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The Quetta of today is a product of the 1935 plan which was designed
to withstand high magnitude earthquakes after an earlier earthquake
had devastated the city. The main thoroughfare is Jinnah Road while
the parallel Shahrah-e-Pehlavi is a long, broad boulevard lined with
plane trees. In the Kandahari and Liaquat Bazaars, tea-shops alternate
with stalls selling local handicrafts like fine Baluchi mirror-work
embroidery and green onyx carvings. The regional culinary speciality
known as Sajji is also plentifully available. although not
inexpensive. Sajji is a whole leg of lamb skewered on a wooden spit
and then barbecued beside an open lire.
Before cooking, the meat is marinated in salt for two or three hours.
Quetta's bazaars offer a rich assortment of fresh fruit, including
grapes, peaches and apples. The colourfill orchards of the surrounding
countryside gave this part of Baluchistan a special charm, unique in
Pakistan. The Urak Valley, about twenty-two kilometres from Quetta.
seems bathed in eternal spring, with the green and russet hues of the
apple trees offset by the pale blue of the sky. A small waterfall
splashes down into an irrigation channel and Pathan farmers gather
nearby to drink tea and pass the time of day.
Henna Lake, eleven kilometres from Quetta, provides a contrasting form
of beauty. Set amongst low brown hills. this picnic spot is popular
with the townspeople of Quetta for its tranquil waters and cooling
breezes. In the evening, as the sun slopes low in the sky, the lake
takes on first a turquoise and then an Emerald green colour, and the
shrine set on the small island in its midst is cast in stark relief by
the last light of the day
In the outskirts of Quetta the little town of Ziarat stands amidst a
forest of aromatic junipers at a height of 8200 feet (2500 metres).
Here, during his last illness.
Quaid e Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah came to benefit from the clear,
invigorating mountain air. The Quaid stayed far up on one of thc green
hillsides above Ziarat in a house built by the British in 1882 as the
summer headquarters for the Agent of the Governor-General (shown
above). The house, now known simply as the Residency, is one of those
peaceful places in the world where the soul finds rest. It is
surrounded by green lawns terraced into the contours of the hill and
by bright, softly-scented flower gardens.
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