Pindi and Srinigar Memories 74-76
Pindi life 74-76
My story begins and ends in Rawalpindi. My Dad was stationed with UNMOGIP, out of the UN Security Council. It was the mission observer group in India and Pakistan. So, we were 6 months in Srinigar, Kashmir for summers, on the magical, beautiful Dal lakes, and 6 in Pindi. We kids stayed in Pindi attending ISI, in Islamabad. We ended up renting a place near the Mards and Marnells and Van Der Oords, fellow UN families in Pindi. I remember bb guns, fascinating ki...lls of various frogs and birds. My older brother and Rogier let me tag along. I was 10 that summer, leading into fall, when school would start. Bus rides to school with Tarbala Dam kids. One American stayed with us, long brown hair, nice smile, he loved my Moms apple pie! We had a dog, Kalu, only dog we ever had. He was a loyal dog. We had 2 servants quarters, one on the roof, another behind the house. My brother and I would climb to the top and jump down into the servants quarters. We had a mali, gardener and a servant in Kashmir, where my Mom would play Canasta or Bridge in the summer. These were the years I learned, Jeve, jeve Pakistan, Pakistan, Pakistan, jeve Pakistan. I remember Iqbal, who always called me little memsahib Poom. He rewove our beds with the white thick cotton cloths. He ended up in Florida, as he was learning English as he was serving as servant/nanny to my brother and I. He'd take the whole family trout fishing in Srinagar, along the ice cold streams, along the foothills of the Himalayan mountains in the summer. Trout has never tasted better that what he caught that summer! A magical Shangrila, that Kashmir! The houseboats, chikara rides, etched in my mind forevermore.
My story begins and ends in Rawalpindi. My Dad was stationed with UNMOGIP, out of the UN Security Council. It was the mission observer group in India and Pakistan. So, we were 6 months in Srinigar, Kashmir for summers, on the magical, beautiful Dal lakes, and 6 in Pindi. We kids stayed in Pindi attending ISI, in Islamabad. We ended up renting a place near the Mards and Marnells and Van Der Oords, fellow UN families in Pindi. I remember bb guns, fascinating ki...lls of various frogs and birds. My older brother and Rogier let me tag along. I was 10 that summer, leading into fall, when school would start. Bus rides to school with Tarbala Dam kids. One American stayed with us, long brown hair, nice smile, he loved my Moms apple pie! We had a dog, Kalu, only dog we ever had. He was a loyal dog. We had 2 servants quarters, one on the roof, another behind the house. My brother and I would climb to the top and jump down into the servants quarters. We had a mali, gardener and a servant in Kashmir, where my Mom would play Canasta or Bridge in the summer. These were the years I learned, Jeve, jeve Pakistan, Pakistan, Pakistan, jeve Pakistan. I remember Iqbal, who always called me little memsahib Poom. He rewove our beds with the white thick cotton cloths. He ended up in Florida, as he was learning English as he was serving as servant/nanny to my brother and I. He'd take the whole family trout fishing in Srinagar, along the ice cold streams, along the foothills of the Himalayan mountains in the summer. Trout has never tasted better that what he caught that summer! A magical Shangrila, that Kashmir! The houseboats, chikara rides, etched in my mind forevermore.
posted by Poom at 2:37 PM
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