Zafar Musyani
The moon glowed in the night sky, its light sparkling in the creek waters as 21-year old Javed Pandrani and his comrades were chopping up the meat of the goat slaughtered earlier. Their camp thankfully had a stream flowing at the nearest which added to the tranquility, taking the visitors to a never-never land where no miseries could touch them and no woes could hurt them. The creek’s waters colliding with pebbles and stones and falling down from the rocks made the sound that relieved the souls like the chirping of a bird while compelling the visitors wish to live an age of life there.
For a moment or so, they seemed to have forgotten the world, often, with miseries and unrest. People there forgot the cities, the irritating pollution; the hypocrite politicians, the corrupt governance and the diseases. And, the world out of there seemed them to be as meaningless as the plants of weed in a sunflower field. They just wanted the life to be a miracle that they could spend more of their lives near the same cataracts, amidst the mountains. “I wish I could stay here longer,’’ says one of the tourists; Mr. Pandrani, while sitting at a stone in the middle of the streamlet, heaving a long sigh, with bare foot dangling from a stone and looking at the disk illuminated apparent `moon.
He laments further, “I miss no any opportunity to come here, because, its love, peace and pleasure to be here. And, I feel sorry for countless those who are yet to discover this beautiful natural spot in Balochistan.’’
This eye-catching marvel of the Divine isn’t somewhere else but in Balochistan. A place often synonymous with grief, deprivation, poverty and unrest however, as a matter of reality, it is more than such devils. It does host the amazing tourist points like this ‘’Moola chotok’’ mostly quoted as the hidden paradise. Whereas, it is no more hidden now, rather it is now taking small steps to shed its cloak of secrecy and people of all ages are heeding its way.
Yet beauty is not the only sole property which makes it so alluring rather its rich history draws many. In 1958, Nawab Babu Noroz khan Zehri had led the second insurgency against state in the same mountains of Chottok, and one can see that the ropes used to climb the rugged landscape are still there. Interestingly, his surrender to uphold the honor of Holy Quran is quite popular and part of Baloch nation’s pride.
Munir Ahmed Musyani persuaded the former Chief Minister Balochistan, late Mir Jam Muhammad Yousaf to build a rest house here
Despites its marvels and prepossessing history, Moola Chotok remained an unsung and unheeded place for over decades. However, according to a local resident Mr. Marri, who also looks after the rest house there. “It was Munir Ahmed Musyani (the current assistant commissioner Quetta) who first discovered it as a fascinating tourist pint. In addition to this, he also persuaded the former chief minister Balochistan, late Mir Jam Muhammad Yousaf to build a rest house here, consisting of four rooms.”
The point is eighty Kilo meters from Khuzdar city, although it takes about five to six hours to reach there all thanks to the road which is yet to be given attention. But, no worries, the beauty of the place can make one forget the tiresome journey as soon as one reaches there.
And, let alone its beauty and history, it is mostly renowned because of the mysterious dropping and fall down of water from and out of stones, rocks and the two mountains. More preferably and amazingly, the origin of the water (which remains cold in summer while hot in winter) is one of the biggest enigmas of nature, and that leaves the visitors in a state of bewilderment.
It took seven decades to discover Moola Chotok as a tourist point
But with all its splendor, this place of serenity needs and deserves much more than a mere rest house. Its beauty and history need to be preserved and taught in the provincial syllabuses at primary and secondary levels. Apart from this, constructing a blacktop road, extension and upgrading of the rest house and a permanent person to look after it are some of the measures to be taken at earliest, not to forget, the incumbent chief minister of Balochistan Nawab Zehri also hails from the same constituency. The authorities must pay heed and elevate the status of point, strategies to keep its marvels intact and to attract more and more tourists towards it should be formulated. So, it can help the native residents generate revenues both directly and indirectly which would give them the chance to alter their ill-fate, where illiteracy and poverty prevail over as a dark and unmoving cloud.
Finally, the question that flashes in the minds and depicts the level of frustration that it took seven decades to discover it, that too by someone’s personal efforts, and Government has only built a rest house. So, how long would it take them (our stakeholder) to come up with considerable and result-oriented efforts to meet the needs of Moola Chotok; indeed one of the wonders of world? Otherwise, our coming generations would lose a God-gifted place, no doubt, a heaven on the Earth.
Writer is studying International relations at University of Karachi.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article are those of the author and Balochistan Voices not necessarily agrees with them.
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