The road leading from Lahore to Bahawalpur is full of some creatively decorated fruit carts on the roadside. Oranges are usually sold per dozen, but in this area, the fruit sellers sell them per kilograms. You also get to see a lot of truck art while driving on this road; the words of wisdom scribbled at the back of these trucks are bound to crack you up from time to time. The innovation used on some of these vehicles is definitely going to leave you in awe.
We made a pact at the start of our road trip to always try and stop at a good spot to watch the sunset. On the very first day of our trip, we happened to find ourselves quite lucky in this regard as we spotted lush green fields of Chak 25 (near Bahawalpur), while the sun was setting. The generous people who lived by the farm not only gave us a charpayee to sit but also served the most delicious cup of tea; it was actually doodh patti with a tinge of salt as well as sugar in it. The hospitality of people you get to experience when you are traveling is simply amazing, it makes one realise that the world is full of beautiful souls.
Ali Nawaz, (who served us tea) owned these wheat fields spread across one murabba (25 acres). He and his brother did not get a chance to study at all, and he called himself a “chitta anparh”. However, they wanted to educate Allah Dita (Ali Nawaz’s son) and were hopeful that he would brighten their future and help a handful in improving the economic situation of their family.
Allah Dita was a tiny little creature, who looked absolutely adorable running around in the fields. He was really fond of getting his pictures taken and got super excited when I showed them to him on my phone. We did not do much snack shopping prior to the journey so could only find a pack of Nimko lying around in the car for him. As he struggled to open the pack, we thought of helping him with it, but as soon as we opened it, he got furious and stopped talking to us. He did not forgive us, even after a zillion apologies. We drove to a nearby shop to get some snacks for Allah Dita, in order to thank these people for their hospitality in some kind way as they refused to accept the money we offered them. We could only find ‘Churr Murr’, ‘Chunkin’ and the likes of these stocked up in the shop; they tasted quite good though. As soon as we drove back to the fields with the bag of goodies, Allah Dita ran towards the car with excitement. The joy on his face was priceless. We drove off to our next destination after saying good bye to these beautiful people.
The writer is an avid traveler with a penchant for experiencing new things. She is the proud female owner of ‘The Mad Hatters’ and blogs at aneeqaaliblog.wordpress.com
Published in Daily Times, January 27th 2018.