It was a long awaited trip. Planned and broken many times. At times the weather was not good. Once Grandma was hospitalized in emergency. And then COVID19 struck. So the plan kept postponing itself. Finally, in January 2021, we made the long awaited trip to … Murree ! Lol ! Yes, that’s right, Murree. I am sure, by the long suspense built up, you must have thought we had been planning to go to the Hawaii Islands. Nope. it was just a humble trip to Murree. Actually, we had been hoping to be able to make a trip to Malam Jabba, Swat, where the real snow fun is, that is, skiing. However, after examining our pockets, we decided to settle for Murree. So at last, we finally made the long awaited trip to Murree, my husband, our three kids and I.
Our children were super excited. The excitement was more at the thought of staying at a hotel. Yes, this was our first trip whence we would be staying overnight at a holiday resort. On the way up, they kept asking about the ‘room service’ and spoke aloud if they could order like the Home Alone kid. Laughter. As we checked into the Musairi Hotel and entered our room, the younger two scrambled at the room telephone, picked it up and examined it. Of course, this is the mobile generation and they have no idea how the good, old telephone works. I politely gave them a short tutorial and I could see their eyes lighted up with the imagination of chicken roast (with the two legs sticking out), french fries and ice cream being carried in my a solemn faced waiter on an upside down hand and round tray, like in the movies !
Then I bustled around, rearranged the room a bit according to our SOPS and gave detailed instructions to the kids (and to their father), about how to use a hotel room and washroom hygienically. As we were tired and hungry from our trip, we quickly washed up, perked up and left the hotel to step onto the famous Mall Road. Or should I say infamous ? Our hotel was tucked into a little street opening right in front of the GPO. It was just a two minute walk and soon we were thronging amongst the lit up crowd of the Mall Road. We were headed straight for the Lahore Broast. My husband had quickly looked up online all the eateries available on the Mall Road as soon as we had checked into the hotel room. Since he is originally from Lahore, he decided to have his favorite, the Lahore Broast, in Murree. But since we are PTI supporters, we chose not to have it flown in from Lahore.
My little girl was more interested in shopping for her cousins and friends than food. So as the three boys headed for the food joint to place an order, my daughter and I quickly took a detour and started picking up gifts to take back home. My daughter’s eyes were round and alight by looking around at all the glittering lights around. Thank God we reached the food table before everything had been devoured. On the way back, we all bought some hot chocolate, and it turned out to be the hit item of the trip. Around five cups downed for a couple of mornings and evenings by all of us. Steaming, we strolled back to our room and smiled at each other. Of course, its Ertugral Time. So we snuggled up into the beds, with Mama Me at the center and kids on either sides. I adjusted my laptop, on my lap of course, and my eldest son, playing the DJ, located and played the next episode. It was really fun, except for the Internet speed available. That night, we somberly swore never to doubt and snicker at the students attending online classes from Murree ever again.
The next morning, I was glad I awoke in time for Fajr. I whispered the Fajr alert to my husband and my eldest as I headed for the washroom. And scuffled a couple of toes on the way back. After offering Fajr, I looked out of the window. Would we get to see live snow ? The weather news had said so ! And I was curious how the Mall Road would look like early in the morning. Deserted and sad ? Or deserted and relieved ? I put on my coat, pocketed my mobile and looked around at the sleeping figures. Fine. I will go alone. I will just walk down the hotel street, peep onto the Mall Road, see how it looks stark empty and come back. So I did.
But I was in for a surprise and a shock. The Mall Road was alive with tourists at 7 am ! Boys, girls, families, children, babies, all packed up, either arriving or leaving Murree. I was extremely surprised. Why would they be coming and going at seven in the morning ? Normally, the check-in and check-out time is around twelve noon. And it was so cold. Intrigued and emboldened by the presence of people, I decided to take a morning walk all the way down the Mall Road. Eventually, the crowd thinned out and there was no one at the end of the Mall Road. So I turned back. As I was crossing by the church, someone said something to me. I looked around and asked, confused, ‘Did you say something to me?’ Standing there was the most innocent looking boy of around twenty. He looked as if he had lost his way. He nodded. So I asked him, ‘Yes ?’ And he whispered, ‘Lets meet up …’
I had the shock of my life. I just stared him in the face, with shock, horror, laughter, anger, sadness, all revolting inside me. I just shook my head in disgust and walked head on. So this is what Murree is all about for our youth ? How desperate can a boy be to approach a woman of around forty clad in Abaya ? Is this the youth which claims that ‘We are the ummati of Prophet Muhammed Pbuh, and will drink Ab-e-Kausar from his hands’ ? Is this the nation which will do Ghazwa-e-Hind ? Are these the protectors of the Muslim nation, whose responsibility was to defend the Naheeds of Kashmir, Palestine and China now ? Instead, they are hunting around for Zina in Murree ? Alas ! I woe to us parents … what kind of sons and daughters are we raising, who meet up for Zina in Murree and we don’t know ?
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