Travelling on Karokram Highway be Like;

One day long journey on KKH be like;

Its 10pm...Convey at 7am wait!

Mae Na Kaha tha naa ByRoad na jaa!

Fire in the Woods;

Family History;

                Family history gives us an anchor, a foundation from which we exist and can thrive(“Susan G Mathis”). When we look at our ancestors we will come to know that the small steps taken by them meant allot for us today .Our culture, beliefs, customs and social values are embodied on the principles set by them and we draw inspiration from their virtues. Every family is identified by an eminent ethnicity which they believe make them distinguish like language, culture, region, religion etc. These cultural beliefs were developed progressively and it later on became a strong and bonding force which kept the families intact.

                The history of families residing in mountains is unique because they traveled from different places and settled their due to better economic condition at that time mainly due to grazing fields for their cattle. My family history goes back to Tibeten Khampa. Under Tibetans ruler the culture, religion and beliefs were molded into Tibetans Buddhism, thus majority of the population were converted into Tibetans Buddhism from Indian Buddhism. Our language is Balti, a Tibetans language spoken in Baltistan. My family is identified by the language because the Balti People share allot of similarities among themselves which make us different from others. Our traditions, culture and taste are unique which identifies us. Although there are some overlapping with other cultures like after the advent of Islam the majority of population converted to Islam so we have same religious beliefs but our cultural practices are different. Our cultural festivals like Polo, JashnBaharan and Harvest time festivals are unique. In addition to these our traditional food, dresses and ornaments, music and dances, art and architecture shows a peculiar character which identifies our history and we are identified as Baltiyul or Little Tibet. Our Balti language is a very developed language which has its own script and historical books and ornaments which depicts the strong foundation of our culture. We Baltis know our land as Lhayul (Land of God); Ladakh as Maryul (Mars) and Bhutan as Brugyul (Land of Dragons).

            These cultural beliefs and deep affiliation with the other cultures having similar language like Tibet and Ladakh shows that we are identified by our language. At the Independence of Pakistan Baltistan was under the administration of the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir which became independent state on November 1, 1947. The region was run by local government for 16 days but on the call of local residents the local government unconditionally decided to join Pakistan. After joining Pakistan we gain a new identity, Pakistani identity. But Pakistan treated Gilgit Baltistan as a stepchild since its incorporation in Pakistan. The struggle of people of Gilgit Baltistan in defending their patriotism with Pakistan is undeniable like their sacrifices in war of kargil, etc. Instead of true patriotism shown by the local the region has not yet proclaimed as a constitutional part of country. It has not yet given right to cast vote, no representation in national assembly and senate, and has been discriminated in other fields like education, health, and infrastructure. Even the main bureaucrats seats of Gilgit Baltistan is not been given to locals but it is being control by federal government. Although Gilgit Baltistan selfgoverning ordinance was approved in 2009 but it was not beneficial for long term local government because the main powers still reside in the Bureaucrats which are non locals.

             GilgitBaltistan was discriminated soon after independence so Gilgit and Baltistan being geographically integrated stived together for their rights which gave us a same platform.The long communal journey of people of Gilgit and Baltistan gave them an identity, communal identity i.e. GilgitBaltistan identity. People strive for their rights through GilgitBaltistan identity but still want to intact their regional identity due to its peculiar characters. Our cultural affiliation with people having same language like Tibetans and Ladakh instead of having differences in national identity depicts that subnational identity has an eminent importance among us. In short a person is identified by his subnational identity with in a nation because it gives a proper feedback about his history and ancestors while a person is identified by his national identity at international level because subnational identities becomes dormant at international level.

'You have to taste a culture to understand it.'Deborah Cater.

'You have to taste a culture to understand it. 'Deborah Cater.

Every culture has some specialties which gives it a unique identity. The traditions, customs, rituals and taste of every culture develop over time. Although due to amalgamation with other cultures their ways of life changes. A best example of this is the culture of sub-continent which became more or less Anglo-Indians due to long decades of British Imperialism. Although the people of Baltistan were also migrated from different areas like India, China, Kashmir, etc. They migrated from far-flung areas and settled in Baltistan due to better economic condition at that time i.e. Evergreen landscape to cultivate and graze their livestock. But due to certain limitation i.e. Geographical location, the culture preserved for long time and it was less merged with outside world.

'You have to taste a culture to understand it. 'Deborah Cater. It means that for an in-depth study of any culture you have to learn about their rituals, customs, beliefs, morality and above all their history. Let me take an example, in western countries the gesture of waving “the middle finger” shows an individual sign of disrespect but in some cultures it is completely neutral. Although in our culture it is a sign of disrespect too but the gesture of “Thumb”, raising it in a gathering is also a disrespectful act. Let me give you some glimpse of my cultural food. We live in the mountains of Himalayas and Karakoram which separates us from other culture mainly due to natural climate. So we have our own unique cultural foods mainly prepared from local ingredients.

*Sorry for the example if you guys think that it is not a good way to start. : P

 "These are savoury buckwheat pancakes called Kisser..."

"Zerchoon, a deep-fried mildly sweet cross between cake and bread. I couldn't stop eating these!"

Helping Hands!

Faiz Bakhsh Public School is a private school run by LSO, Hassan Abad Welfare Association - HAWA since 2001. We strongly encourage all those local support organizations which are working to uplift their society, especially by furnishing quality education to their young generation.

Spirit of Game

Snap shot during Ghanche Festival.....Polo mach is shown in picture which is a part of our cultural heritage....

Loving & Caring People!

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress is judged by the way its animals are treated.―Mahatma Ghandi