Dancing in Chitral

The Government and the Supreme Court will measure their forces in a new round in the coming week. The SC is challenging the legality of a recently adopted law by parliament, which protects high level office holders including the prime minister from future contempt of court charges. The new Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf did not have to wait long to get into the same imbroglio like his predecessor regarding the Swiss letter. It remains to be seen if this "damned letter", as recently put by a local journalist, will be sent at all.


As traveling outside of Islamabad has become more and more an experience in bureaucratic hurdles for diplomats, my reaction to well meaning and kind recommendations to visit the beautiful Northern Area is slowly turning from enthusiastic nodding to an increasingly weary smile. However, a joint project of Switzerland and the Aga Khan Foundation for constructing two 500 kW hydro power units in two valleys in the North provides the wings for a day up in the sky and down on the ground in another world! The last one of countless papers needed for this trip is being signed in the early evening hours the day before, acquired by our good soul from the Embassy who spent the day persistently looking for that magical signature in a ministry.
Early morning and we drive out on the helipad near the airport, passing the remains of a recently crashed plane scattered around in the knee high grass and see a Swiss cross on the helicopter. Its owner is the Aga Khan Foundation, which is based in Switzerland, and we are assured that the pilots enjoy periodical training there. The two pilots look fit and ready for their next shoot in the "Top Gun" movie. My question, if their ability to fly is as good as their looks, is met with big smiles, which I read as a confirmation, and their willingness to pose for a photo!

The first stop is the airport of Chitral in the North near the Afghan border and in the region of the highest peaks of the country. Here we understand why a slight change of weather can bring all air traffic to an immediate halt - high mountains on all sides, leaving all but the runway for a secure landing. The refueling is being done by a utility truck model Saurer from Interlaken, Switzerland, dating probably back to the fifties. The next stop is a village in Pawoor Yarkhoon Valley to visit the construction site of the power plant; we are greeted by hundreds of villagers upon landing and drive to the site on walking trails and through flowing water streams, legs apparently the usual means of locomotion.

Men are busy constructing a cemented bed for capturing the water, which will drive a turbine down in the valley to provide electricity for up to ten thousand people in the neighboring villages. The recipe for the mixture of cement varies from location to location, leaving the hope that the reason for it is the difference in sand, water, or anything else and the result will be the same: sturdy cement walls.
We visitors turn out to be an attractive object for a photo and so we stand with our cameras on eye sight looking into the lenses of numerous mobile phones.

Tea break awaits wherever human activity is taking place and there is, of course, no exception to that rule in this mountainous spot.

The villagers are expecting us, hundreds of them perched on an idyllic spot, shadowed by deciduous trees loosely scattered at a grove and after tea being served with almonds, mulberries and some speeches, the music band starts with local tunes. A first dancer appears - it remains a miracle to me how men are eagerly ready to pick up dancing in this part of the world, the women being confined to admire their expressions of joy in moving to sentimental melodies, while where I come from, men usually need a considerable amount of persuasiveness to follow the ladies onto the dancing floor. Absolutely no excuse of our two male members of the delegation is accepted of not being part of this happy celebration and so they have to jump in, waving and moving their arms and hands, stamping in a circle and following the tunes of the singers and the rhythm of the clapping of an increasingly thrilled audience. One of them being the husband, behind which I have been trailing as a spouse around the globe, gives such a unique performance in Chitrali tribal dance, that if not for many other things, the sight of it would have been reason enough to come to Pakistan! Little do these two freshly appointed members of the folk dancer community know, that this is just the beginning of an actual dancing spree. The reputation of their performance magically precedes our next stops and they are eagerly awaited by new musicians, singers and an expectant audience...

We two lady guests are presented with elaborately embroidered Chitrali caps and for once are totally happy to be part of the audience!

On all the places we land and visit, we are greeted by smiling villagers, joyfully waving men and women, boys and girls alike, all walking or jumping along the paths and trails, passing solidly built schools and houses. A well functioning ecosystem, but fragile and vulnerable, so close to the border to Afghanistan and very recently, disturbing Taliban activities have been spotted in the area.

Water from the creek, yogurt, whole wheat flatbread and fresh goat cheese, dried apricots and nuts the meal and we lift up in the air again, leaving this colorful and simple village life behind. We are confident that the mini hydro power unit will be ready within a year and will provide enough electricity for cooking and heating, thus ending the cutting down of the trees from the mountain forests, which protect the villages from the hazards of nature.