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Kushbakht Shujaat
 If we claim that Khushbakht Shuja'at knows what contentment is, we would surely not be wrong. The proud mother of well settled kids, a dedicated wife, an educationist, a renowned TV compere, add to that her latest achievement of being the first elected lady Vice President of the Arts Council, we can definitely say she's one lucky, leading lady.
"For the last 35 years the Arts Council has had elected male Vice Presidents. This is a great honour for me to be the first elected lady Vice President in the history of Arts Council. When I stepped into the premises, I was somewhat disillusioned by the lack of interest and attention towards the biggest cultural centre of Karachi. I had envisioned it to be colourfully attractive, beckoning all towards it; unfortunately it is quite the opposite.
There are no facilities for the poets, writers and artists of the city," says Khushbakht feelingly. She points out some of the sectors of the Arts Council that need immediate attention of the relevant people. "There's a general lack of adopting technology at the centre. First and foremost, the website of Arts Council needs to be updated. The induction of computers is also a must and manual work should be discouraged, which is the prevalent trend," said the elected VP.
She further adds, "There should be a library for children of the members but there are none. There used to be a time when Faiz Ahmed Faiz would have regular sittings at the Arts Council, where he would have tea and within no time at all he would find himself surrounded by all those desirous of learning about their culture. But none of that is happening anymore and we have lost an effective source of spreading knowledge to our youngsters."
Khushbakht now plans to bring about certain changes at the centre with the cooperation of those around her. "We have the biggest auditorium in the whole of Sindh. It is under construction for the last ten years and has still not been completed although money for the project is there. I do hope things will be expedited now," she told. Khushbakht has her mind set on how she would like to improve the working of the centre.
"Facilities should be provided to the members to bridge the gap that has widened over the years. We are planning to start taking in members once again." She is also working on ideas to increase literary activities at the Council. This however, is only one aspect of this daunting lady. Her priority, after her family, is her tiny-tots students at her Kids' University. Having established the institution some six years back, Khushbakht has now expanded the same from Montessori to Primary level.
Being an artistically driven lady herself, we wonder if she has given a part of her personality to her school as well. "My school is activity based. My slogan is learning through manners, music and art. I have started grooming classes for my students of grades four and five."
We ask her to elucidate on that. "Grooming does not mean improving their appearance but this includes improvement of what's inside you at the same time. At my Kids' University, we emphasise on public speaking skills, confidence development and bringing out and polishing the child's innate skills according to his aptitude," she explains.
 It is these qualities that they at Kids' University pay importance to because they strongly believe that all the complexes based on physical appearances should be removed during the childhood. At the institute, there is always some activity in progress. "Talent shows are held on a regular basis. My kids were also an integral part of the Karavan Karachi," says the proud principal. "I have always believed that children learn best through music and drama. Mausiqi rooh ki ghiza hai and that is very true."
Besides these artistic endeavours, on the educational side too Khushbakht maintains her individuality. Islamic Studies are not only a theory subject for us but we also teach our kids practically. I want my kids to know our Islamic values as well, for that is what forms your character.
Citing an instance she says, "Instead of telling my children that they should thank Allah for all they have, we took them to the school for the deaf and dumb. After seeing those kids they are now in a better position to thank Allah for all that they have been blessed with. Seeing is definitely believing."
In the same way, rather than sitting within the confines of a classroom and giving them assignments, the management at Kids' University takes them on an occasional outing of which they have to file a report, thus learning via enjoyment. That then is the mode of education at the Kids' University. This however, is not all that keeps this lady busy.
Some three decades back, before any of the above had materialised, it was as a compere that Khushbakht became an entity. And not just any compere but one who would give the interviewee a real tough time. That of course came from her days of debating in college. It was the confidence of this extrovert phenomenon that had PTV authorities sit up and take notice of her.
When a girl for conducting a talk show was required Khushbakht was their obvious choice. She did such a good job of it in the midst of veterans that she was an instant hit. "The then General Manager, PTV, Aslam Azhar called me up one day and said he wanted me to start a stage show for the university students."
Though hesitant, Khushbakht nevertheless took up the challenge, the result of which was the hit talk show 'Feroza'.
After honing her skills for an entire year there came a break in her active television career as Khushbakht wanted to concentrate on her education. After completing her Masters in Journalism, she soon stepped into a new sphere of life. She got married and then her family became her first priority.During all that time she was overwhelmed by offers for TV and radio programmes, even drama serials, but that was not on Khushbakht's mind. It was a good wife and mother she wanted to be and that is exactly what she proved to be.
But in 1975, "My father-in-law, who had always been supportive of me suggested that I go back to doing what I was real good at and so once again I returned to TV," she reminisces.
Since then we have been seeing her on TV in some programme or the other be it a talk show, a naat competition or anything at all, you can be sure that the lady can surely handle it.  So, with a platter brimming with activity there is not a single aspect that is neglected by Khushbakht.
As of now, she is loaded with plans for bringing about a positive change in the Arts Council. There have been others before her, who may have harboured similar wishes for a change. Did they succeed? We need not to answer that. Will she succeed? Let's hope for the cultural betterment of our nation, and she will!
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