I was going to leave for Sewan to attend the Urs of Lal Shahbaz Qalanadar, but the musicians’ bus from Radio Pakistan was full so I will try again tomorrow. Several people told me not to go as it is hot and being perhaps the largest Urs in Pakistan, it is crazy. The dargah is one of the most beautiful that I have seen, when I went a few months ago and even on a regular night, it was packed, so I can only imagine what it will be like. It’s actually not that fun to be packed in with people in a religious fervor, so I’m not really going for that so much as to attend the musical program with musicians performing all night. Thanks to my friend Ustad Anb Jogi, I should be able to get a spot on the bus tomorrow.
Instead, I spent the day at a nice spot in Jamshoro that I had wanted to visit for some time. Every time I take the bus in to Hyderabad, I pass by a spot next to the river with colorful boats. This river is the river Indus, from which the name India comes as well as the province of Sindh. My friend Saqib was kind enough to take some time out and bring me there today. Lots of people are there to get some respite from the heat. There are food vendors and lots of families all around. I just stood there, enjoying being somewhere. The boats are beautifully decorated, with painted exteriors and often feature some wood carving on the inside. There was nothing much to say, so I just enjoyed taking it all in.
After a while, we walked a bit further from where most of the rush was. There were boats off in the distance as well and sand dunes. It was quite peaceful down the beach. We came across some kids herding their goats. The goats were drinking water and playing. I took some photos and the kids were excited to have their photos taken as well. It’s fun to show the kids their photos on the screen. Their faces light up and it is not much, but at least something small to share.
The patterns created by wind in the sand were quite beautiful, as were the dunes. Afterwards, we went across the highway to the riverbank restaurant and had some juice. Mostly we just sat and enjoyed being there. In the evening, I was going to teach Saqib some wordpress basics, to make websites, but as Soomro sahib came to our part of town, we met up with him and hung out along with my friend Hisam. It was nice to catch up, and just socialize a bit.