The Echo of the Mute
The Echo of Goongi
Sikandar Abbasi recalls the night Mujeeb Burdi’s Goongi overturned every expectation and swept the awards at a Larkana drama festival.
“ In this memoir, Sikandar Abbasi recounts how Mujeeb Burdi’s Goongi defied the judges’ expectations at a 2018 Larkana drama festival, transforming the final results and winning every award. He reflects on the play’s later return to the stage and its enduring resonance. ”
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Sikandar Abbasi
Sindhi writer · Literary critic
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I believe it was 2018. The Arts Council of Pakistan, Larkana, organised a festival featuring sixteen stage plays. Awards were established for each category. To ensure a fair selection, three judges were appointed for the entire festival, whose responsibility was to watch all the plays and decide the awards. The panel consisted of the renowned critic and poet Adil Abbasi, senior journalist Muhammad Hanif Sohaag, and myself, Sikandar Abbasi.
As the plays were performed daily, the three of us would award marks for everything, from the script to the acting and direction. Each day, as soon as a play ended, we would sit in the office provided to us and record our marks with complete honesty.
The final play of the festival was Goongi (The Mute), written by Mujeeb Burdi and directed by Habib Burdi. The cast included Musarrat Naz, Abbas Gul and Arshad Sheikh.
After watching the final play, the three of us judges had to give our final marks, prepare the results and hand them over to the Arts Council administration for the awards ceremony scheduled for the following day.
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| Poster for Goongi, a stage play written by Mujeeb Burdi and first performed at the Arts Council of Pakistan, Larkana, on 16 October 2018, during a drama festival organised by the Arts Council of Pakistan, Larkana. |
Having watched fifteen plays, we had almost completed the results. We thought it was unlikely that the final play of the night, Goongi, would have any impact on the results we had prepared.
To be even more certain, the three of us held a meeting during the day. We contacted some of Larkana’s respected writers and directors whose scripts had been read for the festival. They told us:
“There is nothing in Goongi. What kind of script is it? What kind of story? It isn’t even fit to be staged. It’s useless. We rejected it, but the administration is making them perform it. The play is good for nothing.”
After hearing this, we relaxed. We thought we would simply sit through the final play, Goongi, and that it would have no effect whatsoever on the results. The results would remain exactly as we had prepared them.
That night, the final play, Goongi, began. As soon as the curtain rose and the lights came on, the first thing that startled us was the set.
From that moment onwards, throughout the entire play, we were either sitting in stunned silence or being startled by one revelation after another. A spell gradually took hold of us. We watched the entire play in that state.
When the play ended, we forgot that we had to get up from our chairs and go into the office to record our marks. The three judges simply stared at one another in astonishment, as if asking, “What had we just witnessed?”
Still under its spell, the three of us went into the office and began marking the play.
A single play, Goongi, turned the entire result upside down.
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| A poster from the Culture Department, Government of Sindh, for the stage drama Goongi, presented on 26 March 2021 at Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Public Library, Sachal Goth, Karachi. The production was presented alongside Chun Chunao as part of the department’s stage-drama programme. |
With complete sincerity, all three of us gave it generous marks. We changed the results entirely. And the outcome was that Goongi swept all the awards.
Now, a few days ago, at the Arts Council of Pakistan’s drama festival in Karachi, Arshad Sheikh directed the same play himself and once again worked his magic. And the echo of Goongi once again spread through the air.
It is true that anything which breaks away from convention brings something new. It opens new paths of thought. It creates its own place.
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| Audience watching a scene from Goongi, written by Mujeeb Burdi, at the Arts Council of Pakistan’s drama festival in Karachi on 20 August 2026. |
The echo of Goongi, resonating once again at the Arts Council of Pakistan in Karachi, has proved that the decision we made about Goongi all those years ago still stands firm today, like a mark struck into stone.
Editorial Note
References and further study
Abbasi, Sikandar. “گونگيءَ جي گونج [The Echo of Goongi].” Personal memoir. 2026.
Burdi, Mujeeb. Goongi. Stage play. Larkana, Sindh, Pakistan, 2018.
“لاڙڪاڻي ڊراما فيسٽيول ۾ آخري ڊرامو ‘گونگي’ پيش [The Final Play ‘Goongi’ Presented at the Larkana Drama Festival].” Daily Kawish, October 18, 2018, page-7.
ARY News. “Goongi.” Facebook video. Accessed August 25, 2026. ARY News video on Facebook.
“Arts Council Kicks Off Sindhi Theatre Festival 2026, Wes-Dhaari.” Biz Today, August 20, 2026. The report on the Sindhi Theatre Festival specifically lists Goongi among the eight productions presented at the festival. Biz Today.
Burdi, Mujeeb. “Author Biography.” Goodreads. Accessed August 25, 2026. Goodreads author profile.
Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi. “Wes-Dhaari Sindhi Theatre Festival 2026.” Official festival announcement, 2026. The Arts Council’s social-media announcement includes Goongi among the productions presented at the festival. Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi — Wes-Dhaari Sindhi Theatre Festival 2026.
“Wes-Dhaari Sindhi Theatre Festival 2026.” Hiccup HQ Karachi, August 2026.
Comments
Abbasi has written extensively for television and theatre, including numerous Sindhi one-act plays, mini-series and serials, as well as Urdu television dramas. His published books include Pyar Jo Pehro Nazam (The First Poem of Love), Kojhi Chand Jo Gham (The Sorrow of the Ugly Moon), Mohabbat Hi Khuda Aahe (Love Is God) and Tareekh Ji Teh Khanan Man (From the Cellars of History). His later collection Kachi Nind Ja Khuwab (Dreams of Fitful Sleep) was praised for stories rooted in society and their emotional appeal.
His literary work has earned several recognitions, including the KTN Best Writer Award, the Amar Jaleel Award and the Tanvir Abbasi Award. He has also worked as a presenter with Radio Pakistan Larkana since 2009.
A writer closely associated with Larkana’s literary and cultural life, Abbasi has worked across several forms while maintaining a strong interest in society, human relationships and the concerns of ordinary people. His long engagement with Sindhi literature and theatre has made him a recognisable voice in contemporary Sindhi letters.