‘You can’t walk on the streets on your own. You can’t catch the busy or the train. Public transport is not safe’, a member of my host family explains to me on my first day in Lahore during my first visit in 2007. ‘Men can do it. They are ok, but women... no. You need a driver to take you around or you need to call the radio cabs. They are reliable.’
I listen to her as I look outside at the beaming sun. It is July and the Monsoon season. It rains like cats and dogs for a couple of hours, then it is extremely hot and sunny. The humidity makes us all sweat despite the air conditioning. I am a very independent western woman who is used to walking from place to place on her own and not relying on other people’s help. This is going to be a trial for me, having to ask for drivers to take me everywhere.
‘As a western woman, you need to be careful. People want your money.’ My host looks me directly in the eye. ‘Be suspicious of people. Don’t let them take advantage of you.’
My first real trial comes as I attempt to explore the Lahore Museum and the Lahore Zoo on my own. This is the first outing on my own that I’ve had since getting to Pakistan about a week ago. When I have been out with the locals, despite the looks that I get from the Pakistani, I have been fine. I have learnt a tactic to look at the road and to maintain eye contact just for a brief moment.
As I step out of the car in front of Lahore Museum, five people run to me. There are families about to get into the museum; some of them stop to stare at me. The family who has ran to me, shake my hand and introduce themselves.
‘Hi, I’m Aisha. This is my mum and this is my dad. This is my nice, my nephew....’. And so on. The follow me into the museum. I don’t establish eye contact with anyone; instead I try to focus on the artifacts in the museum. The family follows my every step. After about twenty minutes, Aisha tells me that the family needs to go. They all smile at me and disappear. I breath in relief and try to avoid contact with anyone else, which is hard given that the museum is packed with people.
I see a blond hair young man ahead of me. He looks at me and smiles. ‘How are you? Enjoying the museum?’. He looks almost relieved to see another westerner.
‘Yes, now that I am on my own enjoying.’ I smile back. ‘How long are you in Pakistan for?’
‘Oh, about five months. I am doing a placement for the Canadian Government. Working on a health project. I am a doctor back in Canada. What about you?’ He gives a glance to a family with seven children. They have all stopped to stare at us.
‘I’m over just for three weeks’, I reply.’ Doing some work for an education project.’
We continue looking through the museum together. Somehow it is comforting to be with another westerner, to know that there is another person who understands how I feel about all these stares.
Lahore Zoo is even worse. I cannot take one single step without being questioned. I get all kinds of questions, ranging from how old are you to do you wash your hair with henna. I consider leaving the zoo without having seen much of it. The final straw comes as a man asks me to hold his baby so that he can take a picture. He doesn’t even ask for my name or what I am doing in Pakistan. I feel like an object of admiration just because of my looks. It makes me feel sick, particularly since the west has not done any favours in Pakistan; rather it has made it a worse place to live for its inhabitants.
In 2009, I can walk freely on the bazaars and the main attraction in Lahore. No one bothers me. I get the odd looks, but that’s about it. Locals are much more used to westerners now, or they are fed up with politics and don’t admire westerners anymore, or both. I fell more comfortable walking around, yet a little nostalgic about my minor celebrity moments a few years back.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For anyone interested, a very good novel on the current political situation in ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ by Mohasin Hamid.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/mar/03/featuresreviews.guardianreview20
No comments:
Post a Comment