Hotter Than Hell: Pakistan Hurled into Milton's 'Bottomless Perdition'

B J Sadiq reports from the hills above Islamabad on the heatwave currently engulfing Pakistan and its people.

A Pakistani youth cools off under a hand pump at sunset on May 28, 2024 as global temperatures set new records. Photo: AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary

Only a week ago, and with a great jolt of pleasure, I drove to Dunga Gali, a 19th century hill station founded by the British, nearly fifty miles to the north of Pakistan’s capital Islamabad.

For people like me, who have their origins in plateaus or plains, the prospect of mooching away a few hours in those healthful altitudes, hoping for rain or at least the smell of it, is remarkably refreshing, particularly in summer. The place has always had a charming effect on me. The sun glared over the hills, but its full impact was shielded by magnificent deodars, Himalayan cedars so grand they would almost span the width of a cricket field and whose needle-like leaves stirred like silken curtains whenever a sudden gust cascaded through them.

I, along with a bush-hatted friend, well acquainted with that part of the country, picked our way up through a winding mountain trail, dotted by pebbles, and wild weeds. As we walked, we were besieged by the hum of bees, and a constant croaking of ravens. The sky was blue, like the inside of a lapis lazuli cup, with not a shred of cloud above us; the views of the remote hills had acquired a Canaletto quality, blurred by the vapour of distance.