Adil Najam
Massachusetts – where I currently live – takes its Fall (Autumn) season very seriously. The main attraction is ‘Fall Foliage’; the changing of leaf colors as autumn sets in. The official Massachusetts website proudly proclaims that, “Fall is a glorious time to visit Massachusetts. The trees wear magical coats of crimson, gold, and scarlet leaves; hillsides glisten under a pale pink glaze; dry leaves crunch underfoot; and every farm stand boasts piles of fat orange pumpkins.”
Indeed, the spectacular colors that the leaves and forests assume as the cold suddenly creeps in are breathtaking. This is the peak of the tourist season here and people from all over the country and the world converge here to ‘look at the leaves.’ Fall Foliage happens in many places around the world, but in this area (called ‘New England’) it is especially special.
In the beginning, I used to think this rather quaint, even funny. But now I have come to appreciate the glory of the season. Over the last many weeks as I have sat on my desk writing this blog, all too often I have looked up to enjoy the wonderful hues of yellows and oranges and reds and browns that the leaves in my yard have assumed. By now the leaves are all on the ground, the snows are around the corner, but it is still quite beautiful.Over the years, I have taken many photographs of Fall Foliage in Massachusetts. The photograph featured here is not one of them. Indeed, what makes this photograph special is that it is not of Massachusetts at all; even though the foliage connoisseurs of New England would have been quite proud of it. It is, in fact, from Hunza. The snow packed Himalayas in the background make the picture all the more spectacular.
I found this picture on the web (here) the other day and wondered why people seem to enjoy and appreciate Fall colors so much more here than they do in Pakistan. Indeed, as so many of Shirazi’s posts highlight, we tend to enjoy and appreciate the natural wealth of our country so much less than we should. Of course, the daily struggles for survival have much to do with our lack of ability to do so. But even those who can seem to be far more interested in catching a weekend in glitzy Dubai than catching their breath in beholding the natural beauty that is all around us.
Also I would need to say that there’s a phishing scam on the link to the photo page. A pop up ad will claim your antivirus subscription is about to expire and ask you for your credit card number. Please exit the page at once if you see this.
Hi Adil,
I would point out that your pictures, while very beautiful, are from places that are mountainous, very remote, and currently in the grip of fundamentalist violence. Even well funded professional climbers from the West have a hard time getting to Nanga Parbat. How should ordinary Pakistanis get there?
It’s not at all the same thing as going to Mass. for a “colors tour” (we have them in Michigan too), in which you drive in, rent a pleasant motel room, walk out your back door and there it is.
Generally Pakistan does not have the climate for “fall colors” as someone else pointed out. Personally I think parts of Punjab can be very beautiful in certain seasons, but it’s difficult and often unsafe to try to get around Pakistan these days. The cities which you have to return to at the end of your trek are unattractive and have few amenities. The destruction of the environment in every corner of the country has been so great that there is hardly a tree to look at if you do go out. Kashmir is deforested, Balochistan stripped of its forests and famed wildlife.
I think after seeing the news today about Pakistan (that Mr. 10% needs $15 billion instantly or the whole country will collapse) it’s absolutely surreal that we’re sitting around wondering why tourists aren’t flooding into Pakistan instead of France or Germany. Since I was first there in ’91 infrastructure, service, and security in Pakistan have gone downhill every year.
There used to be European backpackers hiking through Pakistan and riding the trains, sleeping in little roadside guest houses, etc. Nowadays no Westerner in his right mind would try this. The houses in posh neighborhoods used to be bordered by hedges whereas now each one is shut off within a huge concrete compound. Pakistan has become a hell for the poor and a cage for the rich. Maybe these changes have been so incremental that Pakistanis have gotten used to them? Or they don’t want to see? Or they just feel helpless to implement any change?
Many questions, very little time to find the answers.
Salam .is web ko aam karo k har koy deken . Thank,s
Adil Jan Achakzai From Pishin Manzari Mekhanzai.
I really enjoyed the style of writing of this as well as teh subject matter. Must say that I coudl not have guessed that this is Pakistan and am ashamed to say that I have travelled hundreds of miles to watch the fall colors in USA but never in Pakistan.
Zahid Bashir,
You are right, we have so much to see within Pakistan but still people with money would prefer a Duabai cruise or a trip anywhere outside Pakistan. Of course, there is this “snob value” to these foreign trips and also the opportunity for shopping. But one important reason, even though not talked about, the tourism does not take off in Pakistan (I have already mentioned 3 or 4 in an earlier comment) is that Pakistan is a dry country. Dry as in drinking or, more appropriately, not being able to drink. Whether one admits it or not many tourists, after a day of sightseeing, would like to relax in the evening over a drink or two. One reason the Dubai cruise is causing so much excitement is the freedom to drink on board.
Pakistan government will have to think long and hard about the issue of prohibition. Prohibition hasn’t stopped people from drinking. So, does the government want to live with the underground business of bootlegging and the consequent loss of revenues or would they like to open up like several Muslim countries have?