Multan city is known for its long history. Multan’s history stretches deep into antiquity. The ancient city was site of the renowned Hindu Multan Sun Temple, and was besieged by Alexander the Great during the Mallian Campaign. Multan was one of the most important trading centres of medieval Islamic India, and attracted a multitude of Sufi mystics in the 11th and 12th centuries, earning the city the sobriquet “City of Saints”.
Multan hosts many historical buildings apart from the shrine that I visited yesterday. Among important historical buildings built during the British colonial period is the Multan’s Ghanta Ghar which was built in the Indo-Saracenic style.
Our plan for today was to visit these sites and do some shopping before going to Kot Adu for the wedding. We will not be stopping at Multan on our way back to Lahore from the wedding. We needed to hit the road early to avoid fog.
Multan is famous for sohan halwa. “Rewari sohan halwa is famous all over the world sir” Shabbir claims. He has all kinds of claims about Pakistan. He always claims that the orange from his city is huge and he gestures his palm wide open to emphasize further his claim. I have never seen such a big orange in my life and would love to verify this. Sargodha, the city of oranges, is on my bucket list.
I visited the Rewari shop and the scene was chaotic. Maybe what he claimed could be true. There were many other sohan halwa shops but the Rewari was busy. I waited for a few minutes outside and I didn’t see people queuing. I needed to become Pakistani, so I barged into the small shop, and pushed a few bystanders there to reach the sales guy. When I made my order in English, I got the usual look. I told him that I’m Malaysian. They guy just smiled, and the people around turned towards me simultaneously to check what warrants me to claim to be a Malaysian.
Nadeem who followed me came to my rescue. He asked me what I wanted and he made the order. My conversation with Nadeem caught the attention of the manager. He quickly approached me and started talking in English. I was relieved, yes finally someone believes me that i’m Malaysian or at least a foreigner. As usual, Pakistani hospitality towards mehman (guest), apart from what we ordered, the manager gave me some additional sweets as a gift.
While we were walking around the area, just a few blocks away from Ghanta Ghar, I noticed one restaurant which was very busy. Many people were simply entering the restaurant, taking some food and leaving. “What is happening Shabbir?” I asked as though Shabbir should know everything. “Don’t know sir” he answered with his melodic tone. The restaurant must be very famous I guess. We just had our breakfast at the hotel and we were not hungry yet. But I just wanted to see the restaurant closer. Shabbir was quick to approach the owner. I just stood there enjoying the chaotic scenery inside and outside. “Sir, actually the owner is serving the poor people nashta (breakfast) for free. These people can come anytime and take the meal to eat.” Shabbir summarised his long chat with the owner. “Is someone sponsoring for this” I was curios. “No sir, he self sponsors it, but sometimes some of his other customers also give charity. MasyaAllah, such a kind person who serves meals to the needy.
The wedding invitation is for lunch and as per the invitation card it starts at 1pm. The journey from the Multan to Kot Adu where the wedding hall is located will take almost two hours. Our plan was to arrive at Kot Adu around 1 to 2 pm. This will allow us to attend the wedding early and we can start our journey back to Lahore timely to avoid being on the road late at night. However, as we were busy enjoying the scenery we noticed it was almost 11.30 am. I told Shabbir that we should be moving now so that we can reach there timely. He did not show much urgency but we did hit the road immediately. The drive to Kot Adu again served us an awesome view. We passed by the Chenab river. Chenab river originates from the mountain range of Himalayas and is considered one of the 5 major rivers in Punjab region.
Being in the power industry, seeing chimneys always excites me. Along the way to Kot Adu, I noticed the seasoned Muzaffargarh power station. Even now these areas look underdeveloped. It makes me ponder why there was this power plant located in such a remote location and it was built way back in early 1990s.
However, the most exciting part of this road trip was our stop at a sugarcane farm. It was harvest season for sugarcane. We stopped to personally experience how the shakkar was produced directly at the farm. The people at the farm were very friendly as they welcomed us. They even gave us some shakkar to be brought back as a gift and they got annoyed when I offered money for it.
Unfortunately further down the same road, we can see for many kilometers, sugarcane trolleys were parked by the road side. These trolleys which was filled beyond its maximum capacity were actually queuing up for their sugarcanes to be sold at one of the famous sugar mill, i.e. Fatima Sugar mills. The trolley parked haphazardly along the road disrupted our journey. Whenever a vehicle comes from the other direction, we have to maneuver slowly as these trolleys were taking almost one lane. These roads are normal two lane roads without dividers and the roadsides are slippy and dangerous. Shabbir was driving cautiously until we cleared all the parked trolleys.
We reached Kot Addu at around 1.30 pm. I was hungry and so was my friend. I told Shabbir to proceed directly to the marriage hall. The timing was just nice. As we arrived at there, the parking looked empty. However, there were lots of motorbikes parked. As both the bride and groom were from the same locality, the guest could have come using just motorbikes. The wedding hall looked modest. In Pakistan, marriage halls are a lucrative business. I have noticed the marriage halls are available almost everywhere and in the cities the halls look more majestic compared to those which are located in the outskirts. Further, most of the marriage halls also provide an open area where a tent can be erected for additional usage for a larger number of guests. As usual, i took a selfie, for my memory and we entered the hall.
As we were entering the hall, I saw people were cooking and the smell was so aromatic. I became even more hungry but then I was curious why these people are still cooking when the time is already 1.30 pm. “Shabbir, is the food not ready yet?” I asked tensely. Shabbir did not have an answer. I don’t blame him. It was my fault to ask him such a question but I was just asking without needing any answer. When we arrived at the open courtyard, I was further shocked. The tent was only 80 percent complete and many people were busy setting it up. As I turned towards Shabbir to throw him more questions, he understood my body language and he quickly approached one of the guys at the tent who was busy supervising the work.
I stopped at the tent entrance, I can sense that my friend is restless. He suggested we stop at the Chenab fish point to get something to eat. They were selling freshwater fish catched fresh from the Chenab river. I objected to his suggestion as I thought we would be running late for the wedding.
I dare not say anything to calm him down. Shabbir turned towards us and his face was full of smiles. I’m relieved, we might be in the wrong hall.
“Sir, your friend’s function is inside the hall, this tent is for another marriage” Shabbir clarified. “The guys who were cooking just now were cooking for this marriage” He answered my earlier question.
We turned left and headed towards the door for the entrance to the hall. I was relieved and I tried speaking to my friend. He is more than 6 foot and works out almost everyday. He has a mini gym at our house with a weight training kit. He looks like a hungry lion which can eat a whole buffalo alone. He sounded a bit upset, however as we were already approaching the right location he tried to be composed. Shabbir marched in front to ensure no further blunder. He opened the door and I was standing just a few steps behind him. I saw inside the hall and I quickly turned to my friend and he…
Ek Safar (The Journey) 
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