Chitral Diaries: The Wonderful Major Langlands

Having heard of his achievements by the locals almost as soon as I landed in Chitral, it was an absolute pleasure and honor when Mr. Siraj ul Mulk the owner of Hindukush Heights surprised us with a dinner meeting with the Wonderful Major Langlands. 

While various accounts of his life are scattered all over the internet, I will try to Summarize it here hopefully doing justice to the service this man has done to Pakistan. Having been there to witness the birth of Pakistan, Major Geoffery Langlands has spent over 50 years dedicated to the upliftment of education in the most backward areas of Pakistan. He started his teaching career in Pakistan at Aitchison College and is responsible for the education of a number of personalities now featured prominently in the Arts, Sports and Political Scenes of Pakistan. These include Aitezaz Ahsan the lawyer attributed to leading the Justice Movement in Pakistan, Ijaz ul Hasan one of the most respected Artists in the country and Imran Khan former Pakistan Cricketer turned Philanthropist and Politician.


In 1979, Major Langlands headed towards the dreaded North Waziristan (now often featured in the news for the War against terror) to open a brand new school in this backward area. It is here that the Major was also 'kidnapped' for Ransom... there was such a huge outcry amongst the locals at this incident that the kidnappers were forced to release their beloved Major and return him to safety. At the dinner in Chitral, when I asked him what he learnt from his kidnapping experience he heartily laughed and said 'Always wear comfortable shoes, you never know where you'll end up at'. 

At the dinner in Chitral, when I asked him what he learnt from his kidnapping experience he heartily laughed and said 'Always wear comfortable shoes, you never know where you'll end up at'. 

In 1989, on request of the Chitral Authorities, Major Langland landed in Chitral to start what is now one of the most prestigious schools in the valley, the Langland School and College. One of the most loved people in Chitral today, his teachers were once quoted in the Telegraph saying "Major Langlands is venerated by Chitralis, He is in no danger here. It was an insult to give him a guard. The teachers and boys would always protect him."

The Major reciprocates this love for locals and has been quoted saying 'If the people of Pakistan are facing danger, I should face it with them. I have been here for 55 years. I am not going to run away now'.

 'If the people of Pakistan are facing danger, I should face it with them. I have been here for 55 years. I am not going to run away now'.

A retirement home is waiting for the Major at Aitchison College, but the mountain school of 900 pupils isn't yet fully sustainable and Major Langlands wants to make sure he has found a successor before he leaves. 'I shall carry on as long as I am physically and mentally alert', he says.

If you have the means to support Major Langlands School in any way, do reach out to him. I believe he is looking for 'sustainable' donors to ensure that the school continues with the same standards always. I am trying to find a contact address for him and will share it as soon as I have it. 

Leave your mark with Block Print.

One day looking for some threads to send to Thatta, I consciously decided to loiter about Shah Alam a bit more than usual, opting to take the not so popular streets and exploring what hides in the more unassuming ones. On one such street I met Mohammad Hussain from Ansari Chappa Maker.

Proprietor: Mohammad Hussain, Allah Rakha 0302 3783031

I had been looking for a stamp maker for sometime for no particular reason but curiosity and had received various vague answers to where I could find one... Out of the blue, here I was walking down what was perhaps the most stinky street in a generally clean Shah Alam market with small butcher shops on either side that I saw a little 'Takht' placed on the street outside a modest house and Hussain sitting on it cross legged chiseling away the wooden stamps. 

I went close and observed his techniques for a few minutes in which he obviously noticed an alien staring at him. I could tell that he was not the chatty type and nor was he interested in spending a lot of time selling his work... perhaps because it spoke for itself, so I decided to start the conversation. 

By the end of it, I had picked out 4 beautiful 'bird' stamps... which I had chosen from a whole collection of animal stamps he had worked on... Additionally, he had worked on beautiful Henna and Block Print Motifs which I eagerly went through before ordering my own customized stamp. 

While I still haven't managed to get around to working with these blocks and I surely will be sharing the designs once I do, I did want to share this little discovery in case anyone was interested in getting Mr. Hussain some business :) Perhaps next time, he'll be kind enough to allow me to take pictures of his modest shop to really show you what a magical discovery he was... for now, enjoy a brief snapshot of his work that I managed to acquire. 

Coke Studio: Of Breaking News and Record Breaking Music

For the last four years, almost all news making rounds in the international circle about Pakistan have been unfortunately negative. Terrorists, Bomb Blasts, Rising Death Tolls and the works... Anyone sitting abroad would probably wonder how anyone ever survives here... that is the misfortune of the modern day media... Depite hundreds of channels we are still defined across the world by the 'Breaking News' - And while the terrorists successfully continue to malign our reputation, there is a budding music movement slowly gaining pace across the globe called Coke Studio that shatters all preconcieved notions and myths about our country and its people.

While I would highly recommend you watch Coke Studio to form a first hand opinion here are a few fun facts about Coke Studio...

• Coke Studio Facebook fanpage is (one of the if not) the largest facebook groups from Pakistan boasting 550,000+ fans making it more popular than any politician or fundamentalist.
• Coke Studio's Youtube channel is the busiest youtube channel in Pakistan and has even been featured in Youtube's top music channel's during Season 2 and 3.
• Coke Studio videos on Youtube have had over 20 million views
• Coke Studio's website http://www.cokestudio.com.pk is one of the busiest sites in Pakistan boasting millions of hits throughout the year.

Essentially a phenomenon in itself Coke Studio inspires upcoming programs like Uth Records and Coke Studio at MTV and shatters various myths about Pakistan that are being strongly entrecnched courtesy all the negativity floating around.

For the lack of anything better, I will try listing some down:

• Pakistani's don't just listen to bomb blasts and sirens, in our downtime we also enjoy Music
• Not only is Pakistan's music evolving with the global music scene, it has a history that goes back hundred of years with the Sufis, Mystics and beyond.
• Believe it or not, but the Pakistani women also sing.
• Not only do they Sing... They also sing with Men!!
• And millions watch and enjoy Men and Women singing together across all major networks of the country.
• The Sufi's, Qawals and Folk Singers are actually progressive enough to experiment with modern day fusion music... I'd like to recommd a few of my favourite tunes here: Aik Alif, Dum Gutkoo,
• Women in Pakistan do wear Western Clothes
• Heck even Men in Pakistan wear normal clothes and not everyone (perhaps the majority) does not flaunt Tali-Beards.

I guess if you do end up spending some time watching the show, you'll see small little preconcieved thoughts and notions about Pakistan slowly melting away. To start with, enjoy this song sang by two young artists hailing from the infamous Khayber Pukhtoonkhwa, supposedly the provice sympathetic to the fundamentalists.

Sadaf Z's POSTCARD: I left my Heart in Cesme

I've been lucky enough to do some travelling... Not as much as I'd like to and not as much as some of you may have, but I thought of sharing postcards from some places I have travelled to... Who knows, maybe it will help you plan out your next trip :)

I start with Cesme, the place where I left my heart. Most people who end up travelling to Turkey choose the more popular destinations like Istanbul, Koniya, Cappadocia, Bodrum and Antaliya. Ali and I on the advice of some fabulous colleagues at Coca-Cola headed to Cesme... A beautiful and perhaps 'non-touristy' beach resort that comes alive on the weekends with locals...

While there is loads to do in Cesme, and I will try listing most things down... Ali and I honestly just spent 3 beautiful lazy days there doing almost nothing but enjoying the Marina, Walking around and trying out the various restaurants... But I despreately needed some time off from work then, if you're feeling touristy, do try out the following:

- A trip to Lica Beach:
Warm Waters, Nice Breeze... However do avoid it on Sundays, when it gets Super crowded with locals from nearby towns.
- The Castle:
Don't walk up expecting a magnificent Castle, but do check out the breathtaking views from the the top.
- Boat Trips:
Cesme offers all sorts of Boat Trips. Party Boats, Motor Boats, Big Sail Boats you name it, take your pick and enjoy a day long trip stopping at various Islands and enjoying some great BBQ offered as a part of the packages.
- Bar Hopping:
Cesme's has a small set of fun bars both on the Beach Front as well as in the Market that one can enjoy till wee hours of the morning for some serious partying.
- Greek Remains:
Various greek remains are scattered around the Cesme area for those who are interested. Personally, I don't have much knowledge of these as we skipped these altogether but given the little we found out a good day can be spent exploring these.
- Hot Springs:
Again a destination we skipped but worth checking out from what the locals told us.

For staying, If you're willing to spend about 70 odd dollars a night, my highest recommendation would be 'Sahil Hotel' by far one of the nicest boutique hotels on the Marina, Sahil was truly the reason for my love at first sight with Cesme.

You may not find a lot of reviews on this place online but I can tell you, with the spacious suite, a killer restaurant, a fun bar, and right-on-the-marina location, it is IDEAL.

Chitral Diaries - Mogh Limited

One of the most impressive enterprises I saw in Chitral was Mogh Limited. Having found its presence some months back by a stroke of sheer luck on the internet, I was eager to meet the gentleman behind this project. Israr Sahib and I met for tea one morning when the CEO of Mogh came over to my house. While I had all sorts of preconcieved notions given his Corporate title, the last thing I expected was to see a young man getting of a Rickshaw at my gate. Within an hour he had me impressed enough to ensure that a stop at Mogh became a part of a Chitral Itinerary.

Mogh Limited is working towards generating sustainable development in Chitral area by commissioning local women to produce embroidered art. Mogh however is not an NGO explained Israr and said that having worked in the development sector he realised that grants and aids made people complacent. He had decided that he would lead by an example of austerity and hard work and establish this enterprise without any donations.

While I was fairly impressed by all he had to say but nothing could compare with the sheer joy that I felt when I actually visited the Mogh office in Chitral. Run by a small team of employees, Mogh has created Service Cells acrossvarious valleys of Chitral using the existing social set up and making a local lady incharge of each neighbourhood Cells. The women of that neighbourhood visit the lady incharge weekly for their threads and supplies of raw materials as well as quality control... Just to achieve this set up in itself is a fairly impressive job... However it didnt stop here.

I didn't realise the true impact that Mogh was making to the locality till I was out for a trek one day and saw a woman shepherding goats and working on a embroidery piece. What I thought was perhaps something for her own use, I saw a few days later as one of the embroidery pieces being stringently quality controled for a client in Islamabad.

I was floored!!! To think that this woman was probably making an addition 10,000 Rupees or more a month by putting her skill to use must be life changing for her and her family.

Today Mogh Limited is serving prestgious clients like Polly & Me, Krizmah and Looptex. Polly & Me a fast growing handbags brand is owned by Cath Braid a designer trained at the prestigious St Martins School of Fashion in London. More details on Polly & Me can be gathered from their website or their facebook page. Looptex and Mogh have opened an outlet in Lahore recently called Shubinak on MM Alam Road.

Bags from Polly and Me's latest collection Titled 'Peace of Cake'

I highly recommend that you check these out and do your bit in supporting this enterprise and the women of Chitral.

Lahore's Merciless Summer!!

All great things aside, one of the most unforgettable things about Lahore is its hot, scorching Summer. Its barely April and we're already in the mid forties on the thermometer! It'll only get worst through the Summer months with some relief with Monsoon and finally we'll see slight signs of Winter flirting with us sometime in Late November or as it was last year in December!!

While most women are rushing to Lawn sales and wrapping themselves in yards of fabric... I have compiled a little collage of my ideal Gypsy Summer from ETSY one of my favouritest sites in the whole wide world. I highly recommend that you visit this little gem at some point and I can promise you, you won't regret it.