"Laho"- to -"Lahore"

excursion to Murree, one of the largest
resort towns built by the British
in the honor of Virgin Mary. We felt
a simple sense of delight. There was
a two-hour drive ahead. The weather
was nice and the stunning beauty of
the green nature surrounding the
road very much resembled Kandovan
road7 and Tajikistan's Varzob8. The
unmatched natural beauty of the
habitable soaring hills was reminiscent
of Kelardasht9 highlands where
the roads, or as the Pakistani's said
"the motorways", were uncrowded.
Pearl Continental Hotel was located
only a few miles away from Murree.
The manager of the impeccably furnished
edifice was expecting us. He
set his hotel aloft on a hill to be seen
far afar. It faced the Kashmir Mounts
and was host to those who wished to
spend some time in the midst of the
majestic terrain leading to their Azad
Kashmir. It was truly difficult to leave
such picturesque scenery and ambience.
Murree is like Tochal10; people
come to the city heights, the great
place to get sweeping views of the city
and to hike or unwind.
We were attended by a neatly dressed
gentleman from the Foreign Ministry
who had spent seven years of his life
in the Protocol Department of the
Ministry of foreign affairs. He was a
fan of cinema and had rather particular
knowledge of the Iranian movies.
He resolved to consecrate himself to
the service of the Foreign Missions.
Pakistan's administrative system is
hierarchical and very law-abiding. A
stitch in time saves nine! Everyone
should climb up that ladder of
success one rung at a time. Working
your pace, skipping, unauthorized
outdoing, deceitful practice and the
like are strictly forbidden. It serves a
no-entry zone for non-MOFA members
where high-ranking individuals
always benefit from dominant status
over the subordinates. The ambassadors
must have already observed the
diplomatic and organizational ranks.
Such hierarchical system is the subordination
of virtually all administrative
organs. The seniors are respected
by all. No one could become an overnight
success.
Having returned to Islamabad, we
went straight to Faisal Mosque.
It is conceived as the National
Mosque of Pakistan built by the
government of Saudi Arabia. Both
its structure and architecture are
strikingly beautiful. It is matchless
in the Southern Asia and is one of
the world's largest mosques. Each
of its minarets is 80 meters high.
Construction of the mosque began
in 1976 and ended in 1986. From
among the proposals submitted to
the competition by architects from
17 countries, the design of a Turkish
architect was chosen. Unlike traditional
mosque designs, it lacks a
dome. The minarets are thin and
pencil like. It has covered an area of
5,000 m2 and built at a cost of over
40 million dollars. The mosques
relatively unusual design fuses contemporary
lines with the more traditional
look of Arab tents, with its
large triangular prayer hall and four
minarets on each corner. It can accommodate
10,000 worshipers in
its main prayer hall, 1500 people in
the women's prayer hall and another
40,000 in its courtyard. The high
altar of the mosque poses a vertical
Quran in a rather simple statuesque
architecture. There is a fact that it
lacks colors of any kind; everything
colorless and pale to me! It is a definite
drawback. A turquoise mosque
adorned with muqarnas style decorations
and inlay works of Iranian
and Pakistani architecture was
something one really missed about
when visiting the city. While touching
the clouds, the Mosque’s towering
minaret cast its look of longing
down on innumerable variations
of traditional colorful structures of
Rawalpindi. It had nothing to offer
but its tall stature.
ECO TIMES
27
December 2011