The next thunder was not an item girl. It was an item boy — Shehzad Roy, a Pakistani pop star from Karachi. We had never heard of him before but some girls behind us screamed and sighed. We distinctly heard one of them moaning, "Oh, these Pakistani men, I tell you...."

Shehzad Roy - These Pakistani Boys

Mr. Shehzad was brash and full of freshness. He seemed pregnant with greater stardom. Before jumping into his number, he dedicated the song to U.S. President George Bush and hoped that one day Dubya would sing it to Condoleezza Rice. The lyrics were "Saali tu maney nahi" (loosely translated: "Hey, bitch, why refuse?"). We laughed with all our heart.

Shehzad Roy - Pop Star for a Sufi Night!

Our fears soon materialized. Abida Parveen never came. The concert concluded with an insipid qawwali (devotional music of the Sufis sung by a group of people). Fortunately, there were two fairies in the team and we spent the time trying to guess which Pakistani province they hailed from.

Qawwali that Failed to Excite

As the curtains draped down over the evening, we had to concede Pakistan could, at least, be envied for possessing such divine looking maidens. All their girls were beautiful and delicately built. Alas, here too we were in for a rude shock. It was later revealed the Pakistani singers — there were very few in any case — had outsourced their dance numbers to a Delhi-based dancing school. All those girls, both the wooden ghosts and the Qawwali beauties, were from Delhi!

This was not exotic at all. This was cheating and we were fooled. It was not people-to-people contact. It was client-to-client contact!

These Were Indian Ghosts!

But, as usual, we Delhites were over-reacting. The sight of the subtly-lit Red Fort at midnight and the magic of Mr. Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan, were actually worth the price of the free passes.

Goodnight and be good.