The Aurora Awards for Excellence in Advertising were held last night against a backdrop of the stunningly lit Mohatta Palace in Karachi. The DAWN Group went ALL OUT to honor the advertising industry by presenting 10 Lifetime Achievement Awards, an Institutional Award, and Awards in 4 categories.

Ranting and bitching is fun and finding faults is easy. The event was not without its hiccups but I am not going to mention any here. Planning and pulling off an elaborate event, tastefully, is a hideously difficult task. The stage was beautifully simple and effective, the hosts, Leon and Ayeshah did their thing without being cheesy, the sound system worked, and the gazillion musicians from all over the country came and went without dragging their feet. Being part of APMC, I know how painful it is to manage musicians. I am not a huge fan of folk; I like my eastern music shudh and challenging, but providing a platform to purveyors of a dying art is a noble act. The menu was beautifully designed as was the programme and the attention to detail was obvious and much appreciated. Abida Parveen’s sufi invocations and finale were a special treat. I do wish that those who were being honored had stayed on till the end because a number of people worked bloody hard to make this event possible.

Kudos to Hameed Haroon, my friends, Mariam Ali Baig, Mamun Adil and Leila Mahfooz, and the Great Marketing Department at DAWN