the pub with audiences eagerly waiting to catch a glimpse of Raghav and his guests.
The atmosphere was very much like a real concert, which added to the experience. The menu, although limited in variety, included delicious biryani that had people returning for seconds. The event also featured a photo booth with photographer Teymoor Siddique from Tey Muzique Photography; couples and groups of friends were lining up for pictures throughout the night.
The event was held to start the year off with a bang, giving students the chance to meet and interact with other students before the overwhelming stress of midterms and assignments piles up. A great stress reliever, definitely—I was happy to be surrounded by talented performers and fun-loving students all under one roof. Everyone seemed to form a community, dancing side by side with their hands in the air.
That said, the organizers said they expected a better turnout, considering the concert was nothing like they’d held before, and put it down to a lack of awareness among the student population on campus. Had the concert been launched on a more formal platform such as radio shows and public advertising, the organizers were sure that the turnout would have been more than the legal pub capacity.
