PESHAWAR: Two years and some days ago, Maureen Lines left us for her eternal abode. For the better part of her life, Maureen lived in Peshawar and true to her word that Peshawar, along with Birir in the Kalash Valley was her home for all intents and purposes, she breathed her last in Peshawar.

Maureen, or Mo as we used to call her, was in real dread of the month of March which she would always associate with the ‘Ides of March.’ ‘No, never, Nasser, not in March,’ Maureen would dismiss any suggestion of holding any event in the month of March whenever we would try to convince her of the many virtues of the first month of spring.

She fervently believed that of all that Shakespeare wrote about,’ Ides of March had most compelling reasons to be wary of. No wonder than that March devoured her after a protracted illness the intensity of which she always kept from her many friends and admirers. Her illness never stopped her from moving regularly between Peshawar and Kalash.

A few words must be written in memory of Maureen Lines every year not only to remember what a brave woman she was but also to remind the new generations of the superb work she did for the people of Kalash. Her love for Peshawar was such that the felling of a tree here and there in the city would make her extremely sad, if not uncontrollably agitated.

One is sure the ongoing BRT project and the damage it has done to the landscape of Peshawar would have devastated Mo. One sees her marks on the few surviving landmarks that the hapless city of Peshawar is still holding on to in spite of the fact that the city stands badly bruised and battered.

One last word: hundreds and thousands of Pakistanis living abroad have been accommodated and accepted as citizens by the countries that they have migrated to.

Sadly, however, we did not grant Mo this one last wish for which she ran from pillar to post to her dying days.

But in death as in life, she would forever remain one of us as she lies buried in the Gora Qabristan in the soil that she loved so much.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2019