Murree
Murree is a hill station in Pakistan, an hour from Islamabad, that becomes a sanctuary for Laila, Tariq, and their children after they flee the violence of Taliban-ruled Kabul. It is a place of cool, foggy mornings, dazzling twilights, and pine-covered slopes, a landscape so removed from the war-ravaged city that it seems to make the very notion of hardship obscene. For Laila, Murree represents a fragile, hard-won peace, a life of comfort and tranquillity that is both a blessing and a source of restless longing for the home she left behind.
Geography and Character
Murree is a summer retreat built by the British as a hill station for Victorians to escape the heat of the plains. Its main street, called the Mall, features a post office, a bazaar, and shops that overcharge tourists for painted glass and handknotted carpets. The town's one-way traffic flows in one direction one week and the opposite direction the next, a quirk Tariq notes is said to be like traffic in parts of Ireland. The landscape is hilly and green, with pine trees, fir, and deodars, and it is high above sea level, making it cool in the summer. From nearby Kashmir Point, one can see the valley of the Jhelum River, and from Pindi Point, on a clear day, the view extends as far as Islamabad and downtown Rawalpindi. The area is also home to the maple-clad Nathia Gali, some thirty kilometers away, where tree-shaded roads lead to the Governor's House and an old British cemetery.
Life in Murree
Laila and Tariq live in a small shack behind the hotel where Tariq works as a janitor and handyman, a position secured for him by Sayeed, the hotel's owner. The shack is separated from the main building by a scattering of almond trees, a park bench, and a pyramid-shaped stone fountain that gurgles water all day in the summer. Their life is one of simple routines: Laila vacuums and makes beds, Tariq scrubs bathrooms and mops floors, and their daughter Aziza has claimed the task of spraying and wiping windows. They have a bathroom with a toilet that flushes, a shower, and a sink with twin faucets for hot and cold water—luxuries unimaginable in Kabul. Laila likes waking to the sound of Tariq's goat, Alyona, bleating in the morning, and the presence of the harmlessly cantankerous cook, Adiba, who works marvels in the kitchen. On their days off, they take the children to ride the chairlift to Patriata hill or spread a blanket on the grass at Pindi Point to eat meatball sandwiches with cucumbers and drink cold ginger ale.
A Fragile Peace and the Weight of the Past
Despite the comfort and safety, Laila's happiness in Murree is not without cost. She is plagued by restlessness, hearing the voices of her parents: her father telling her that Afghanistan will need her, and her mother wanting to see her sons' dream come true through her eyes. She feels that her life as a maid in a foreign land is insufficient, inconsequential, and wasteful, especially in light of Mariam's sacrifice. The memory of Mariam, who was executed for killing Rasheed, is a constant presence, and Laila dreams of walking the halls of the house in Kabul, hearing the sounds of a woman's humming that is never there when she arrives. These dreams leave her shaken, coated in sweat, her eyes prickling with tears. The peace of Murree is a temporary blessing, a shelter from the storm, but it cannot silence the call of a homeland that is beginning to rebuild.
Departure and Significance
Laila's decision to return to Kabul is driven by a sense of purpose and a desire to honor the sacrifices of those she has lost. She tells Tariq that she wants to go back, to be a part of the rebuilding, to contribute. Tariq, who has found a measure of peace in Murree, agrees without hesitation, saying he will follow her to the end of the world. Their departure is marked by a tearful farewell with Sayeed, who holds a Koran for them to kiss and pass under for good luck. The journey home is the right thing to do, but it is not an easy one. Murree, for all its beauty and tranquillity, remains a place of exile, a necessary but temporary refuge on the path back to a life of meaning and purpose in Kabul.
