September 22, 2007

Whenever we think of tourism in Pakistan, the foremost provinces that strike our minds are Punjab and NWFP. These provinces hold a lot of landscape beauty for sure but the province of Sindh has never been thought of as an “exploratory” province.

The thirst of travelling and adventure made me and my friends pack our bags and leave Karachi for an amazing long adventurous weekend in the interior of Sindh.

We started off our trip around 3:00pm on Saturday. The highway was just too astounding and incredible. The views and landscapes were eye-catching. The sight along the roadside till Hyderabad wasn’t that exciting as the land was dry and fallow. After travelling for two hours, we reached Hyderabad.

I had been to Hyderabad before often, so it wasn’t my goal to explore it but being a girl, I was naturally attracted to the shopping areas — the famous “Tariq Road” of Hyderabad, the “Resham Galee”, a long street bazaar located on a hill and very famous for bangles, embroidery, shoes and jewellery. I was taken aback to see such a huge shopping area with hundreds of people shopping at night. The quality of the products was good and the prices were so economical. This is the true picture of an ideal market where both rich and poor can shop together.

When we felt hungry, we went to the extremely amazing riverside village-style Dhaaba, where we enjoyed freshly-caught salty river fish. The next morning we left our rest house at 8:00am for Kot Diji, which was our key destination. And the towns and villages on the way were our “Free ticket” excursions.

As soon as we left Hyderabad, the first town we encountered was Jamshoro. As the wheels rolled on we entered two historical towns, Bhit Shah and Hala. Bhit Shah is of immense sacred importance because it has the shrine of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai — the famous Sufi poet of Sindh. By this time we were 250km away from Karachi. The weather outside was mild because it was the mid of February and the intense winter was coming to its end. Passing through Saeed Abad, Pir Jhangdo, Sakrand, we reached Moro.

Moro is a very famous name of Sindh but I didn’t see anything interesting there except a few Dhabbas, town life and fields. Making our way through Bhiriya, Halani, Hingorya and Burhani Pur, we reached the famous Kot Diji.

On our way, we saw millions of fields specially mango and banana orchids, forestry, cotton fields and solannaice commonly known as sersoon. As we moved ahead, the foliage also increased. The very famous Sindh University and Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) caught my eyes due to their vast cover areas and huge gigantic and antique buildings.

Finally, we reached Khairpur division. Khairpur is itself a city as well as a division. It also has various small towns and villages under the name of Kot Diji. Kot Diji further has two famous places to visit, Mehranu and Kot Diji Fort.

Mehranu, a vast spread out desert safari terra firma with packs of deer, flocks of goats, sheep and wild pigs jumping, hopping and roving hither and thither. This safari territory is under the authority of the present Royal family there in Kot Diji, “The Mirs”, and was established in the 18th century when Mir, the great was gifted numerous different deer species by some foreign authorities. Not only are there goats, sheep and wild pigs but a measureless pond is made by the Mirs for the migrating birds of Siberia and the North.

This place can only be viewed on special permission by the Royal family. A fully hay and grass covered confined room with several view blocks has been made to see the different species of migrating birds. A single sound can scare the birds with a never returning flight hence noise pollution is highly prohibited in that particular area.

Driving in a jeep though the desert sand made me feel the roller coaster’s dangerous ride but it was really very exciting. Now we had reached Kot Diji Fort. This titanic gargantuan fort made my jaw drop. It truly is more attractive and huge than the forts of the Mughals. The magnificent fort of Kot Diji was built in the 19th century by the local rulers, Mirs. The archaeological site of Kot Diji (3300BC) is of great historical importance. The fort had its own lock-ups, party halls, dance halls, royal family and royal servants’ residential rooms, Gallo and many more compartments and partitions.

After going through the colossal multi-floored fort, we decided to go to Khairpur and view the castle of the Royal Mirs. The castle is at 20-minutes drive from Kot Diji, 525 km away from Karachi and is surely an embodiment of its own kind. This is one of the historical castles used by the Mirs since ages and even today the royal family resides there. The castle has “furniture and fittings” from the golden days till the modern period of 2007. The vast living room lounge is surrounded by the guest rooms, the dining hall, current Mir’s “hush-hush” room and a few showcases with antediluvian gifts and decorations. The living room is bejewelled by the family pictures’ wall, starting off with the Mir of the 19th century till the current Mir. Some memorable events such as weddings, birthdays and important achievements have been captured on camera. A beautifully painted picture of the Mirs and close friends enhances the beauty of the room.

Before the independence of Pakistan, Khairpur, Kot Diji and various towns and villages were under Mirs’ rule but later at the time of partition the kingdom of the Mirs was taken away by the government but still today the Mirs look after the political, social and economical affairs of the district Khairpur.

The “pink-fawn” castle did not get off my mind the whole night long and I kept on thinking how fabulous life can be by living in a castle. The next morning we were invited by some of the respected families of the town for a breakfast at the fields. It was a beautiful moment — walking through the sersoon fields on a bright sunny day, seeing cows being milked, butter being churned, children hand pumping the water, girls making loaves of different kinds in the tandoor for the breakfast, tea being made with fresh milk on coal stove, kharee lassi being made from fresh milk and butter, turkeys and pea cocks dancing with bliss and a single lad caretaking herds of buffaloes.

But I was very disappointed to know that the income of the farmers was not enough to fulfil their needs. They work so hard by ploughing and harvesting fields throughout the day and their ample hard work is returned by Rs700 a month. This amount is nothing to run a family. Obviously with this meagre income, farmers can’t even think of educating their children.

But recently some progressive steps have been taken in the villages for farmers’ prosperity. These reforms have emphasised on girls’ education. Child labour is also discouraged but it will take time to urge people to not use children as slaves.

Now, it was time to go back to Karachi and get back to the normal schedule. We took the route through Son town but first paid my regards at Shahbaz Qalander’s shrine where hundreds of people rush to pay their tributes. The most sacred thing at the shrine is Qalander Sahab’s silver taveez which is too big to carry and too heavy to wear but it truly is very attractive.

The road back to Karachi was amazing with plain fields on one side while mountains on the other. After travelling 1,100kms, we were back in Karachi on Monday night, in the hustle and bustle of the city with hectic life and critical responsibilities. The village journey gave me a lot of knowledge, made me experience different things and made me thank Allah for the facilities I’ve been provided with, which I never even thought of and took them for granted.