WIE Affinity Group at NUCES Lahore organized a trip for female students to “Women Expo” at Fortress Exhibition Complex, Lahore, on Saturday, 9th September 2006. The three-day exhibition was organized by the 4th Dimension Pvt Ltd in collaboration with the department of women development, Punjab, German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) along with several other government and non-governmental organizations.
The Motto of this Expo was “Lets Celebrate being Women“.
Women entrepreneurs had been given stalls on highly discounted rates so that they could easily exhibit their products and services for the women’s expo visitors.
Around 40 girls were accompanied by Ms. Faiza Asghar Dar. The trip kicked off by many sighs of relief from the workload and excitement for the journey.
As one entered the Expo, stalls of various kinds were on display. The first stalls we saw were that of the different kinds of Tea ranging from Danedar, Tapal to Lipton and A1. The aroma of fresh tea was a welcome delight for tea lovers. Though no coffee lovers were given a chance to tantalize their taste buds.
Stalls of bags, jewelry, cosmetics and clothes brought out shrieks of delight and glee. Brands of cosmetics that had their collection on display were of Atiqa Odho, Christine etc. Some of the girls even experimented with the offer of free makeup application. The results of this free application – well, let’s just say natural beauty won in the end.
An Outstanding Women’s Lounge was also created at Women’s Expo where prominent women from all walks of life spared some time out of their busy schedules serving as a source of motivation and role models for the gathered women audience.
Fair and Lovely, Nikhaar, Swiss Naturals, Breeze Traders and Beautiful Beings had their creams, scrubs, cleansers and lotions on display with free sachets being given out to everybody who visited their stalls and free facial massages. One would have availed the opportunity if only masseurs would have practiced a little hygiene, but that’s only for the cleanliness freaks, as however one did see girls and women having free massages.
The highlight of the evening was the auditions for the TALENT HUNT 2006 that was being held by GEO TV. Bouts of laughter erupted in the audience when decent looking people tried their hand at acting. Their serious endeavors were a waste of time and energy. Hooting, ridicule, remarks and shouts of ‘Have mercy on us’ were the norm of every audition. But alas no one was barred from the torture by the volunteers.
One striking display of à la mode and chic jewelry was that on the ATTITUDE stall. They had unique bracelets, earrings, necklaces and different kinds of accessories which guaranteed your worth of money. Other jewelry stalls included Shoaib Jewelers etc.
An eye opener was the stall of Pakistan’s first fully qualified and U.K trained female plastic and cosmetic surgeon. They had the whole process of the surgery being live telecasted on the TV. Even if somebody had any plans to have a nose job or eyebrow uplift they had second thoughts after watching the clips.
Clothes of Riffat Khalid and Humaira Alvi were on display. Block printed silk, cotton having Ari and Sui work on them, were breathtaking. The fabrics and cut of the lehngas left a lot to be desired.
At the time of our departure a treat for E.P fans was when Fawad Ahmed accompanied with his wife walked into the Women’s Expo. The trip ended with everybody having a ball at McDonald’s.
Contributed by: Ms. Benish Khalid
Edited by : Rafaeel Akbar Chaudhry