For Beauty and Tranquility – within and without!

A few days ago I was invited to an Ikebana exhibition by the Sogetsu School to cover it for my blog. The exhibition was organized at Rosy’s Salon, and was followed by a talk by the beautician, or rather a question and answers session, where eager ladies of all ages showered her with their queries, and she patiently answered each.

But to get back to the subject at hand – the Ikebana exhibits. Although there were only 12 pieces on display, what needs to be commended is not just the creativity of these ladies, but their enthusiasm, commitment and determination to carry on their exhibitions and activities in spite of the pandemic scare. With most of the members who were exhibiting -- nine are teachers as well -- on the wrong side of 60, they had diligently and artistically managed to arrange their displays spread over three areas – the reception, entrance foyer and parlour – maintaining adequate space between each arrangement. They had also kept the Q and A outdoors, everyone religiously wearing their masks throughout the programme.

So, the first exhibit, created by Perin Mooraj, was at the reception area, a profusion of purple and mauve chrysanthemums arranged in two polished wicker baskets, with babies’ breath, wild grass and twigs artistically arranged, connecting the two containers. As you walked into the foyer, there were two other beautiful arrangements on the floor – one by Nayyer Arshad and the other by Nishat Alvi. While Nayyer’s was a simple display of spray-painted babies’ breath, purple statis, face palm, foliage and twigs in a large earthenware vase, the other was an elaborate arrangement basically made with spray-painted babies’ breath, tall twigs and foliage. It made one marvel at what imagination and creativity can produce, even with the simplest of tools.

Once you entered the main parlour, the remaining nine arrangements greeted you, mostly interspersed on table tops and counters between chairs for servicing clients, adding to the aesthetic environment of the space, and maintaining safe distances between arrangements so that clients or visitors are not placed at risk. The fourth arrangement, displayed in a shallow green ceramic container, was by Shirin Poonawala comprising yellow chrysanthemums offset by dark green foliage and the branch of a tree. 

The next arrangement, by Tarannum Lakda, was one of the larger displays, comprising orange gladiolas, white chrysanthemums leaves and twigs, arranged within a bamboo frame, giving it a picturesque touch.

My personal favourite, as much for the innovative design of the container used as for the simplicity and artistic use of the plants, was the one arranged by Saman Hasan. She had arranged wheat stalks, yellow chrysanthemums, leaves and asparagus in a white bag-shaped vase which was eye-catching, and most fetching. 

Madiha Taha’s arrangement comprising basically mauve chrysanthemums and leaves had been done in a rectangular container, the arrangement divided into two parts, and then unified by twigs and leaves.

Another simple and elegant arrangement was by director of Karachi Sogetsu Study Group, Shahina Zuberi. A combination of statis, pink lilies and areca palm leaves, the arrangement in the vase was given further character by bamboo sticks propped against the vase.

I loved Nafisa Baig’s arrangement too, done in painted hollow bamboos. She had managed to put together bright orange Asiatic lilies, yellow chrysanthemums, babies’ breath, and leaves artfully shaped by hand into an indisputably attractive display.

Rubina Faiz’s arrangement with white gladiolas, money plant, babies’ breath and twigs done in and across two tiny containers was another artistic display. However, the arrangement that warrants special mention was the one done in a hand-made improvised dried leaf ‘basket’ rather than in a purchased container, by Nazli Baig. With the basket an intrinsic part of the arrangement, the display also incorporated white chrysanthemums, babies’ breath, bamboo sticks and money plant. 

Perhaps the largest and most elaborate arrangement was the last, by Nuzhat Jamali.  Arranged in a steel frame, the pink and purple chrysanthemums, babies’ breath, ferns, areca palm leaves, painted dried leaves and dried twigs made for a fetching display.

All I know is after seeing all these creative pieces, some using barely any flowers, I feel quite remorseful that I have never bothered to go the extra mile and arrange the many beautiful flowers I received as presents, into artistic displays. No longer will I be content just depositing them in vases and enjoying their beauty and perfume!

 Destination Pakistan – or not?

By Shanaz Ramzi

 

 

As the convener for FPCCI’s Central Standing Committee on Tourism Development 2020, and an ardent advocate of promoting local tourism, I availed the opportunity recently to visit parts of our northern areas, particularly as my committee has been working diligently on presenting the government with working papers on how we can promote local tourism all across the country so that economy thrives, jobs are created and while we ensure our people have beautiful locales to visit, the environment is also protected and benefits from it.

 

Can you then imagine my shock when the places I chose to ‘check out’ – which I had heard people rave about for decades, but had not had the opportunity to visit – turned out to be major disappointments! Our party had decided on Shogran, Batakundi, Naran, Kaghan, Saiful Muluk, and finally Hunza for our trip, and my husband and I had decided that we would accompany them up till Saiful Muluk and then return as we didn’t want to be away for too long.

 

So, flying into Islamabad, my husband and I rented a four-wheeler and drove up till Mansehra check post where we met up with the others who had driven from Karachi and Lahore. The motorway was of course, everything people say it is – a fantastic drive complete with two highly impressive tunnels at Abbottabad – but the one thing sorely missing en route, right up till Mansehra, which was at an-hour-and-a-half drive from Islamabad, was washrooms. I was quite surprised that there were none on the way as I had heard that the Punjab government had made some state-of-the-art ones off the motorway, which one could use at a payment of rupees 50 per person. We ultimately landing up using the bathrooms in the accommodations for the people manning the toll gate!

 

Driving for another two hours till we reached Balakot check post, the gateway to Kaghan Valley, we waited for the rest of our party to catch up. I had heard so much about the beauty of Kaghan Valley and its green hills and thick forests that the relatively uninspiring landscape and mountains shorn of trees that we passed came as quite a shock. 

 

Stopping only to take pictures at the raging Kunhar River, the 166 km river that originates at Lake Lulusar, and is the main feature of Kaghan Valley we spotted signages announcing fresh trout available along its banks and passed a number of restaurants that served just trout.

 

The road all the way had been perfect and in another 45 minutes we reached the town of Kawai. Nothing prepared us for the trek that awaited us thereafter, to our hotel in Shogran, allegedly one of the most beautiful plateaus in the valley. The one-hour drive to our hotel – Cedar Wood Resort -- from Kawai was via a narrow, steep, winding, uneven, rocky track that is only recommended if you are in a four-wheeler. The good news is that all the hotel owners – yes, all hotels in Shogran are only accessible via this track – realise this and have kept a parking spot at Kawai, at the foot of this path, for those adventurous tourists who may have set out to explore the northern areas in a sedan rather than a SUV. So, you can park below and then take the hotel jeep up to the hotel.

 

After what seemed to be an unending 45 minutes, we finally reached our hotel – an aesthetically beautiful resort boasting a profusion of seasonal flowers and attractive landscape. That’s where its merits ended. I wish the owners had spent as much time on the maintenance of their establishment and on providing the basic amenities that any seasoned traveler looks for, as they had done on beautifying the place, for the bathrooms were a disaster – majority of the flushes of the WCs were not working, and the so-called ‘cleaned’ bathrooms were a mess. The staff had literally hosed down the bathroom after the rooms’ occupants had left – toilet roll, soaps, et al -- and then left them wet for the next set of guests to check in. To make matters worse, there was no running hot water, and even in the peak of summer it was too cold to take a shower. Obviously trained staff and quality service was not their strength, which is such a shame as the ‘resort’ could be a delight if they would just spruce up their act a bit. The establishment is apparently on its way to setting up a chair lift so obviously not having funds to invest in its upkeep is not a problem, but having a different set of priorities is.

 

Our initial plan had been to stay at Shogran for three nights and to do day trips to all the nearby touristy areas, but having done the trek up to the hotel once, we were in no mood to do it on a daily basis. Hence, we checked out and made our way towards Naran, where we had tentative bookings for another hotel. 

 

En route we stopped at Trout Park Fish Point and Restaurant for lunch – a treat we had been dreaming about since the day before! With clear streams gushing forth and charpoys laid out over running water where one could sit and dip one’s feet in its icy cold temperatures, while partaking of delectable fried trout, the wayside eatery was a refreshing stop in more ways than one. The brown trout from Kunhar River and rainbow farm trout fried in fresh masala prepared by the cooks, were devoured in no time, as was the karhai chicken, and mash daal.

 

Naran turned out to be so crowded – it was a weekend that day – and so congested with hotels literally stuck to one another that we panicked that this could just be a hotbed for another pandemic. So, we decided to drive to Batakundi instead, which proved to be the best decision we could have taken. 

 

The isolated Pine Top hotel overlooking magnificent views of Kaghan’s Valley’s highest peaks, was unoccupied, so we had the entire resort to ourselves. The chalets, each comprising two rooms with clean, attached bathrooms, kitchen and a sitting room were just what the doctor ordered, and the cool, low temperatures was the icing on the cake.

 

The next morning after breakfast we left for Naran and couldn’t believe it was the same town we had passed through the day before. Practically desolate now, as it was a working day, we booked jeeps from there to take us up to Lake Saiful Muluk. Although private SUVs could also do the trek – and we did pass some on the way – they are discouraged by the locals, both because they want the jeep mafia to thrive, since it is their only source of livelihood, and because parts of the terrain are really treacherous and do require local expertise. It involves around 45 minutes of bumpy riding that is akin to a roller-coaster ride, but less smooth, and crosses a massive glacier on the way, the track in front of which is eroded, water-filled, and difficult to traverse. On our way back, we actually witnessed a jeep that had got stuck there and had to turn back. When we did the trip, there were all of 50 jeeps, if that, but we were told that at the peak of the tourist season there are an average of 1500 jeeps doing the trek, and a long queue plying the narrow path.

 

Located at 10,500 ft above sea level Lake Saiful Muluk is described by one travel magazine that I had consulted before embarking on the journey, in the following words: ‘No trip to Kaghan valley is complete without a visit to the legendary Lake Saiful Muluk. Words cannot describe the beauty and serenity of the setting and picture postcards do no justice. The crystalline waters of Lake Saiful Muluk reflecting the surrounding snow-peaked mountains is an image that must be seen in person’. Obviously, when we took up the challenge of undertaking this trek, we had this vision in mind. 

 

What we saw as soon as we arrived at the parking area for the jeeps, was a garbage dump. Passing it, we climbed down a steep path and found ourselves flanked on both sides by shabby stalls selling pakoray, tea, toys and what not, beyond which was a lake. That was our first impression of Lake Saiful Muluk. Kicking ourselves that we had tortured our backs undertaking this horrendous journey for this anti-climax of a vision, we decided to make the best of a bad bargain, and went down to the lake, which left those among us who had seen it ten years ago, just as depressed, as they felt its level had gone down considerably and it no longer looked as impressive as it once did. 

 

Since the lake had a little barrage of sorts that allowed the water to collect in a stream flanked by rocky formations, we climbed down further to take some pics. With our moods slightly improved, we sat down to hear the story of Saiful Muluk from the baba that is always looking for an audience. As the legend goes, the lake is named after Prince Sauful Muluk who fell in love with a fairy princess from the mountains here. She had been kept captive by a white giant and he helps her to escape with him. According to the legend they live to this date in a cave near the lake. The old man tells the tale in Pushtu and is happy to take whatever you give him for his efforts, as indeed are a lot of other locals who hound you for the same.

 

 We then decided to take boat ride of the lake since there was nothing else to do, instead of going back so soon after arriving. It was a good thing we did, because when you move away from the filth all around you and reach the centre of the lake, you do eventually see what all the fuss is about. Surrounded by impressive snow-clad mountains, crowned by the summit of Malika Parbat (Queen of the Mountains), the view is undoubtedly picturesque when seen from a point where there are no nearby eye-sores to ruin the view. 

 

Our boat owner took us across the lake where we were allowed a ten-minute stop to get off and slide down a glacier. Would you believe what we saw there, among other things – a dirty pamper! And this at a time when tourists had still not started coming in their regular numbers thanks to Covid-19! To the credit of the authorities, there were dustbins everywhere at Lake Saiful Muluk entreating humans to behave like animals who do not throw rubbish everywhere like humans do, but of course, our merry-making public who want to have a good time in natural, scenic environs are not pushed about leaving the place worthy of visiting even a second time! 

 

My earnest suggestion to the authorities would be to hire uniformed locals who have been trained in keeping touristy places clean, and to empower them to heavily fine littering visitors. That is the only way to ensure that these places remain tourist attractions. What’s more, vendors should not be allowed to set up stalls at their whims. There should be proper SOPs, like anywhere in the developed world, and stalls should be catering to the various needs of tourists rather than just proliferating rampantly and adding to the mess.

 

On our drive down, some of us got off to take pictures under the massive glacier – a rare treat indeed -- and then we headed back to Naran. After a scrumptious lunch at Afaq hotel we went off for a walk along the only main road that Naran boasts of, from where we bought dried fruit and had matka chai. For those who have not tried it, this is a must – especially the Kashmiri chai served in the earthenware glass.

 

Exhausted, we went back to our hotel to call it an early night, as the next day we were leaving back for Islamabad, while those who were travelling by road were going further up to Hunza. I came back with the sorry realization that we have so much to offer in terms of tourism but so much more that we have to set right before it can develop into a full-fledged industry.