'I don't care'

By: IS

The earthquake that shook the entire country extinguished many a budding life

Have you ever fallen in love with someone whom you hadn’t even met? Have you ever desired to meet a character from your favourite book because it meant the world to you? Has a face on TV managed to give you a new life? Did you ever wish to meet an actor in a film who changed your life for good? Has someone you didn’t meet in person inspired you?

Raheela Gul was one of all those people that I mentioned above for her friends, family and myself. A person who was looked with great respect — Raheela Gul was a box full of love, adventure, intelligence, ideas, beauty, dreams, excitement, creativity, mystery, and so many other things that her friends, fans and family were still discovering.

On October 12, three days after the earthquake, I got an email from a dear friend. It read:

Dear All,

I am sure all of you are as devastated as I am. My colleague/acquaintance Raheela Gul was on the 3rd floor of Margalla Towers in Islamabad, Pakistan when it collapsed on the 8th of October 2005. She hasn’t been found since then and feared dead. I spent some quality time with her for she was an international travel consultant and a professional trekker and a very courageous woman following her dreams. Though her body hasn’t been found yet but she has been declared dead in the rubble. I haven’t lost hope yet, in case she is alive than I am hoping that I may get to know about her through forwarding this email to people all around the country.

Thanking you,

M

And just a day later her dead body was found in the debris. I was shocked beyond words. How can someone I loved so much just leave us? Thoughts such as ‘she was strong and can’t just die’ rushed through my already stressed-out brain. She was brave. Much braver than a lot of ‘boys’ I know. She climbed the tallest of mountains. And the idea of her lying beneath mountains of rubble just seemed so unimaginable. The irony is that she was not a resident of the Margalla Towers and was actually visiting her friend who also passed away. Friends and people who knew Raheela well are surprised that even though she had a flight at 9am, she was still in the building. She was a very punctual person and was never late for anything. I guess God had other plans in store for her that are higher — much higher than any mountains she ever climbed or deserts she ever crossed.

Raheela Gul took immense pride in the fact that she was the only person in the world who successfully crossed part of the Great Indian Desert (The Thar, Nara, and Cholistan desert). That’s a long 450 kilometres of trek through one of the harshest terrains in the world. She had earlier on failed to cross the same terrain but she returned since giving-up was not her idea of living. The travelogue was sponsored and documented by a private TV channel in March 2005. The show hasn’t gone on air as yet.

Raheela Gul had recently moved back to Pakistan after many years in Norway, where she became known in the sports world for mastering extreme conditions from the North Pole to Arabian deserts. Her dreams included visiting the Kalahari Desert in Africa, the great Sahara Desert, Golden Peak, Gasherbrum II and K2. The misfortune is that she was visiting Islamabad trying to get funds and sponsorship for one of her dream trip to the Amazon and she was almost about to live her dream. I guess someone else would have to take over. Although I am sure that heroes like Raheela are born one in a million.

With shaking hands and a breaking voice I finally managed to call M who was a close friend of Raheela’s and a part of the TV channel team. “I still can’t believe this has happened. We had a joke between us,” said M with an obvious depressed voice. “Both of us have crazy curly hair that looked alike. So, we made a deal that our hair is a statement. And the statement was ‘I don’t care,’ And that was Raheela.”

Raheela’s eternal goal in life was to promote Pakistan. But it’s tremendously sad to know that women like her are still not projected enough in our media. Raheela was the ideal example of today’s Pakistani modern woman who had no boundaries and didn’t wear a hijab while trying to climb rocks. Her father didn’t disown her and her mother didn’t try to find the perfect son-in-law for her. Raheela was single at the age of 35. On the other hand, I was touched immensely when I searched her name on Google and was surprised to find reports and personal messages for her on foreign websites. For instance, “She’s an experienced mountain climber and expedition leader,” Norwegian Ambassador Janis Bjxrn Kanavin told newspaper Aftenposten. “If anyone can survive in the ruins, it must be her.” Or on a music website (http://www.frydmusic.com/), “In loving memory of our friend mountaineer and adventurer Raheela Gul who could not be saved from the rubbles.”

On her website (www.raheela.com) — “For each phase of life, there’s an adventure to be had. From toddler to octogenarian and from a swinging single to the honeymooner. Your entire life should be an adventure, full of all the surprises, new experiences and unpredictability. But you can’t just wait for the excitement to come to you. You need to go after it, do some planning and even schedule your spontaneity. As paradoxical as it may seem, the best things happen when you put yourself at the right places at the right time with the right people.” Raheela Gul was a graduate in music and journalism. And that’s a combination that I am personally trying to achieve since long and it was Raheela who made it seem possible. Raheela Gul is one of the thousands of people who couldn’t survive this catastrophe. However, she gave many people across Pakistan a reason to be proud of their country. Raheela Gul you’d always remain alive in our thoughts and our dreams and on those mountains where you carved your name. May Allah give you the highest peak in heaven (Amen).

Picture courtesy: Raheela.com

First Published in DAWN, Magazine - Sunday, October 30, 2005.