The annual visit to Islamabad was due in November. This time Taha had decided to accompany me and had come in early from Seattle to spend two weeks with us. We had a great time, completing a hike in the Adirondacks, climbing Mount Tom, several visits to Great Horse and attending Qawali. When the fateful day of November 4th came, we were ready. The drive to airport with our driver Chevy was very comfortable in his Lincoln. Chatting about world affairs with great analysis on the Ukraine- Russia and Israel-Palestine Conflict, we made our way to Logan. The whole process to check in was over in no time and in a blink of an eye, we were sitting at Legal Seafood having dinner.
We had brought sleep aids and took them as soon as we sat in our seats and drifted into a nice sleep. The lay over in Doha was pleasant and we had tea at a café in the airport. Taha was brave enough to try the spicy Turkish hot chocolate which was delicious.
The immigration at Isloo was a breeze and we quickly picked up our luggage and were greeted by the warm smile of Bagla. After embracing Ama and Baba we made our way home. There is no place like your parents’ home. Walking in, I regress to a child like state where my mom has set up a system to take care of my every need. The house had some great renovations which were practical that reminded me why my mom is an amazing woman.
We took a catnap before leaving for the morning walk. Imran Khan had tried to set up several walking trails being an athlete himself and nothing beats the walk around the sectors where we grew up. I walked past Musaddiqs home where I first met him, and my brother reminded me of the blue Foxi that he drove. Also passed the house of penguin, a guy who seemed to be perpetually studying for USMLE when I first met him.
We walked in the footsteps of the mountains making several loops around the cricket ground before ending up in F-6 and passed ICG. It was nostalgic to see parents dropping their daughter clad in a light blue uniform to their schools. There was a crisp smell of early morning parathas as we passed by supermarket on our way home. I took a moment to stand on a bridge and take the views of the wonderful Pir Sohawa. Up next, we went together to Cheema Chatta where we had desi breakfast. The Daal with whole wheat desi paratha and Lassi stood out. After we got home, we spent some time resting before Madiha and Manha arrived. We had fun catching up and then took the conversation outside to Brew which is a western side café where the expatriates and desi goras go to hang out. A poster with name of Palestinian kids who have died in the recent conflict was posted on the wall. This stood out as a contrast to name of Israelis who had lost their lives in the Hamas attack and their names have been put in several spots in Boston. Perspectives may differ but loss of human life is deplorable no matter what side of the world you live. Our night was not over as we visited the second cup coffee shop at Kohsar and also lit up some local cigarillos. Coming home, I went to sleep after taking a sleep aid to fight the jet lag I normally get every time I come home.
Cheema Chatta
Bagla who runs our house
Late Night at Kohsar with Taha
The next morning, we hit trail 3. As usual the fire trail was daunting but cleaner. The morning air was crisp and the views of Islamabad, Rawal dam, Faisal mosque and Bari Imam were breathtaking. We made our way to the midway point with a small area to pray. We offered 2 Nawafil before making our way down and reached home where we had breakfast on the roof with parathas, pomegranate juice, and an assortment of eggs. A little rest was followed by a slow day of relaxing and conquering jet lag. Dinner was Ama’s homemade Nihari. This Is her specialty, and I would wager that you cannot get a better Nihari anywhere. The late night was spent having Hookah on the roof with Saad and Taha.
Morning prayer spot
Trail 5: Beautiful spot
One of many hikes. Mountain Lion Warning
The next day brought some more adventures. We again hit trail 5. This time we saw some wild hens and monkeys on our way down. The afternoon was spent at Lok Virsa where all provinces, Kashmir and Gilgit have their local food, goods and cultural items at display. It was fun to enjoy folk songs and local music and we also tried some Kashmiri tea, Punjabi Kahwah and PeshawariTikka. The evening was set with a date with Faraz Bhai who wanted for us to try some steak. We went to a local steak joint at Kohsar where we enjoyed some Pakistani steak with Mint Margaritas and soaked up the wisdom of Faraz Bhai.
Found my twin at Lok Virsa
The next day was a little tough as my belly had started hurting from the local cuisine and Taha had caught a cold as well. Undaunted we decided to go to Misalabad, a small village near Nowshera. We reached the village in no time on the motorway taking a customary stop to have some chai and snacks. The village has a mosque started by the Sarfraz clan. It is here that we met Said Muhammad and his family. Said Muhammad who himself lives in poverty has made it his mission to help people in Misalabad. There are several families where women have lost their husbands to accidents and heart disease. You see so many young and beautiful children. We toured the mosque and local madrassah and several homes where domesticated cows and goats live withing the house. The homes are simple structures lacking the western world possessions which we have loved to enjoy. Yet most everyone has a smart phone. The floods few years ago had devastated the homes. The mosque has been rebuilt and a madrassah for the girls is being built where they will learn some crafts and religious education. What stood out was the contentment of these people. Having nothing, they all seemed more content than some who have all of Allah’s blessings. They served us some tea and fresh cut Saag with whole wheat Atta.
Said Muhammad who despite poverty is a Village Philanthropist
The Village elder
Mosque Under Construction and Repair
One of the many children who have lost their dads
Kabul River
Leaving the village we found a restaurant at Kabul river called Korbah. It offered riverfront dinning and local fish. I got to pray Zuhar in Jammat with some of the staff members at the mosque and then enjoyed the lunch before heading home. On our way home, we were met with a lot of rain and hailstorm. I went to bed early to catch up on some much-needed sleep.
The next morning, we went for a very long walk soaking up the scenes and making a loop before coming home for breakfast. Everything looks so clean after the rain and the weather pushed us to go to Pir Sohawa. The drive up on our Cherry, A marvelous seven seater made in China, was made pleasant by the coke studio music. We reached our destination passed Monal and sat at a table to have tea. It was like I was back in time as I had come here after almost twenty years. We really enjoyed the tea and pakoras and I drove us back home.
The next few days are a big blur. We continued our daily hikes to Monal. We have discovered both trail 3 and trail 5 that lead to Pir Sohawa. I find that trail 3 is more scenic and starts gently followed by a sharp incline with great views of Margalla Hill Park. Trail 5 is more challenging if you take the fire trail which is a bit dusty but had a nice place to offer prayers with a small musallah with marbled out floor. It gives more direct views of the Islamabad skyline and Rawal dam in the distance. We also found a nice peaceful spot called Wild Valley Restaurant which is slightly north of Monal. This restaurant is extremely peaceful. It became our daily ritual to go up and have tea and breakfast with parathas, fried eggs and chole. We would also sit for some time to soak in views of the valley and the village.
Such a tranquil place for breakfast
Allu Ande were Spectacular
Great Meditation Spot
Bandar
Mubashirs Jeep for Serious Climbing
One of the many Sunrises
Daily breakfast on the roof
Dinner at Nidah’s Home
We were also able to visit Bari Imam and offer our salam to Syed Abdul Latif Kazmi, often referred to as Barī Imām or Barī Sarkār (1617 – 1705), was a 17th-century Sufi ascetic from Punjab. He is venerated as the patron saint of Islamabad, Pakistan. He was a sufi saint who settled in the area called chorpur , an area where bandits and thieves lived and thrived. It is here that he gave people the dawa to embrace Islam. A celebrated miracle worker, Bari Imam is also described in regional lore as one through whom God performed many marvels to convince the local people of the truth of Islam; thus, some of the most popular miracles ascribed to him are his having caused water to gush forth from rocks and his having brought back to life the dead water buffaloes of a peasant who had earlier provided the saint with milk during his ten years of spiritual seclusion.
Bari Imam
We frequented several cafes and resturants in our trip. It is here that you can run into eminent celebrities. The notable ones are Brew in E7 which is upscale café and is the hangout of Islamabad elites. One night we ran into Imran Khans sister here. She is very elegant in real life and has an aura like Imran Khan. Kohsar market has several cafes like street 1 and Table talk where we saw Shireen Mazari who looked elegant as usual. We also frequented Eggspectation which is a Montreal based Franchise and trully serves amazing western food. Other favorites include loafology bakery and café which has a European vibe and is in blue area, Islamabad. The place is definitely worth a visit and has an amazing vibe.
Montreal Style burgers in Isloo
Street 1 cafe
Hang out with Ammad Clan
The Philospher
Butlers Cafe
La Terraza, Centaurus Mall
Dynasty Chinese: still number 1
During the trip I was also able to meet some children from real poor families. It is hard to describe the simplicity in which these children live content oblivious of some of the amenities of the developed world. A lot of these kids live in a room shared with their parents lacking modern day facilities like microwave, air conditioning, heaters and even gas and electricity. In a way a lot of these kids are destined to live a life of abject poverty. One of the ways we have failed these children is by taking away there right of basic and Islamic education. I see the ability to understand Islam as a privilege that a lot of us have in the west. Abject poverty creates its own challenges with lack a constant struggle to satisfy the basic needs for survival. Some of these slums where these kids reside have many social evils and drugs as if poverty has stolen the soul of humanity. In the Christian slum in Islamabad, ironically called French colony is rife with these evils. Tik Tok and social media is easily accessible. You can look at bikini models in Dubai right from the comfort of your charpai in the hut. Young girls try to make it on you tube and create inappropriate videos. With the complete breakdown of economy, prostitution is on the high. Due to population explosion there are thousands of applicants for simple jobs. The unemployed are sitting at home, mindlessly surfing the net looking at a world of abundance while trapped in endless cycle of depravity.
I met Sajid son of Muhammad Aslam who toils all day to make less than fifty dollars a month. He has seven mouths to feed. Sajid, himself is doing chemical engineering with no clear-cut idea of the future. His ability to educate himself despite the odds is a miracle in itself.
Shabina bibi has 4 children and is a young widow. She is the sister of Said mohammad who himself lives in poverty but does more charity than some of the richest people that we associate with on a regular basis.
Other noteables are bewas Saima bibi, Bewa of Tahir Khan, and bewa of Ayaz. Saqib Shah is another poor laborer with not much to sustain himself. The list is endless. All this in a small village in Mansera. The amount of poverty in these areas is unreal and there are so many people to help. The only way to bring meaningful change is to enter politics like Imran did. He knew after years of philanthropy that meaningful change will only come from country wide policies established by the leader with socialistic agenda, the Riasat of Medina.
Eighteen: One of a kind Gated Community
I also had the opportunity to tour some of Islamabad developments. There is a fascinating new development called Eighteen being developed by an Egyptian Entrepreneur that has a feel of a Florida like gated community with golf course which is eighteen-hole, tennis, soccer and basketball courts, lots of open space and homes with pools. It is a nice place to live for sure. I also liked the new blue area Plazas which has potential and the Islamabad mall. Real estate is the only thing that seems to be exploding in Pakistan. It is a way for the black money to be parked legally. Unfortunately there is little happening with education, universities and innovation. The opportunity is there but not being tapped.
Another lesson I drew was the realization that most of the people have a service culture to serve, a colonial hangover where brown sahibs have replaced the gora masters. I understand that humility is a great trait but what I see in a particular class of our society is a lack of self-confidence, apologetically catering to the needs of the few who have an unfair share of the country’s wealth. This class has been kept in this state, without opportunities to grow, groomed to serve the master’s in civil and military bureaucracy. The Pakistan army appears as an occupying force taking the best real estate in every town, most recently the prime real estate in Islamabad, ruling with contempt of the bloody civilians meant to eternally serve their masters in uniform.
On a brighter note, we tried several restaurants and what stood out was Dynasty for Chinese, Cheema Chatta for desi food, and Eggspectation for western food. We also visited Golra Sharif and the shrine of Meher Ali shah. It is a beautiful shrine and after offering our salam, we went to the village of Shah Alla Ditta. The village is believed to be more than seven hundred years old and lies on the route which was used to travel from Kabul to the Gandharan city of Taxila by Alexander the Great and Sher Shah Suri, while Mughal rulers and other emperors often passed through while traveling from Afghanistan to the Hindustan.
Shah Allah Ditta Caves
It was a cool feeling to be so close to the place where Sher shah sure and Alexander the Great once passed. The caves somes of them with 2500 year old history for mediation by Buddhist monks followed by hindu sadhus and eventually muslim ascetics of the Mughal era. There is a definitive energy of the place which is stoic and calming in its own way. We sat at a local shop and had pakoras with tea while listening to qawwali music in the background.
The visit also marked hangouts with several family members. It was good to see Ammad who is thriving and serving the Pakistan Army. We had dinner together and the delicious Nihari and Korma made by Ama. I also met up with Faraz bhai and the highlight was the lunch with him on the roof of our house with magnificent views of Pir Sohawa and fresh air. Ama has made a garden on the roof and grows fresh fruits and vegetables. Also out home is beautifully landscaped and keeps getting better every time I visit.
I also hung out with Wazahat who is doing well as a spinal surgeon and might start a obesity clinic with me. Pakistan gives me a way to go back home and keep some of the relationships we have alive. It also feeds my need for social charity and a little difference we can make in the life of people. Doing this gave me the opportunity to realize how real change can only come by serving in politics like Imran Khan did. I guess very few of us have the will to give the sacrifices he made to change the fate of our nation.
The final day came eventually, which is always bittersweet. I look forward to seeing my nuclear family but know that I will miss my parents and the home where I grew up. I know I must build connections in Pakistan to stay connected to it and do more for the homeland.
As I left back for USA, a part of me will stay with the beautiful people of Pakistan who deserve much more. If Allah wills, I will be back
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