Shahdra: Here we come again!

(Coordinates: 3346'48''N 7310'17''E)

(Shaikh Muhammad Ali)

3D Google Map of the Shahdra Picnic spot: Elevation 2,415 Feet

I hike mountains to travel, to experiment, to

reconnect with God Almighty, people and the world. I like to travel on a journey through time and space, through past and present, sometimes in search of myself and mostly GodPaulo Coelho
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Overview:
On my date of birth i.e. 25.12.1964, I was the 3,301,364,653rd person on the planet earth. This population data is based on estimates by the UN Population Division where all calculations are provided by the UN Population Fund. Although this is definitely not the subject of my article today but I just felt like mentioning it to show that we need to somehow arrest the population explosion since the world has recently seen the birth of the 7 billionth child who was born a few weeks ago in Philippines. Although I have been 5 times in four years to the Shahdra Picnic point but somehow never got to write about it. When I went there again yesterday i.e. 10 th Dec. 2011, I decided that it was high time that I should write about it and share the details of the trip with my lovely international audience which has grown to some 27,734 people all across the five continents. I logged onto the Internet to see as to what has been written about it but was hurt to see that although there are some pictures available on Flickr etc. on this picnic spot but the NET is generally silent on the subject and even there is no reference on Wikipedia on the same. This has forced me more to write about this beautiful valley tucked away in the Margalla Hills in the vicinity of Kot Hatyal Village in Islamabad close to the Quad-e-Azam University on the way to Bara Kahu en-route to Murree Road.

(An indicator on the Murree Road which guides you towards the Picnic spot)

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The first time I learnt about this spot was in March 2007 from some friends and asked Iqbal Hussain a colleague and a family friend at HEC to accompany us to the place on 18.03.2007.

(Picture taken in Dec 2011 which shows a lot of development in the area) Iqbal being single at that time loved to join us on such expeditions and was a wonderful company.

(Iqbal playing with little Ayesha on 18.03.2007) He cared about my children as if he was their real uncle and to date he does not forget to call them off and on and especially on their birthdays while being on a study leave from work in Birmingham, UK. He is married now and has a cute little son of his own.

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(When Mirza Ghalib was much younger in March 2007) We went there after having a late breakfast on a sleepy Sunday and enjoyed the serenity of this yet another beautiful valley in the mysterious Margalla Hills.

(My little ones enjoying with Baal Uncle) The specialty of the place is Chai and Pakoras which we had as brunch and thoroughly enjoyed the gushing stream of water which is the main source of attraction of this picnic spot.

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(Mr. and Mrs. Shaikh with Ayesha and Mohsin at the back) The second time I visited the place was on 27.06.2008 when I took my sisters family there who was on a trip from Karachi.

(With my younger sister and her three children) Since the car could not house the entire battalion of my family and her children, my wife stayed back and I brought my Sister, her children and mine to the picnic spot.

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(A new Tuck shop which has recently opened) The next time around that I was here was on the 25th of July 2008 with my outlaws (Oops In-laws) I mean. Sabeens eldest sister, her family and her brother i.e. Syed Farhan Hussain Qadri were visiting and thus they rented cars and I brought the entire battalion to the same picnic spot.

(Sabeen with her sister and brothers family enjoying the evening in the stream) This time around the stream was in full swing and the water was gushing at its full splendor. On top of that, within a short while that we were here, it started raining and we had to move out of the stream since the water level was rising fast and because of the young children with us and the chill in the weather, we had to take refuge under the shades of the nearby kiosk and then decided to leave for home early since the rain just refused to behave.

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(A new marker which has been erected since our last trip here) The 4th time around when we came here was on 23rd July 2011. Surprisingly, whenever we visit here, the level of water changes and this is indeed the beauty of the spot.

(Sabeen and myself waiting for our order while the children are out frolicking) We have also noticed that the rush of visitors to this place is increasing exponentially. Although there is no mention of this picnic spot on the Internet but it seems word of mouth marketing is doing the trick. For some strange reason Capital Development Authority (CDA) had turned a blind eye to develop this beautiful resort and had hardly done anything to uplift this picnic spot till July 2011. Luckily, the 5th time that we visited the place i.e. on 10th Dec. 2011; I was relieved to see this new marker which seems to have just been erected by CDA.

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(A marker that has recently been placed by CDA) Since the weather had turned slightly chilly in December, the stream also had slowed down while there were hardly any visitors; we thus had the place almost to ourselves.

(Mohsin & Ayesha with their usual mischief) The children got a lot of space to frolic around while Sabeen had cooked her famous Chicken Karahi and we feasted on the late lunch next to the stream.

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(Adil and Mamma enjoying their late lunch) After having lunch and enjoying the Pakoras, we ended up having tea while the children got some half hour to play since it was getting chilly and we had to move back since the children also had to prepare for their monthly exam.

(Adil posing for his Facebook profile) As soon as we got done with the tea ceremony, we called it a day and the children were asked to get their act together so that we could have rushed home. The children were in no mood to quit so early but they were not given much choice and were asked to pack up on the premise that of course we will come here for the 6th time probably in next spring.

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(The parting picture) Sabeen packed the picnic basket and we started our return journey around 4:30 p.m. and were safely home before the Maghreb prayers which take place around 5:07 p.m. these days.

The Wandering Dervish

Shaikh Muhammed Ali

E-mail: dushkashaikh@gmail.com Cell: +00-92-321-5072996 th December 2011, 10:23 p.m. (PST) 11

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