I am so behind on posting, and have been trying to find a way to catch up with blogging. I decided to go ahead and just blog on today’s events and then see if I can retroactively share about the events of the past month of December.
Today was the Christmas holiday, but it was also Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s birthday today, so it’s a holiday here in Pakistan. Many people believe that if there was no Mohammad Ali Jinnah, there would be no Pakistan, so his birth is celebrated as a National holiday. It works out nicely for the Christians and others who celebrate Christmas in Pakistan. There are many. Anyways, in honor of Quaid-e-Azam, Founder of Pakistan, I decided to go visit the Pakistan National Monument on Shakarpariah in Islamabad and I got a glimpse of the Pakistan National Monument Museum.
So in honor of Quaid-e-Azam I decided to go visit the Pakistan National Monument on Shakarpariah in Islamabad and I got a glimpse of the Pakistan National Monument Museum. It was a breathtaking Monument and the view of Islamabad and the mountains was spectacular. I also stayed to catch the sunset which was so pleasant and beautiful despite the rush at the monument. Everyone was visiting it seemed. I really loved the architectural design of the Monument and the sculpture and artistry on the inside walls of it. I tried to mimic the selfies I would take of the Washington National Monument in DC. The museum was so crowded but I got to see and enjoy the exhibit and relics on Jinnah and Mohammad Iqbal (which was so amazing) quickly before closing. Will have to come back again with more time some other day in the future.
Hanging with Quaid-e- Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and Allama Mohammad Iqbal at the Pakistan National Monument Museum on Quaid-e-Azam’s Birthday was truly heartwarming, especially the relics and exhibition for Iqbal, who is one of my all time favorite poets…it was great to learn more about the Founder of Pakistan, and Iqbal’s involvement in politics.
I hope to share an album on this experience in the near future, as I took a lot of photos of the Monument and Islamabad view as well as the Museum.
Further, I plan to update my blog posts with the experiences from the last few weeks, particularly the Lok Virsa Museum, 3 additional trips into Peshawar, and a prominent conference in Islamabad hosted by SDPI. Will share as time permits in separate posts. I became completely behind on posting after I experienced some computer problems. I had a short family visit to Karachi for just two days, but returned immediately this past weekend to complete work here in Islamabad. Fieldwork has been extended in Islamabad in order to get a few more trips to Peshawar, but I hope to return to complete my final month in Karachi within the second week of January if not sooner.
There is a lot to reflect on, and I also took some time the past few days for some reflections, with respect to what I have accomplished in nearly 3 months and what I couldn’t do, what I could have done had I prepared, and what more is left to be done with the time remaining in the fieldwork both here in Peshawar/Islamabad and Karachi/Sindh.
For now, I am going to enjoy what I just experienced on the birthday of the Founder of Pakistan and I hope I can be able to slip in a few other site-seeing during the fieldwork.
