Pristine Punjab
Luxurious vegetation, calm, spacious brick buildings and the British era canal colony take visitors to the bygone-era. Revisiting Rasul Headworks near Jehlum after three decades...
By Husain Qazi
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Believing in this adage, our school at Lahore used to organise outings and had explored many fine places in the vicinity that could be covered in a day trip. It was this feeling of nostalgia that prompted me to revisit Rasul Headworks after three decades.

I lay dozing on a commandeered charpai in the mellow early September sun of Sost, Pakistan's border post with China on the Karakoram Highway, when I was roused by a crisp 'Major Rashid'? The year was 1990, I was two-thirds through my long trek across the Western Himalayas, Karakoram and Hindu Kush.

Poised at the mouth of Chapursan to walk over the 5,200 metre-high Chillinji Pass into Ishkoman Valley, I had been told to inform before hand the commander at the remote military outpost of Baba Ghundi Ziarat. As I made inquiries about the man and if it was possible to get transport to the outpost, I was told that he, Niyat Khan, had only shortly before been spotted in Sost.

Now, in 1990 Sost was a mere shadow of the thriving smuggled goods bazaar and over-abundance of filthy eateries. Word was quickly spread and I had Niyat Khan jolting me out of my half-sleep. Since the West-sponsored jihad in Afghanistan had only just ended, the Chillinji was restricted and I had had to get permission for my Chillinji crossing from army headquarters in Gilgit. Major General Irshadullah Tarar commanding the region had been the Weapon Training Officer at the military academy when yours truly was bumbling around as a Gentleman Cadet and so permission was a cinch.

With this connection with the general, I was promoted from plain civilian to major -- a rank I had never attained in the army. Though I myself never used the title, by some very abstruse mechanism it travelled ahead of me through Deosai, the glaciers of Baltistan and across Shimshal for Niyat Khan to thus address me.

Opening my eyes, I saw a handsome man peering down at me. He wore the uniform of a havaldar (sergeant) and his shoulder insignia said NLI -- Northern Light Infantry. If I was the major intending to cross the Chillinji, he said, I had better look smart because the last jeep into Chapursan was ready to leave.

We reached Baba Ghundi Ziarat in the dark and I was put up in one of the two rooms of the officers' mess. It took Niyat Khan three days to confirm with headquarters in Gilgit that I was indeed the person and it was 'ok' to let me proceed. Tall (about a metre and 83 centimetres, that is 6ft), very good-looking with fair hair and brown eyes, Niyat Khan had an athlete's body with broad shoulders, wide chest and a washboard for a stomach. With this, he matched a spirited nature. He wore a natty black hat that made him look like Indiana Jones, a comparison that pleased him greatly.

He organised the necessary porter and guide and when it came time for me to leave, announced that he was coming with me to see me safely into Ishkoman. It was a great trip with four wonderfully fun-loving men. Besides Niyat Khan we had his friend Sarfraz Khan and the levies Shamsher and Gulsher.

In these past 19 years, I had often thought of Niyat Khan and looked forward to running into him again. Though I did not remember correctly if he was from the 5th or the 7th battalion, every time I was in Gilgit I made inquiries. But he was always elsewhere and our paths never crossed. Two years ago, I learned that he had retired from the service and returned to his native Yasin. I also discovered that Niyat Khan was a common name in Yasin.

Last time round in Gilgit, I was determined to track him down. It was very fortunate that Wazir, the driver ferrying me to Misgar, was a native of Yasin and so I quizzed him about Niyat Khan. Yes, the man had indeed retired, said he and was now home selling battery chickens. To be certain I had the right one, I described my man: tall, handsome, athletic and dashing -- truly a heroic figure. Yes, said Wazir, that was the one. A couple of times I repeated my description of the man, and always I was told they had my old friend.

Done with my misadventure on Mintaka Pass and back in Gilgit again, I got hold of Wazir and off we went to rendezvous with Niyat Khan in Yasin. En route, I again emphasised the man's verve and good looks and again the driver assured me that he had the right person in his sights. Nearing Yasin, he even made a phone call to ask if our man was in the village. Everything seemed go on this one.

Presently we were parked under the poplars by the stone wall of Niyat Khan's home. A youngster came around to tell us his father had gone off somewhere. I asked him to get a picture of his father's for me to be sure that if we were to wait we were waiting for the right person. But before the photo could be found, the shout went up that Niyat Khan was there.

I waited expectantly and presently a man in a drab grey shalwar-kameez came shuffling out of the home. He was about my height, had rounded shoulders and a paunch. If de Mille were alive to make another epic with five thousand extras and only one more needed and if this Niyat Khan and I were to audition for that last position, I may have won by a nose. Moreover, this man was a gunner not an infantryman.

As the story unfolds, we shall henceforth know all false Niyat Khans as NK.

Despite my remonstration, we were forced into his sitting room for apricots and tea. But of course, there was the other NK who lived behind the rest house, said NK as he poured us the tea. This man Wazir had known of but had never met him. Again, I repeated my description. Oh, yes, very handsome and athletic. Yes, that was my man. No doubt about that, said NK.

We drove back to the rest house with me roundly upbraiding Wazir for not knowing what good looks were. I kept at it for the fifteen minutes it took us to reach the door of NK's home. The specimen that emerged had a face thinner than mine and three lines for every year of his life running down from his eyes to the chin. He too was about my size, if not smaller, and de Mille would not even have considered him for a moment. Only, this NK had served in NLI. He did not know of the one I sought, however.

We escaped the penalty of tea and food only because of my rudeness. But as we were leaving, NK said there was another one living only a few hundred metres farther up the trail. He got in the car with us and off we went again. Our shouts outside his door brought the man out of an adjacent cornfield. Another retired NLI soldier, this one was darker than a collier on his fourth consecutive shift and for ugliness would have tied with the cursed incubus of the eleven years of our dark night.

I let loose: why, you morons, don't you know a good-looking man when you see one? Can't you tell an athlete from one with round shoulders and a paunch? Poor Wazir shifted uneasily in his seat but said nothing. The two NKs looked on in bewilderment.

I realised I should have taken a photo of Niyat Khan. Not having done that was my stupid fault. Meanwhile, having gathered his wits despite my incessant bombardment, or perhaps to offset me, Wazir said there was yet another man of that name. But without waiting for my response, added that this man was believed to be now living in Karachi.

And so my quest for Havildar Niyat Khan of 5 or 7 NLI, the heroic figure who led me over the Chillinji Pass in 1990, since retired and now untraceable was a total fiasco.

Should anyone know of the real Niyat Khan, could they please write to tnslhr@gmail.com or odysseus@wateen.net.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Believing in this adage, our school at Lahore used to organise outings and had explored many fine places in the vicinity that could be covered in a day trip. It was this feeling of nostalgia that prompted me to revisit Rasul Headworks after three decades.

Visiting wetlands has an altogether different charm than the mountains. A two hours journey from Rawalpindi or Lahore on the Grand Trunk road takes us to Serai Alamgir (near Jehlum) where the Upper Jehlum Canal brimming with sweet Himalayan water passes under the GT road. The charm starts right from the turn, as the road running along the canal bank is replete with beautiful water scenes. The gentle breeze, the lush green setting and the quiet road makes it a truly romantic journey that provides a perfect transformation from the din and smoke of the GT road and prepares the visitor for the ecstatic beauty that lies ahead.

After 28 km the sign board of Rasul Hydel Power Station is an indication that the headworks constructed in the pre-partition days, lies close by. A picturesque panorama unfolds as we progress towards the headworks' lush green irrigated lands. Inside Rasul, time moves backwards. The luxurious vegetation, the calm, the spacious brick buildings and the British era canal colony take the visitor some 100 years back in the bygone-era.

A long kacha driveway under the roof of thick foliage and a stream running along, takes us towards the main rest house where a Raj era building with beautifully sprawling lawns stands romantically in the middle of the vastness. The emblem on the entrance reveals that it has seen 110 years. By now the noise and rush of the mad city has been left far behind and the transformation into the calm and beauty of the rural Punjab starts.

A sip of refreshing tea will prepare the visitor for a walking tour of the area. The most inspiring feature at Rasul is the vastness; the river spreads out in the shape of an enormous lake with thick vegetation all around. A five km long katcha road runs along the barrage and strolling over it provides some amazing water scenes. The canal merging and sprouting from the river, the beautiful riverbed, marshy puddles, fisher folk villages and the variety of birds and ducks all around create a lovely scene. Indeed water is life, the earliest human settlements and civilisations developed along the riverbeds and Rasul is a microcosm of that -- a place where nature and human settlements coexist in perfect harmony.

For the one who desires to prolong his stay and be more intimate with the river, there is another rest house right on the watercourse. The setting of 'Pathar Kothi' (the Stone Mansion, due to the grand stone structure of the building) is ideal to re-enact Wuthering Heights. It's a place which gives you the opportunity to completely immerse in nature.

For the adventurous explorer there is lot more to see all around. The 'Bund Patri' going along the river leads to the road where the new barrage and the canal colony are located. A network of canals originates from this point that irrigates a vast area all around. A siphon is located close by where the canal passes underneath the river. For the techies, the Rasul Hydro Electric Power Plant and the Rasul College of Technology (constructed pre-partition) demonstrate a practical example of harnessing the power of nature for the benefit of humankind. For history lovers, a flashback will march them back into the battle between Alexander and Porus. The all-rounder Al Beruni chose this place to calculate the circumference of earth.

To pursue the spirit of exploration I decided not to turn back. After all I had to register some more locations for my future trips. Right after the new bridge comes 'Misri Mor' from where the crossroads lead to different destinations. "Go straight along the river and meet the Motorway", advised an old Baba to me. Accordingly I diverted myself on the route along the meandering river with the mountains of Salt Range on the other side. Driving on this beautiful route provides an immense charm as each bent opens up a vista of beautiful river scenes. Driving itself is a relaxing activity on this road due to its gentle slopes, tender turns and less traffic. It was sunset by now, passing through Jalalpur Sharif, a mosque on the river bed lured me inside. The gentle river breeze echoing with the hills provided an ideal setting to pray for the Lord, 'Who is Beautiful and Loves beauty'.

It was dusky by now, driving on the quiet road provided a pleasure in recalling the beautiful day. While passing through Pind Dadan Khan and the vicinity of Khewra salt mines, I entered the motorway via Lilla. With a storehouse of sweet memories I drove back to Lahore with the curiosity and eagerness for exploring some other part of the pristine Punjab at the earliest.

And how I appreciated Pakistan's potential as a tourist destination. Our lofty mountains, beautiful deserts, picturesque wetlands and the fertile plains form an amazing geographical variety, with many of our locations yet to be explored.

We have an abundance of water resources scattered all over the country: our canal irrigation network with 3 major reservoirs, 16 barrages and 44 canals ranks among the world's largest irrigation networks. Our wetlands are scattered all over the country and besides the economic advantages, they have potential of developing into sites for tourism and recreation. Also, the meandering rivers, quiet canals, vast expanses of headworks/barrages and of course the British-era canal colonies with their serene and tranquil setting provide us an excellent infrastructure for developing these sites into tourist and recreation resorts.

Email: husqazi@gmail.com.