RISALPUR IS CALLING AND I MUST GO!

Travel is the only thing you buy, that makes you richer

13th 14th October 2012 Risalpur, District Nowshera, KPK

Shaikh Muhammed Ali

Introduction:
Risalpur (Urdu: ) is a city in Nowshera District, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, on the Nowshera-Mardan Road. It is nearly 45 km from Peshawar and 15 km from Mardan and is located at 344'52N 7158'21E. In a basin some 1,014 feet above sea level, it is bounded on the south and west by the Kabul and Kalapani rivers, respectively. The famous Khyber Pass lies 90 kilometers to the north. Risalpur is known as the "Home of Eagles" and "Home of Sappers". It has several important educational institutions and industrial plants. The Risalpur Export Processing Zone is on the main Nowshera-Mardan road. The Risalpur cantonment itself lies on high ground, some 30 feet above the surrounding area, with the oldest building dating from 1913 or 1914. Pakistan Army's Risalpur Cantonment and Military College of Engineering, Pakistan Army Engineers center and Military Engineering Services School are at Risalpur. The Pakistan Air Force Academy is also in the city, as is the Pakistan Railways' Pakistan Locomotive Factory. 1 13th October 2012: As we all know that I do not leave an opportunity to visit a new place and Risalpur was no exception. I had been waiting to visit this famous Military cantonment for some time now when I was invited by one of my older scholars and a good family friend now Lt. Colonel Nasim Baig who had been promoted as Dean of the Military College of Engineering to come visit this nicely tucked sleepy little cantonment in the whereabouts of Nowshera District. We thus chose Saturday 13th October 2012 to visit Risalpur and got up early as usual and after offering our Fajr prayers and a sumptuous breakfast; we started preparing for the trip. We huddle North West while leaving Islamabad, the beautiful; at 8:30 a.m. sharp. Within six minutes of driving, we were on the M-1.

(On the M-1 motorway heading towards Risalpur)

1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risalpur pg. 2

Risalpur is calling and I must go!

One of the appreciable things that Nawaz Sharif (our current Prime Minister) did in his previous tenure was to develop the Motorway from Lahore to Islamabad and later the President General Pervez Musharraf continued the Islamabad Peshawar extension.

(Off to Risalpur on the M-1) Within 27 minutes of driving, we had reached the following spot:

(We are heading towards Burhan, the first exit on the M-1) The M-1 is 155 km long, with 67 km in Punjab and the remaining 108 km in KhyberPakhtunkhwa. It has become a vital link to Afghanistan and Central Asia and is expected to take much traffic off the highly used N5 2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1_motorway_(Pakistan) pg. 3

Risalpur is calling and I must go!

(We also pass this exit) Within an hour and nine minutes of driving, we pass through this point where we see Radio based stations (RBS) of all the five telcos in the country. It is a proof that communication whether road network or the mobile network is so very important for the development of the economy. The voice clarity of the cell phone lines is truly amazing at this junction.

(Radio based stations of 5 telcos) We finally take this exit at 9:48 a.m. and thus left the Motorway.

Risalpur is calling and I must go!

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(Now we are heading towards Nowshera) This is the introduction of Nowshera on the Wikipedia page: Nowshera (Pashto: ( ) Urdu: )- known locally as Nowkhaar or Nowshaar in the Pashto dialects is the chief city of Nowshera District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. It is also one of the largest cities of the province[1] and lies on the Grand Trunk Road 27 miles due east of Peshawar[2] at 340'55N 7158'29E. 3 And finally after driving for precisely 1:57 minutes, we see this board and thus took the turn.

(Risalpur here we come) In the next five minutes, we reached the Risalpur cantonment where Col. Naseem Baig was waiting to greet us personally. He escorted us to the Officers mess guest house of the Military College of Engineering where we were lodged. We freshened up while the children went around the place and acclimatized themselves to the surroundings.
3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowshera,_Khyber_Pakhtunkhwa pg. 5

Risalpur is calling and I must go!

Around 10:30 a.m. we went to the house of Col. Naseem Baig and we had a lavish brunch which was more of a Princes breakfast. We ate to our hearts content and enjoyed the love and hospitality of our hosts family. Later, I gave a presentation to the faculty members of the Military College of Engineering (MCE) on the latest developments at HEC around 12:00 p.m. which was thoroughly appreciated. I also addressed some of the queries raised by the faculty members there. The presentation was also attended by Wing Cdr. Dr. Hamidullah Khan Niazi who was from the Pakistan Air Force Academy. Later, Col. Baig, Wing Cdr and I took a group picture.

(L-R: Lt. Col. Naseem Baig, I and Wing Cdr. Hamidullah Niazi) I came back to the lodging site around 3:30 p.m. collected the family and off we went again to Col. Sahibs house. We then together went to the Company Bridge Camp 249 where an entire Company was posted. Our host had arranged for a boating trip in the Kabul River.

(By 4:05 p.m., we had reached the Company Bridge Camp)

Risalpur is calling and I must go! pg. 6

As per Fauji protocol, ladies and gents were seated separately. Laughter.

(The first ladies enjoying the complimentary drinks) We are about getting ready to go on the boating trip.

(Mohsin with his usual antics)

Risalpur is calling and I must go!

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Risalpur is calling and I must go!

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As per protocol, we were all required to wear life jackets which I thought was a wise decision. Accidents do happen thus why take the risk especially when none of the kids knew how to swim and the Kabul river is quite deep and moves at a fast pace. By 4:24 p.m., we boarded the motor boats and off we went boating.

(This was the first time that we were ever riding Military boats) I was riding with the ladies while Col. Baig took the kids with him under his supervision.

Risalpur is calling and I must go!

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(The kids riding with Col. Nasim Baig) For a good 20 minutes we rode the boats and went on an on in the Kabul river. The children just did not want to stop but we somehow tried and called it a day. Since it was a strategic location and lately the Armed forces had come under bomb attacks thus the entire area was being monitored by Fauji jawans.

(Our family pic after the boating trip)

Risalpur is calling and I must go!

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(A group photo after the boating trip)

(A soldier guarding our entourage)

(This is the make-shift wash room for the guests)

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Once we came off the boats, a sumptuous lunch of barbeque chicken and fish was awaiting us. We dined by the river and again enjoyed a good meal with our hospitable host. By the next 1.5 hours we headed back to the cantonment and went back to rest at our lodging site.

(The children resting in their room) We rested till 8:45 p.m. and later took a few pictures at the guest house.

(We are almost ready to go for dinner)

Risalpur is calling and I must go!

pg. 12

(The children with their mother) After having a good rest, we then left for Col. Baigs house around 9:00 p.m. who accompanied us to the Station Officers Mess where a dinner was awaiting us. It seemed, we were here to eat only. A lavish brunch, a late lunch by the river and now a brilliant dinner at the Officers mess; what else in the world would you need? While we enjoyed the dinner, the children were treated to an animated cartoon movie titled Rio. We returned to the guest house after a long, excitingly fun filled day around 11:00 p.m. and retired. 14th October 2012: The next morning we woke up at 5:00 a.m. and offered our Fajr prayers. I went out for a little walk around 7:00 a.m. and enjoyed the peace and serenity in the quiet of the morning. While I came back and sat outside reading a book, strangely 3 sparrows flew in from somewhere and knocked themselves down on our guest room window around 8:00 a.m.

(One of the sparrows in my hand lying semi-conscious)

Risalpur is calling and I must go! pg. 13

Sabeen who had just walked outside to catch the morning breeze was shocked to see this happen. As a mother she almost started crying and thought that the little birds were dead due to the impact of the collision on the glass.

(One of the sparrow before she took a flight) We had faith and we both continuously prayed to God to give life back to these three little creatures. Very soon, one of the little ones fluttered and flew away while the other two took a few minutes to regain their consciousness and posture and after giving me a good look as if they were thanking me for this gesture, flew away too! All day long, we kept on thinking about these beautiful little birds. Since the children were asleep, they were not able to see this episode while Ayesha was annoyed at me as to why did I not wake her up so that she could have played with these lovely little birds.

(All set and ready to leave)

Risalpur is calling and I must go!

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We had our breakfast around 8:30 a.m. Shortly after wards we started to pack and left the guest house around 10:30 a.m. and visited Col . Nasims house to say good bye but they insisted that we stayed a little longer and had another breakfast with his family.

(The parting picture from the guest house) We finally left his house around 12:45 p.m. and had reached the Motorway entry point at Rashakai.

(At the M-1 entry point) We stopped around 2:30 p.m. at the Tarnol intersection on the Motorway for snacks and Zuhr prayers.

Risalpur is calling and I must go!

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(Snacks at the Tarnol intersection on M-1) On the way back, we ended up visiting a friends house in Rawalpindi to offer condolences on his fathers demise and took the Grand Trunk (GT) Road reaching his house around 4:30 p.m. Adil (my older son) noticed an interesting plaque on the intersection and thus captured this picture.

(An interesting road marker on the G. T. Road) And finally we reached home around 7:30 p.m. after traversing a total distance of 327 kilometers. But this journey was not about completion, it was about the Way, the process, the refilling of the heart, and we certainly have done that today.

Shaikh Muhammed Ali The Wandering Dervish E-mail: dushkashaikh@gmail.com Cell: +00-92-321-5072996 Tuesday, 10th September 2013, 16:45 p.m. (PST)
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