Bahawalpur is a small but over looked city. I think it lives in the shadow of Multan. There are soem great excursions from Bahawalpur.
Footloose, NOS, The News International
Trains, darbars and Lays
On a memorable school trip to Bahawalpur, boys get awestruck by the city’s grandeur
By Raja Mohammad Sultan Mahmood
“I can help organise a trip to Bahawalpur for the boys”, the principal Aitchison College spoke to me and the head of Biology Department, Dr. Huma Izhar. We both immediately agreed to the principal’s cordial offer.
Madam Izhar and I finalised the details with the principal. Luckily, the principal of Sadiq Public School (SPS) was gracious enough to facilitate us with accommodation and food.
The departure day came. In high spirits, we left the school for the railway station. A few of us were travelling on a Pakistani train for the first time. We all wanted to use air as our means of transport. Our principal however was adamant that we take the train – not due to financial reasons, but because the train journey would be a relatively different experience for us all.
Our contingent of 24 boys and four staff members found the quality of the train to be surprisingly good – comfortable chairs, ideal temperature and clean environment.
On arrival at the Bahawalpur Railway Station, two teachers from Sadiq Public School welcomed us and led us to their school bus. Ten more minutes, and we arrived at Sadiq Public School. There, four prefects and the school principal welcomed us warmly and led us to their amphitheatre for tea, after which we were shown to our room.
The designated room was big with 13 beds, and walls painted green. So far so good; then we took the ‘bathroom tour’. We realised we were in for some bathroom torture – Asiatic toilets! Oh no!
The first to use the services was a friend. In about five minutes I got a message on my cell from him, calling me to the bathroom quickly. There, he said, “I’m stuck inside the bathroom”. I fell into fits of laughter. But there was more to the incident: “My shoe has fallen into the flush. It’s not even my shoe,” he cried.
After 10 minutes of pure entertainment, he finally appeared from the bathroom, barefoot.
The next day after breakfast, we all assembled at their amphitheatre ready to depart for Darawar Fort – which at first sight looked so dramatic, beautiful and elegant.
The entrance door was huge with spikes on the top. Another friend and I decided to climb to the top of the fort and found the view from there to be absolutely breathtaking. But to our dismay we found the fort to be neglected and withering away.
Later in the day we visited the graves of the Prophet’s companions, which most of us did not find to be true. It’s hard to believe that four companions of the Prophet are buried in the Cholistan desert. After some debate on the authenticity of the graves, we dropped off at the ‘Royal Graveyard’ where the family of the Nawabs of Bahawalpur is buried.
There we were very lucky to meet Prince Talal who gave us a guided tour of the graveyard and invited us to visit the Sadiq Gar Palace, where the Nawab once lived. It was a beautiful place, though not preserved. The Prince gave us a 45-minute tour of the huge palace telling us stories of his grandfather, the Nawab. Each story was more fascinating than the previous one. This tour was undoubtly the most entertaining part of the trip.
After dinner we had an interactive session with the students of SPS. I thought they were so disciplined.
The next day we visited two palaces presently occupied by the army before our departure for Lahore. First we visited the ‘Darbar Mahal’, a g*****ose palace based on subcontinental architecture.
‘Noor Mahal’ was next on the itinerary. No less than the 'Darbar Mahal, I thought the design of the palace was similar to the mosque in Aitchison College. The most interesting part of this palace was that no cement was used in its construction; rather a mix of rice and lentils was used instead.
After waiting for two hours at the railway station; enjoying hot tea and Lays, we finally loaded ourselves onto our train. The return journey was a bit tiring and long as most of us were down with fever or cold and the thick fog reduced the visibility level too. Our head of transport was at the railway station at 6 in the morning to pick us up and take us to school where the principal was present to welcome us back. It felt good to be back home and believe me, the first thing we all did, was, race to the bathroom.