Hala – City of Crafts

I went to Pakistan in 1999 to get things made for my parent`s Pakistani style Haveli being built in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

I went to Multan to order a few hundred Kashi tiles for the house. The author is right, the Kashigars as the artisans of Kashi tiles are called at Daulat Gate Multan was living in abject poverty, and the price he charged me for his tiles was a pittance compared to the shipping costs and customs we had to pay.

The author is right.... Preservation efforts need to be made to preserve the arts of Pakistan.....

Schools and institutes need to be established to promote evolution of traditional Central Asian, Persian, Indian and Indus Valley Crafts that have flowered for centuries underneath the patronage of Nawabs, Maharajahs, Maharanas, Jagirdaars and wealthy mercchant class.

Not just the arts of what is today Pakistan but also the arts of the whole of South Asia......

Lahore is the cultural capital of Pakistan.......and was the Capital of the Great Mughal Jalal ud Din Akbar at one time......Jahangir beautified it..... so did ShahJahan and so did Aurangzed........

We have Qutb ud Din Aibak`s Mazaar in Lahore..........

People who live in Lahore do need to patronize the old crafts and build houses using techniques that were used to maximize the weather, terrain....

Houses need to be built with thicker walls and thin bricks... to keep them cool in the hot weather with higher ceilings.......Yes, the cost is more immediately but saving on air conditioning costs in the long run.....Lots of windows and Roshandaans.... and Houses built on old principles of Cross Ventilation and the list goes on and on.....

Using Kashi tiles as exterior materials as siding for houses.......no need to paint every year or every other year.......instead of using paint and enamel inside houses, substitutes such as wall covering made of natural fibers that dont require painting.......

I mean there is a cost effective way to do all this.......yet be eco friendly and create jobs for the Pakistani Poor.......

Instead of using those hideous tubelights as they are.... covering them with camel hide painted coverings to dim the light a bit and reduce the harmful effects of unnatural light.....

Use of natural stone......for Jalis for privacy...planting of trees around perimeters of houses.......

As much use of natural materials as possible......Use of Bamboo as an alternative for wood to make windows rather than cutting the ever rare Himalayan Deodar.......known as Diyaar.....

and the list goes on.......