Owais Mughal
Most of our readers may know that K2, the world’s second highest peak, is also called Mount Godwin-Austen. It is named after Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen (1834-1923) who was an Assistant on the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India. He was the first one to survey the area in modern times (1860s).
He wrote a paper which was read at the Royal Geographical Society meeting on January 11, 1864 and published in the society journal in the same year.
In this publication Godwin-Austen recalls a scene of a flash flood and land-slide that he witnessed while camped out between Mustakh Range and Skardu as follows:
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Mast Qalandar
As promised in my earlier post on The Caps of Pakistan, it is now time to talk about Purgees, or turbans. Turban in Pakistani culture is more than just a headwear. It is also a symbol of one’s honor.
Kicking the turban off a person’s head (pugree uchalna) is tantamount to inflicting an insult on him. On the other hand, dropping one’s turban at someone’s feet is a sign of extreme humility and asking forgiveness. In southern Punjab and Sindh, a peasant or hari would drop his turban at the feet of the zamindar or the feudal lord when formally greeting him. While doing so, he would also bend down to touch the zamindar’s feet.
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Owais Mughal
Following is something I wrote 20 years ago for Adamjee College‘s annual Magazine. Time flies guys! While going through my stuff today, I found the magazine and thought of sharing the article here. Pardon me if some of the write up appears too lame in 2008. Imagine that I was just a first year teenage student then. While some of the text may appear to be sarcasm, I am very proud of my college and I hope many of our readers will be able to relate to their college life in Pakistan.
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