12. A Picnic Party: Essay

 

 

                  12.    A Picnic Party

           “The world is a book and those who do not travel, read only one page.”  (Saint Augustine)

                    A picnic can be defined as a short trip for enjoyment and recreation.  Recreation is the spending of time in pleasurable activities. Engaging ourselves in activities that invite happiness and peace of mind is nothing but recreation. Recreation can refresh break from the dull life routine. With the increasing pace of life, we have become too busy to take out time to peep into our self. We have no time to introspect. We have no time to interact. Recreation is an activity, rather an opportunity to take a break. the much-needed break from work.

“What is this life if, full of cure, we have no time to stand and stare?”

Recreation is like a rain shower during the days of something heat. It is like a ray of moonlight in the dreadful darkness. Recreation is moreover the time to get together to have fun. Developing sometime for recreation on a daily basis helps in the long run in maintaining health and achieving peace of mind. So, a picnic is also a part of the recreational activity. It is an integral part of our life.

“All the history is the biography of great man”.

Once my friends planned to visit the famous Tomb of Jahangir at Lahore. It was a place which many of us had not visited although we had heard a lot about it. On the appointed day we set out for Lahore and reached there at about 10 am. We decided to go to the tomb of Noor Jahan, the great queen of India first of all. Surrounded by beautiful parks, the front portion of the tomb presented a magnificent look which reminded me of the lovely line from Keats, a famous romantic poet.

“A thing of beauty is joy forever:”

The main building of the tomb did not appear to be looked after properly. We offered Fateha and proceeded to the arena where the great king of India lay buried.

“History is a cyclic poem written by time upon the memories of man”.

In a few moments, we reached the tomb of Jahangir. The moment we entered through the big gate and looked around, we were rather disappointed. We thought that the tomb was not such a marvelous affair as we had expected to be, but the surprise really waited for us. The entrance to the tomb is through 2 massive gates made of stone and masonry. Both the gateways face each other in the opposite direction in the north and south directions of the mausoleum. After the entrance, you will reach Akbari Sarai squared enclosure. It further leads to another enclosure towards the western side which enables the visitors to have a full view of the gardens. Then further down are the bricked canals in which a number of fountains were there but ruined completely a few years back.

The tomb itself is a one floor building having a unique square shape ground floor. The structure has a tall tower with a projecting entrance from all 4 sides. The 4 corners of the tower are 100 feet high and give a spectacular vision from a distance. It is an invaluable heritage which needs some good maintenance. The Tomb of Jahangir is adjoing  to the Akbari Sarai and Asif Khan’s Tomb which is on the provisional list as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

 As we move further, we went into a garden. We crossed the magnificent garden to the entrance of the tomb and instead of going decided to climb the towers first. From the tower, we could see the city of Lahore which lay as one mass of different colors, of different shades and different heights. It seemed as if the river Ravi was flowing right under our feet and the valley of the river in its broadness and bareness was picturesque indeed.

“Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places other people see nothing”.

We enjoyed a lot. We came down from the tower, took our shoes off and walked into the main building of the tomb. The passage to the tomb was done in beautiful tiles with flowers in the best tradition of Mughal Style.

What surprised us most was the freshness and grandeur of the tomb which had been built more than three hundred years ago. It was awe-inspiring to see and feel that the place where we were three standing was actually the place like that fancy and imagination could be allowed run free. My own thoughts were wandering at that time. I was thinking

Then we went to the river of Ravi. It was flowing very peacefully. There were serenity and calmness everywhere. We spread a sheet and sat under a cool shady tree. Apart from a good company, nature helped us. The sky was overcast with clouds and the summer sun would not come out. There was a cool breeze indicating that somewhere not at a great distance it was raining. We decided to have a bath in the river. All of us were very good swimmers. Swimming is a very good exercise and we played as we swam in the river. It was really very interesting.

After the bath, we took our lunch after some time. After meals, we took rest for a while. We had a mind to play cards. But unfortunately, we had forgotten to bring cards with us. Then we decided to walk around the gardens and fields singing all the way to the mango tree. The ripe mangoes attracted our attention and we had them to our fill. After sometime we decided to return. We reached home at night and were feeling tired. We are very happy that we had a very enjoyable time of our life during the whole day.

“Harsh days never last forever but good memories does”.

(940 words)