Islamabad, the Beautiful — and the Not So Beautiful!
Originally published on February 26, 2007, on the blog All Things Pakistan
I returned to Islamabad after many years and looked at the city, once again, with a tourist’s eye. Before I got used to it and took everything as given, I thought I should put down my impressions about the city, the good and not-so-good.
For those not familiar with Islamabad, when the city was built in the early 60s, its neighborhoods, or sectors as they are called, were given meaningful and attractive names like Mehran, Shalimar, and Ramna, each named after a place or a feature from a province of Pakistan (Bangladesh was then a province of Pakistan). The names were later changed to alphabets for unknown reasons — unknown to the public. Mehran became E, Shalimar became F, and Ramna became G.
H and I were not built then. Each sector was subdivided into four sections, numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4. That is why we now have sectors F-6/1, F-6/2, F-6/3, F-6/4, and so on. I think Khalid Hasan once said that the addresses in Islamabad sounded more like computer commands.
E and F sectors, being closest to the scenic Margalla hills and having bigger lots, are considered upscale, while G, H, and I sectors, further south and closer to Rawalpindi, are less so. I heard a running joke in Islamabad then: "E sector is for the Elite, F for First class citizens, G for the general public, and I for Idiots who think they live in Islamabad but they live in Rawalpindi.” It is a classist joke found in many cities all over the world. However, many ‘idiots’ can be found living in the E and F sectors, and many ‘first-class’ citizens in the G and I sectors.
I also hear the comment that Islamabad is a city without a soul, whatever that means, and that it does not have the history, architecture, and culture of Lahore and the pulse and energy of Karachi. All this is probably true, but Islamabad has something that more than makes up for all such deficiencies. It has geography that is difficult to match for any other city in Pakistan or, for that matter, many capitals of the world.
By geography, I don’t mean its elevation above sea level, which in Islamabad’s case is, on average, 2,000 feet, nor its latitude, which is 33 degrees something, the same as Long Beach, California. Islamabad’s proximity to the Margalla hills makes it a unique and beautiful city. It is so close to the hills that you feel you could touch them on a clear day. The Margallas provide a spectacular backdrop. Not only that, the hills also provide numerous wooded trails for trekking and picnic spots. Plus — and this is a big plus — because of the proximity to the hills and its elevation and the latitude, the city has a cool and crisp climate for 6 months of the year and blue skies during most of the year.
As an embellishment, the higher peaks of the hills are garnished with a sprinkling of snow, some say, every seven years. The last time it snowed on the hills was in 2004. It lasted long enough on the ground for me to drive to Pir Sohawa, a 30-minute drive, and take a few pictures. And yes, unlike Karachi or Lahore, the city never gets swamped after rain, even though there are heavy rains during the monsoons. Annual rainfall is 45 inches.
The hills are also a haunt for wildlife. It is common to see monkeys in the morning in your backyard looking for food.
Wild boars and jackals roam the city's wooded areas at night, scavenging for food. It is probably one of the few capitals in the world, if not the only one, where humans and wildlife coexist peacefully.
Islamabad has excellent infrastructure by Pakistani standards — good roads, dependable electricity, and telephone service. Above all, it is green, clean, and free of the traffic chaos in many Pakistani cities.
Islamabad does not yet have shopping malls or large department stores. It has interesting markets or ‘markaz’ in each sector, which resemble the Middle Eastern souks. These are fun places to visit, especially in winter in the evening. You would see young Afghan boys frying potato chips (French fries), roasting peanuts or popcorn, preparing tikka kebabs in their tiny stalls, or selling beads and trinkets on pushcarts in front of video shops and IT stores, presenting an interesting mixture of old and new.
The bookstores sell a wide variety of books. Browsing through one large store in F-7, I found books ranging from Barack Obama’s new book The Audacity of Hope to Reading Lolita in Tehran to Behishti Zewar by Maulana Ashraf Thanvi (a religious guidebook for newly married women).
The purpose-built flower markets in sectors F-6 and F-7 are delightful places to visit, and they are not expensive. A stem of gladiolas costs only 10–12 rupees as opposed to 2 to 3 dollars in New York. But if you betray an Amreeka-plut (returned from the U.S.) demeanor, you might have to pay more.
One of the pleasures of living in Islamabad, if you love the outdoors, is being able to go trekking in the Margallas. Numerous trails lead to different peaks. Walking through the woods, especially in spring or early summer, and listening to the silence of the forest, broken only by bird sounds or an occasional rustle in the bushes by a surprised fox, is an exhilarating experience. The wild fragrance of acacia, pine trees, and sanatha shrubs pervades the air that gives you a high. Some of my friends suggest that the high you get comes from the marijuana that grows wild in the woods of Islamabad. And that is why they say the bureaucracy in Islamabad is so lethargic.
There is also a purpose-built and dedicated biking track through a wooded area, but I haven’t seen many people biking. I guess there are certain things “self-respecting” Pakistanis won’t do. Biking is one of them. (Carrying anything heavier or larger than a briefcase is another.)
Another fun place to visit is Daman-e-Koh, a picnic spot at a height of 2,400 feet above sea level, only a 15 to 20-minute drive from the residential areas. The white dome on Daman-e-Koh, visible while driving up 7th Avenue in the city, is an old restaurant.
Recently, Daman-e-Koh has been transformed, thanks to the Capital Development Authority (CDA), into a delightful picnic spot with a landscaped park furnished with benches, paved paths, and reasonably clean public toilets — something uncommon in Pakistan — and a generous car park. There are golf carts that take picnickers for a short ride around the park, and there is the usual Bandar Walla, his monkey wearing a cap, greeting the visitors. Also, a Pashtun musician is in his flamboyant kulla (turban), serenading the visitors with his rubab (a string instrument).
Instead of one restaurant, Daman-e-Koh now has three: The old white domed restaurant, now improved and moderately priced; a fast-food restaurant; and Café Lazeez, a thatched hut with a large open terrace with a spectacular view of the city, the surrounding mountains, and the Rawal lake in the distance. Yes, Islamabad has a lake, too!
Eating at Café Lazeez and looking down at the city is like eating in the Eiffel Tower restaurant in Paris. The menu here lists sheesh kebabs (reshmi kebabs, as they are called), paneer palak, and masoor ki daal served with fresh rotis from a tandoor. The bill for two persons? Rupees 600, including tips! Only $10! The lack of a glass of wine you would get at the restaurant on the Eiffel Tower is made up of incomparable desi food and, as I said before, the forest fragrance!
Note: All photographs are by the author. The Not-So beautiful part comes later.
