Soumya Saxena
I recently visited a passport agent’s office in India. This agent also ran a travel agency from the same office and had tourism posters of various countries and other states in India pasted on its walls. I was browsing through these posters when one poster took me by surprise. It showed a highly decorated public bus in bright colors and below it was written:
The land of various colours: Pakistan
The photo above shows typical decorative art done on a Pakistani truck.
For a moment I quite really didn’t understand what I saw. This is because it was something I had never seen before. My utter surprise was not to end here as I saw another poster with an image of Gautam Buddha (in Gandhara art form) and again written below the image were the words:
The land of various colours: Pakistan
Gautam Buddha and Pakistan? For a moment I was in a fix again, and then I realized that Takshashila (Taxila) is part of Pakistan.
I certainly owe to my ignorance and also to the image of Pakistan promoted across the world, especially in India that I was unaware of the phrase ‘Pakistani tourism’. Actually I have never ever seen a tourism poster of Pakistan or for that matter anything to do with Pakistan which reflects its social or cultural life because unfortunately it is mostly about Kashmir or Terrorism.
Amidst all this we often forget that Pakistan is really in fact the land of colours. I went home and googled about the Pakistani Tourism and found this official tourism site (http://www.tourism.gov.pk/). Browsing through this site was not less than a revelation for me. I had never seen such an image of Pakistan, so many places to visit, historical remains, art, culture, fair, festivals, suddenly a more soft and pleasing Pakistan was in front of my eyes.
Later on I was discussing this topic with my Pakistani friend and he told me that the government does not do much to promote Pakistani tourism either abroad or at home. The historical and archaeological sites are mostly left to decay and defacement.
Zahida Hina, a known Urdu columnist, writes a weekly column ‘Pakistan Diary’ . This column appears in a sunday magazine called Rasrang . Rasrang is part of a Hindi language newspaper Dainik Bhaskar. In one of her articles she wrote that rains often flood the historical remains at Mohenjodaro, but no heed is taken by the authorities. I really felt sad after reading this, given the fact I have been a student of history and always wanted to visit the sites of the great Indus Valley Civilization.
I realize that in India and Pakistan, historical monuments are not preserved the way they should be. This even include the monuments which are labeled as ‘World Heritage’. Often it can be seen that visitors come and carve their names and other symbols on these monuments with stone, chalk, pencils, etc.
Treatment of tourists is another concern. The recent violent incidents in Pakistan creates a certain amount of hesitation and fear in the minds of the people whether to visit or not to visit.
However, people who have visited Pakistan have a lot to tell about the hospitality of the local people, the food, the culture, the lively ambiance of the country. All in all they give talk about an experience which is completely different from what they had perceived before visiting Pakistan.
Personally from what I have read and researched about Pakistan, I feel even a year is not enough to see the whole country. It is certainly blessed with natural beauty as well as historical and cultural diversity. Tourism industry can be very lucrative in Pakistan.
I want to end my post with a message that lets give tourism a chance. It may bridge the gap between people much quicker than any official/bureaucratic attempt to do so.
Author is a lawyer by profession and works for World Wide Fund in New Delhi
Photo Credits: Kamran Channa, Omer Aslam, Zahoor Ahmed, Saima, digital deadhead, Agha Waseem
Being a voyageur by nature, seldom people would know better than me, how much blessed Pakistan is. From picturesque valleys to dominating mountains, the rivers, the deserts, the modernization, the heritage; Pakistan’s colors are undeniably eye capturing. I wrote about it here
- http://tinyurl.com/lj2ad6
I just wanted to quickly mention that Pakistan is one of the top 5 countries i would like to visit..the top one to be honest ..and often get ridiculed because my friends think i am joking …
i am not even sure where to start if i want to visit pakistan .. nevertheless the mystery, enigma and the rich diversity will continue to fascinate some of us indians …maybe it because we dont know much about Pakistan …politics aside my guess is pakistanis are absolutely great people …
Nice article Soumya..and nice to see you writing for Pakistaniat!
Anyway @ your statement:
“For a moment I quite really didn’t understand what I saw. This is because it was something I had never seen before. ”
I think probably you should start looking around India first..I agree that the painting looks indeed classy, but that is only what is seen in India too..Pakistani art and culture didn’t come from Arabia as Zia Ul Haq would like Pakistanis to believe..
appreciable effort on your part soumya. as an indian i know that pakistan has so much potential, tourism is one such area, but alas!
it would be fulfilling one if someone who have visited pakistan have actually share his/her experience, especially sari clad one. looking after second part of this article.
Some comments from the ATP Facebook Page:
- “Thank you for writing this.”
- “pakistan zinda baad,sab se pehley pakistan”
- “Long live Pakistan”
- “The important thing is wat we think abt tourism in Pakistan. I dont think we treat tourists too well”
- “pakistan is good place for turisum way”
- “Excellent Read!!!! Thanks much for sharing!”
- “A very simple poster. There are much more than village life in Pakistan.”
- “tdcp’s minister shud b punishd”
- “My brother visited Moenjodaro a year or two ago when he visited Pakistan and told me he was extremely impressed by what he saw. Its not all doom and gloom. I think though that once security improves in Pakistan and over time there is an expansion of the middle class population there will be greater interest in tourism.”
Very nice. Thank you.
thank u Soumya Saxena for sharing what u have experienced so far about pakistan and pakistan tourism. it is true that Pakistan is a land of colors and many must to visit places. but the problem is that govt never took it seriously to establish and promot tourism industry over here.
Thanks for sharing your views about Pakistan with us Soumya.Right from Karachi to Khyber Pakistan has a lot to offer, it is unfortunate that the world has projected the crisis oriented side of the country more and the government also has played no part in promoting tourism in the country.If you get a chance to tour Pakistan you will find the people friendly and hospitable specially if you are coming from India.