I Welcome Myself to Abbottabad!

Exactly a week today,
left Swat at 11 a.m.,
traveled for four and half hour through Mardan, Hasan Abdal, entered Hazarah Division, via Hari Pur, on the climbing roads on mountains,
wonderful and peaceful,
I welcome myself to Abbottabad!

On the way to Abbottabad

beautiful cloudy weather in Hari Pur

Welcome to Abbottabaad!

A Farm in Seegram

Seegram consists of villages on the mountains near Saidu Sharif.  Its an hour long drive from Mingora across River Swat.  The villagers travel to the cities down the hills to buy meat and other necessities of life.  Some farmers are rich as they own large farming lands and can afford tubewells/handpumps for irrigation.  They have cars or motorcycles to travel around.  Those who cannot afford any vehicles travel on horses or donkeys.
Sultan owns a small farming land in Seegram,
which he thinks is sufficient to provide food to his family of 8 members.
He grows corn, wheat, jawar and olive in his farm and loki, tomatoes, peppers and okra in the back of his house.  For water supply, he has to depend on rain.  The stream running under his house is good enough to provide them with water for drinking and other household use.
He has a started working as a contractor so he can save some money to make his house more comfortable and dig a well to get water for farming.
At lunch, we were served with two giant parathas (three times the regular size), loki, meat curry and fried eggs.  This exclusive food was tasty.

exclusive lunch, Seegram, Swat Valley, Pakistan

Sultan, the head of the family in his farm, Seegram

baby olives in Seegram, Swat Valley, Pakistan

tomatoes in the backyard of a house, Seegram, Swat Valley, Pakistan

green pepper planted in a house in Seegram, Swat Valley

green pepper plant, Swat Valley, Pakistan

 Loki (squash) plant in a house in Seegram, Swat Valley, Pakistan

Malta in a house in Seegram, Swat Valley, Pakistan

a stream running under a house supplies drinking water to the family in Seegram, Swat Valley, Pakistan

a small-scale personal farm in Seegram, Swat Valley, Pakistan

rocky path to the farm, Seegram, Swat Valley, Pakistan

Sheereen Baha, A Sad Swati Woman

This old lady with all the sadness in her eyes waved at us for a ride, standing on the side of the climbing roads of Seegram, unable to sit on the back so she sat next to Anwar.  This is how she travels around, walking with crutches until finds a lift from someone.  In a low voice, she was complaining about those having luxury cars but don't bother to stop and see if somebody needs help.  
I asked her permission for a photo, she inquired about me and that what would I do with the photo?
And then in seconds she agreed.

This

Kooza Baanday

Kooza Baanday is a mountainous area through Saidu Sharif, on the way to Seegram.
People in the villages of Seegram travel down to Kooza Baanday shopping for meat and other necessities.
While passing by, we saw a little school boy carrying school bag on his back,
waving his hand to stop,
he wanted a ride to his home on the way.
Anwar, the driver, let the boy sit next to him and dropped him off after five minutes as the boy pointed to a corner on the road.
I asked the little boy in Pashto, "ista naom saday?" (what's your name?).
He replied, "Hazrat Ali."
Then I asked his permission to take his photo (in Urdu and Anwar translated in Pashto).  He jumped off the rickshaw and stood straight like an obedient student.
Then we saw many young boys requesting for a ride to their home.
This is how the little children here go to school and return home, either they have to walk for at least an hour or they run after trucks, vans or rickshaws requesting for a ride.  The name of Nawaz Sharif and Ameer Maqam can be seen wall-chalked everywhere in Swat Valley.

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a boy named Hazrat Ali in Kooza Baanday

school girls in Kooza Baanday

school girls in the area of Kooza Baanday, Swat Valley, Pakistan

Hungry for Chappli

After having a long walk to the right of the hotel after Maghrib, I found a shop selling chappli kebab.  We do have chapplis in Karachi but I had a feeling that the chapplis here would taste different from the one in Karachi.
Yes, they do.
They mix onion and tomatoes in a huge quantity and very little pepper may be, which makes it taste sweetish instead of spicy.  I doubt if they use garlic in their food as the chappli or other Bar B. Q type foods gives off meaty smell.  In Karachi, we must let the meat sizzle in garlic paste so it removes the smell of meat from the food.
The old shopkeeper greeted me with a smile, asked me to sit on a chair and served me with a sample of chappli while I waited for my order.  That was very generous of him.

I had to take the photo of these okras/ladyfingers, three times larger in size than the one we have in Karachi.  I will cook them when I find a place to live here.  

Iqbal in Pashto

Momin lari hur dum

Cheena Market, Mingorah

This market is a combination of Tariq Road and Hydri Market in Karachi, quite expensive,
except for the shops are built on slopes,
bought two shawls, one for I and the other one for me.

Hurting, paining, crushing, cracking --- these are my legs.
I'm tired of walking on slopes.
Literally have drunk four milk packs since morning,
will drink Milo now,
don't know the quantity.

First I thought it is China Market as I heard the name,
but one of the shopkeeper explained it is 'Cheena Market',
'cheena' is the Pashto word for 'glasses',
as this place initially started with optical shops.

Good thing is that,
all shopkeepers anywhere in Mingorah guarantee of no mugging, no snatching, no fear.
Great People!
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My Fourth Day in Swat Valley

Having one of the most beautiful Saturdays of my life,
feeling fresh after a deep sleep last night,
ate a boiled egg and paratha in breakfast,
have drunk three NesVita so far.

It had been raining since dawn,
a beautiful sight to begin the day,
I took two pictures from the lobby,
still cloudy,
listening to Ustad Amanat Ali Khan,
"dil main meethay meethay dard kay phool khilay
 phir yaadon ki hawa chali, phir sham hoi",
kiya baat hay!
and just received the calls from Karachi, Iqbal Bhai and my friend Shubnum,
wanted to know if everything is ok.

The Swat Valley is much bigger than I thought,
it has areas spread far and high in mountains.
I'm still undecided if I should stay in Mingorah or move to Silgram or Kalam,
or may be just keep traveling until I see the entire region,
I have a dream to be at Lake Saif-ul-Mulook, someday.

Mingorah is quite expensive for being the main city to other areas,
same is the case with the capital city of Saidu Sharif right across the river.

So many options and tough decisions to make.
May Allah (SWT) help me to make the right decision.
I'm already feeling relaxed after listening to Baji's dream of me being in Swat written in white on a green fabric.
So, I leave it to God Almighty, The Most Kind, The Most Beneficent.

raining in the morning in Mingorah

River Swat

The area along with the river is called 'bypass'.  A large population lives on both sides of the river.   




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Iqbal Bhai, The Man from Swat

Baji calls him my godfather.  He has the solution for all my problems.  I say anything and he knows the answer.
He just called me from Karachi around 4 o'clock and asked me to go outside on my own.
"Baji koi parishani ka baat nai ay, aap aaraam se akaila goomo, Allah aap ko khush rakay."

He promised Baba and Baji that he will take care of me like my own family member.  He is the man of his words, a manly masculine man but very much camera shy, ha ha.  He has really become our family member.

He has taught me few words in Pashto like, pakh-palay means khud/on your own, khook means is it sweet enough?, raasha raasha means hurry up, come one come on, seen means river, zma Rubi daey means my name is Rubi, loor means daughter, zooer means son, yeyyyyy!

He took us to his youngest sister's house on Wednesday night.  She is a typical innocent, Pathan house lady who has no idea about life beyond the boundary of her house. Her husband, Muhammad Ali Bhai, told me that he has read Iqbal's poetry and regards him as a great scholar and wali-ullah.  I have started loving him since then.  And, O my God, he is very talkative.  He clarified that he never communicates with women sitting beside but because his wives don't know Urdu and he doesn't want me to get bored, so that is why he is talking to me about Iqbal and other topics.  They are perfect gentlemen.

They are a large size family and are well-off but have chosen to live like poor.  The entire house was made of red bricks, containing three lightly furnished rooms, a veranda, and a spacious ground with trees and plants and well in the corner to fetch the water.  Still they had a refrigerator and a television set to watch PTV.

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Load-shedding in Swat

They have built their own plant on a mountain generating electricity for Swat,

still,

the entire valley is suffering from load-shedding,

no timings, no fixed duration.  

They have generators as an alternate. 

People condemn high load-shedding but don't protest against the government. 

I still haven't figured out the reason for such a vulgar type of load-shedding by the government for the people sweet like honey.  

Misconceptions About The People Of Swat

I bothered Iqbal Bhai the whole month of July inquiring about the people of Swat.

I thought he would be annoyed with my questioning, "I've heard they don't allow women on roads and markets, they don't allow taking pictures, they don't allow mobile with cameras, they don't allow women visiting there without a mehram, they don't pet dogs, they live like old times, they are not progressive, they don't want to be the part of Pakistan and are up to making Pakhtunistan...."

But no, he kept answering me with one sentence, "Baji aap jaao aur khud dekho keh kiya such hay."

My presence here is the answer to all my questions.

I have been here for three days without any mehram.

I am staying alone in the hotel, no fear at all.  The hotel management and the staff are very hospitable and professional.  In seconds they reply 'welcome' when hear 'thank you'.  They don't stare but greet me with a smile and salam.

I have been in the market accompanied by a cousin of Iqbal Bhai who is a naa-mehram, for communication purpose.  He showed me the market for women at five minutes walk right behind my hotel.  I saw the shopkeepers were all men while women in veil or chadar were shopping around.

I have taken hundreds of pictures with my mobile, no objection from anyone so far.

I have seen people petting and patting dogs.

They have all kind of shops and malls, selling anything that people would need, even foreign products.

They are progressive-minded and very skillful too as they have built beautiful hotels and guest houses on the Bypass (the road along the river) and on the side of the climbing roads to the peak of the mountains.

They are proud of their national identity.  They love Pakistan and honor Pakistan Army.  75% of the shops have shutters painted either with the national flag of Pakistan or just green and white to show their solidarity to the rest of the Pakistan.  Some people even paint the sloped roof of their houses the same way.  That is not it.  People proudly decorate their shops, houses, vehicles with the flag of Pakistan.  I even saw a car having cushions made of green and white fabric with the sequences glued to make crescent and star.

They supported Pakistan Army against Taliban.  They are willing to promote tourism in Swat and their connection to the whole world --- but not at the cost of their culture and traditions.  They feel proud of being Pakhtoon, own Pashto language, value their traditions, respect each other.
According to Iqbal Bhai, a real Pakhtun would die for two things; his land and the honor of his women.

Shutters painted Pakistan

 Pakistan's flag on a milk shop in Swat 

House built in mountain in Swat

A modern designed hotel in Swat

An  under construction hotel in Swat

  

Valley of Peace

The first thing I noticed missing in this valley is fear.

Not for a moment I felt like a stranger here.

I didn't know that they are so friendly, they just start talking nicely without any hesitation.  

They are amazing; calm, civilized, caring, daring, intelligent, loving, harmless, helpful, honest, hospitable, humble, simple, shy, strong and straight forward.  

They know how to cherish nature, how to celebrate life everyday.  

I did not hear anyone talking loud and vulgar, no curious eyes to stare at us, no pushing while walking, no traffic violations so far, no honking, no fighting.

What they hate the most is America and impoliteness as politeness seems to be the core of their personality, especially towards the people of other provinces.  I love them for they are not rude to me because I'm from Karachi.  Few of them inquired me where I'm from and shared their experience in Karachi.  

This is how I have observed them in last three days. 

Iqbal Bhai was right.  He said, "Take my words, you won't have any problem there for a second, not a single person will hurt you, in fact, they will love you if you be polite to them."

He had already answered my questions regarding their life style, restrictions and women.  I had told him that I can't bear any restrictions and they should not expect me not to walk among men.  

All he said was,  "no problem".    

I think of myself one lucky person who chose to spend time among these stupendous people,

and I love myself for that reason.

A food place at the bank of the river

This is where we had our first breakfast in Swat.

Traditional Swati breakfast, paratha, anda and tea

We ate our first dinner at Zaiqah Restaurant.