IT was the first day of a long weekend recently when we decided to visit Takht Bahi, an archaeological site related to an ancient Buddhist monastery in Mardan. There were a number of schoolchildren who had come to visit the site and looked excited. Besides, there were several families as well.

They were all gathered at the main entrance, trying to convince the gatekeeper to let them in by paying for the tickets.

But the gatekeeper denied entry to all the visitors, saying that he had been ordered to do so. Beyond that, he had no valid reason to give.

The excitement of children turned into disappointment and all the visitors returned with ruined memories.

On return, when I asked my father what could be the reason for refusing entry, he just sighed and said everything here is ruined; long live the ruins of Takht Bahi.

Azlan Gulailai
Peshawar

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2020