Travelling down Mall Road, Lahore, Pakistan
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Mall Road in Lahore is also known as Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Asam for Mohammed Ali Jinnah, one of the founders of Pakistan and its first prime minister.
This hub is only about a part of Mall Road which is one of the longest roads in Lahore. There are many buildings of historical and cultural value. Many are from Mughal and colonial times. Most of them were built in the time of the British Raj.
Like all other parts of the city, Mall Road has something of everything. There are the huge banks and commercial buildings, shops of all shapes and sizes, tea stands set up at the side of the road, boys carrying sacks picking up rubbish to see if they find something of value that they can sell to earn a living.
Normally, Lahore is alive with people, noise, traffic and smoke from vehicles. Many drivers seem to think their engine in not working right unless they see a plume of blue. It is very unusual to see an empty street but some of the photos in this hub are silent, there is a hush in Lahore. It is a holiday and that is why there is no traffic. The shops are closed except for small stands like the one shown which make tea and serve snacks.
There are many places in the Road, including:
Lahore Museum
Lahore Zoo
National College of Art
Government College
Zamzama, that is Kim's Gun, famous from Kim by Rudyard Kipling
Punjab Library
Punjab University
Lahore Stock Exchange
Punjab Assembly
Wapda House
Awain-e-Iqbal
Quite a few of these places I visited when I was in the city. One place which was very interesting is somewhere that is normally quite ordinary, but in Mall Road there is a KFC restaurant which is run entirely by deaf people. On the walls are pictures of sign language. I am glad that I had a chance to go there because it was something I have never experienced anywhere else. It was another thing that I could add to my list that is good about Pakistan.You can read about it here:
http://www.workersforjesus.com/dfi/s-259.htm
Anarkali Bazaar is a place I like too. It is named after a slave girl who was said to have been buried alive behind a wall for having an affair with the king's son. You can read more about her here on this site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarkali
The bazaar has almost everything anyone could need. But not all shops there will bargain. At the shoe shop I bought 2 pairs of shoes for 250 rupees each and the man there said they were cheap enough and he would not reduce them. He would not have bargained and I would have left without them if I had been determined. The same shoes sell in England for at least £20 so I would have been foolish to complain at paying £2.
The Communist Party of Pakistan has a huge hammer and sickle on the roof. They are only allowed to put up a sign in Urdu but it is unmistakable.
I visited the Punjab Public Library. It was built in 1884, they have thousands of books and over one thousand old manuscripts. I especially liked the open sided reading rooms. They are built in the Mughal style which favoured such constructions because they are cool in the summer heat.
It is near to the Lahore Museum which is really the wonder house Rudyard Kipling called it in his book Kim. His father John Lockwood Kipling was one of the curators at the museum.
http://www.thepotteries.org/did_you/002.htm
But no museum built in Victorian times would be complete without a statue of the Queen herself. The museum deserves a hub all its own and I plan to write one.
Tollington Market was built in 1864 to house exhibitions of arts and crafts of the Punjab. In the 1920's it was changed to a market. In 2005 when I first was in Lahore the building was being refurbished and is now a museum. Unfortunately, I did not visit it but on my next visit certainly I will.
As I have already said this is only a small portion of Mall Road, there is so much more. You can see the boy in the tree, the view from the GPO and the signs of wealth and also poverty. Even the poor people have a smile for a photographer as you can see on the faces of the boys with the sacks.
Mall Road has many faces and it would take thousands of words to describe even just this one road in the huge city of Lahore. Lahore is a place that you must experience in person. You cannot learn about it from a few words on a page. I sit and think of it and hear it in my memory. I show these few pictures so you can get a taste of it but it is not enough. You must live and breathe it. The beauty, richness of buildings and landscapes, also the dirt and poverty, the history and modern buildings and life. It makes me homesick for it. I have only been there twice but it certainly had a profound effect. That is one thing about Pakistan. People who visit either love it or hate it. If you love it you want to keep going back.
Pakistan seen through my eyes
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I have been to Pakistan twice and I certainly want to visit again. I am glad you liked reading my hub. Thank you.
Amazing content, superb style, thoughtful lively and loving hub. My unconditional gratitude for your love and affection for Pakistan, the country at crossroads....
Thank you very much Lahoreee for your comments. They are always very much appreciated. I am happy you enjoyed the hub.
This is great. I love the KFC run by the deaf! I love all your hubs. Your pictures are so wonderful! Thanks again Hummingbird!
Thank you for reading Micky Dee. I really like the KFC run by the deaf too. I think it is a very good thing. I have never seen it anywhere else.
I am glad you like the photos.
I thoroughloy enjoyed this stroll down Mall Road. Such variety! And colour! It looks quite a bit like some streets in South Africa. Like Micky I love the idea of the KFC run by deaf people! Outstanding.
Love and peace
Tony
Thank you. Your comments are always welcome. The buildings on the road change all the way down.
Thanks again.
Hello humming, my real life has become so busy that I rarely find time for Hp now. There's just never enough time to read all the amazing hubs anymore! Still, I had to come and check this out, and needless to say, loved it!
Mall road is one amazing road, though I have to add sometimes it's impossible to see beyond all the din and traffic! Your pictures are great... i love the one of the rubbish boys too. Btw. I never knew about this KFc you talk about, wow, i must go and visit it! Yes, that's what I love about pakistan: you find amazing things in the most unknown of places! Your last paragraphs sums it up.... very nicely put! Take care friend....:)
I expected you would like it. There is still lots more of Mall Road, this is only a small part. Everyone seems to like the KFC. It is amazing.
You are right. It isn't always possible to see beyond the din and traffic, particularly if you travel in a rickshaw,then there seems to be even more din.
Thank you for reading and I am glad you enjoyed it as you know most of the places.
Nice Pics.
Thanks for reading my hub.
Your link to the KFC with the deaf employees was really interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you. Everyone likes the KFC. It is certainly something good. Thank you for reading my hub.
I see you went there on a holiday. Otherwise the place is so packed with traffic. I hate going to the mall road due to the traffic but it is such an important road with so many offices that every now and then I have to play the good old Mall road a visit.
Those are some amazing pictures and you did a good job capturing some important buildings. There is a very old building there called the Gardee building(not in the pics above). Its near GPO and an office in that building brings me to Mall road and that to on the working days. :(
I love trees and the central green belt that is on many places of this road attracts me a lot. While driving I do tend to look towards the right hand side where the green belt is.
Thanks for this good hub!
Thank you for reading it. I am glad you liked it. I like Lahore very much.
Nice article, quite informative. Having lived at Lahore for sometime, I agree with you in toto. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for reading. It means more to have praise from someone who knows Lahore so well.
Hello Humming,
Really nice written, no doubt Lahore is one of the best place to live in Pakistan, if you like Halla Gulla :) food, history and lot more!
Hope to see more soon from you :)
Thank you for reading. I am glad you liked my article.
hey hummingbird- loved you pictures and am so glad you enjoyed lahore:)- i see that you have put up a few pictures of the wazir khan baradari that you describe as the 'reading halls' next to the punjab library..the monument has a avery rich history- please do check out my hub page- http://hubpages.com/hub/Pakistans-Untapped-Treasur to read about it and tell me what you think:)
I am glad you liked my hub. I am going to read yours now.
This is promising. Thanks for sharing.
I am always happy when people like my hubs. Thank you for reading.
Hummingbird! I love coming back to see you and your work. You are inspiring to me. God bless you Dear Hummingbird.
Thank you Micky. I really must write something new soon, because you are always flitting in and out.
lahore is a great place, i always enjoyed my visits to lahore, must watch http://hubpages.com/hub/Desert-rohi
Thank you. I will look at that.
Yeah we know that Indian and Pakistani people are not enemy to each other but this is all because of the political problems. Nobody wants to kill innocent people and curse them. We all pray for the peace of the whole world not just for our part of the world. I hope we will have a peaceful world one day. InshaAllah
Thank you for reading.
Nice and wonderful hub about Mall Road in Lahore, Pakistan and this famous road has many historical places worth seeing. Pics are really beautiful and those are significant to realize for everyone that how much beautiful this road is. Property investment at this busy road of Lahore is also very lucrative which I cam to realize from this place http://www.zameen.com/Homes/Lahore-1-1.html
Thank you for reading and liking my hub
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Amazing hub, i live in Lahore..i have see these place in real..i really happy after watch that you share with us..rate up up and very up of your hub!
Thank you. It means a lot for someone who lives in Lahore to like my hub and photos.
Hummingbird, I really enjoyed this.
I really learned a lot and I loved the pictures.
I was a bit jealous looking at you in some of the photos. LOL.
I would love to be able to travel there one day with my son.
Thanks for sharing.
Take Care,
N.E.
It is a good place to go and not as dangerous as people think. You just have to be properly organised and sensible. It helps to know someone there too, like I do.
Thanks for reading.
nice sharing and i am happy to see your interest in Pakistan. share your pictures of Pakistan on our facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pakistan-Adventures/
And also visit us to explore beautiful places of Pakistan.
Thank you. I am interested in Pakistan. I am writing a book about Pakistan which will be out on Kindle in a few months.
Lor Lor aay lovely city.
Yes, you are right. Thanks for reading.
i Love my lovely Lahore.
Lor Lor Aay is the comment that you hear every now and then from many people. I came to Lahore from Faisalabad in 1975 and I chose Lahore to live in. I have gone to many countries of the world and worked in many but Lor Lor Aay means that Lahore is Lahore and no city matches its grace and beauty.
That is quite true. That is exactly my opinion too. Thank you for reading my hub again.
Yours is one of the most interesting hub I have come across.Having lived in Lahore for more than 20 years, raising both my sons ,working as a biology teacher I never looked at the Mall road with the lens that you have seen.Its so interesting to find out that a foreigner like you can relate to the sight and sounds of my country.Thanks for introducing it to us in the way that you have done.
Thank you for reading my hub. It is often the case that visitors see more than residents. We do not always look at our home town with the interest that outsiders have.
To us it is normal and boring.
To me Pakistan was new and interesting. I hope to come again soon.
I just came by to say I love you and appreciate you. As always - God bless you dear heart.
Thank you very much. God bless you too.
lahore is best for eating didderent meals from shahid 03004565656
Lahore is good for lots of things. Thanks for reading my hub.
gulnazahmad 23 months ago
Its amazing to know somebody from abroad writing about Pakistan so well:)but you did not tell us that whether you wanted to come back here or not.