Last updated on July 8, 2024
The year was 2015
And I still remember that beautiful day of June.
“A beautiful day in June” !! You must be surprised to read this sentence. Yes, it was a beautiful day because I was in Belarus, not Pakistan.
This was my first visit to Belarus. I spent two weeks in this country, walking the streets and getting so used to it that I extended my air ticket for another two weeks.
There are three ways to travel in Minsk, The capital of Belarus. Trolley buses, underground metro, or #11 🧍🏻♂️ I mean our legs.
If your proficiency in Russian is as good as mine, that is, a total of nine words, then do not take the risk of traveling here in buses or trolley buses because there is no announcement in English and you forget the signs of the path you have remembered when it takes a couple of turns.
The safest mode of transport for me was by the metro because it runs in one line. Remembering stations is easy and sometimes there is an announcement in English so the chances of getting lost are less. But when both the weather and the people are beautiful, there is nothing wrong with getting lost.
So on that beautiful day in June, I was lost in Minsk yet again.
When I reached Minsk town hall while wandering, it was like a fair. Maybe it was a special day. Here, even on ordinary days, people look special and on special days, they look wonderful. There was so much hustle and bustle around town hall that I wondered what to see and what not to see.
At that moment, some girls in very beautiful clothes passed in front of me. I followed them in a daze, They all stopped a short distance from the town hall with some of the girls already there, and so did I.
My sixth sense was telling me that something amazing would happen now. Gradually a music beat started ringing in my ears and a group of girls started dancing. I watched them for a while. Then I thought that this time should be saved from the camera’s eye. I had just taken some pictures when it started to rain … the dance performance stopped but the music continued.
I also went under the shed to avoid the rain. Meanwhile, three girls started dancing in the rain. I took out the camera again … the performances continued and so did the rain.
I was so lost in the performance that a voice brought me back to Minsk. There was the same beautiful girl in front of me, who I had chased and reached here and was asking me, “Have you taken our photos?”
If you are a Pakistani and a local girl comes to you in a public place in Pakistan and asks you the same question, the first thing that comes to your mind is which friend, brother, or cousin will answer your phone at this time? And who will help you with the police and the trouble to come?
But I was thinking at the time that I am in Minsk, where I didn’t know the local language and I didn’t know the local law. Here, if I have to deal with the police, will it be “pocket money friendly” too?
Everyone saw me doing photography, so I dared and nodded. She said, “Okay, wait a minute … I’ll just bring a friend.” I then began to look at the men in her group and thought that instead of wandering in Belarus for two more weeks, I would have to spend two weeks in the hospital or a prison.
But fortunately, Now there were two girls in front of me … The other girl said to me in a very good American accent, “Have you just taken pictures?” I nodded again in affirmation…
After a few moments of silence, she said again, “Can you share those pictures with us?” After hearing these words, my mind came out of the Belarusian prison and came back to the Belarusian beauties, so I replied Sure, why not?
My favorite author Mustansar Hussain Tarar, whose travelogues made me want to see the world and meet strangers, once said
“No country is beautiful, The people there are beautiful, Their attitudes, Who you meet, and all of these things together make a place beautiful.”
Even today, seven years later, the first thing that comes to my mind whenever I look at a stranger with a camera is Valya’s face and her words, “Have you taken our photos?”
I say yes in my heart and take the photo with a smile!!!
jaaf.pk
Be First to Comment