It was fun to wake up to views of villages on either side of us. At night, it had been pitch dark out. Some areas we passed were covered in trash and filth, most noticeably plastic bags. Other areas were very simple in means, with straw homes or mud walled ones with livestock all around. These were some of the most beautiful spots we passed, in addition to lush green fields of wheat, fruit trees and more.
The train was fine, but my head hurt and I felt pretty out of it and a bit depressed. That made the hours creep by very slowly. There was a lot of complaining about the slowness of the train and corruption of the railway system, from other passengers. I played carom on my phone and read a bit from an Urdu translation of Sindhi folk stories that I picked up in Hyderabad.After what seemed like forever, we reached Lahore. I grabbed by bags and hobbled my way toward the sea of madness that was the exit. Suffi sahib was there with a friend. They helped me squeeze my way out. Suffi sahib had a porter grab one heavy bag which the man put on his head. I was dragging the other bag. The porter kept asking me to put that second bag on his head. I felt like it was too much. He kept insisting, saying that this was his job. He wasn’t saying this to make more money. Of course he was going to be paid as he was carrying a bag. I know people like to say that everyone is dishonest and corrupt here. While that is the reason for such widespread problems, I think it’s important to recognize all the people that are not like that. I gave him the bag after a bit, and we put everything in Suffi’s car and head out.
Lahore changes so much each time I get there. There’s some crazy overhead busway that towers above the streets I remember. The hostel and college walls have been practically doubled in height and there is so much more security now, after the Peshawar school attacks. People often look at news of attacks in Pakistan and look upon the people as some wretched, horrible creatures, that hate their children and are out to kill the world, without seeing how it is the people of Pakistan who suffer the most through all of this. These people are the biggest victims of all the extremists.Even from the train, I saw so many young girls and boys walking to school in the early morning hours, in small muddy towns, trying to get a decent education. My fellow passenger on the train, on his way to Peshawar talked about how much he was trying to invest in the education of his three girls and one boy. It was sweet to listen to how he described each of his children with so much love and how he valued each of their educations above all else. This is a man who did not have the benefit of a formal education, but worked very hard in business all his life. He wants to make sure that his kids get the best that he can provide, like most parents. That’s not to say that there are not narrow minded people, or that there are not very real and serious issues that need addressing, but it is interesting to see the variety of people and their thoughts and how they try to get by.I dropped off my things at the hostel and Suffi sahib took me to the college. He ordered some food, and I felt much better after a meal. Right away he asked some colleagues to ask around about puppeteers, and we all began coming up with names and numbers of possible leads. I spoke to the one puppeteer I have contacted in Multan. I am hoping to get a few more contacts before I head out there for a bit to meet them all. Suffi sahib and I worked on a plan to get that information, and that made me feel a lot better. This is the way that each project I have done here goes. It is never easy, and it would never be possible without the help of so many people.
That night, I met a friend of Suffi’s who is in production. We went to the Jashn-e-Bahar (Spring Celebration) festival at Racecourse. It was really fun. There were all kinds of booths with handicrafts and food. I had some great conversations with people working with artisans for social upliftment. I also got to see some great work from the Naqsh school students and faculty. This art college in the walled city has some fantastic output. I really respect the work these kids and faculty are doing. This is why, I walked over and requested to share some work with the students last time I came. I will see if I can make some time to do that once again. I have heard a lot of people talk about the complete loss of many of the skills I see in these kids. I think it is time to make some connections.We had some amazing Balochi food, and delicious Punjabi makki di rotis. One plain and one sweet. We also tasted a really interesting red colored bread with different kinds of spices and seeds.
At the end of the night, I found no puppets, but I did find a couple from Multan who make paper dolls. I asked if they knew any puppeteers and they mentioned there was one and that they would try to find his phone number.