The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt

      

LAHORE, Pakistan, Thursday—Dinner in the government house in Peshawar was a pleasant one and I had interesting talks with my host and my neighbor on the right. Immediately after dinner I was taken into the next room where all the ladies who do not go to mixed parties were waiting and the Peshawar branch of the All-Pakistan Women's Association presented me with a lovely white coat embroidered in gold.

After this we all went into the garden leaving almost all the ladies, to look through gauze curtains at a Khattak dance. Three groups of men danced. The first ones danced to a drum and two pipes that sounded exactly like Scottish bagpipes while the other two groups had always a drum but various other instruments, too. The dances were rather violent and certainly a test of endurance. They were very interesting but I am sure nowhere near as graceful as those they tell me the women do.

The evening was extremely interesting; in fact, I enjoyed every minute of the day.

Before we boarded our plane for this city our Royal Pakistan Air Force pilot promised to fly us into the Himalayas where he hoped we would get view of a distant and very high peak. The peak remained shrouded in clouds, however, but we had an interesting flight, with snow all around us. Far below we saw little green valleys, with villages cuddled here and there in them.

Sometimes we could see individual houses in the snow and we wondered how anyone could live there and make a living. A wall of sheer rock would seem to be before us and then would open out into another valley beyond.

Our first day here was an easy one. After a talk with the governor general in the morning we went sightseeing.

First we went to see the Badshahi Hadshahi Mosque, which I was told is the largest mosque in the East. It is made of red sandstone with elaborate decorations. It faces the old fort built by Emperor Akbar.

Emperor Shah Jahan, who was the famous builder of the Taj Mahal, laid out the spacious and exquisite Shalimar Gardens of Lahore, which we next visited. We were a little late for lunch because we could not tear ourselves away from the beauty of these gardens. But, as it was a buffet luncheon, the governor-general, who was with us, got through in time to make his plane for Karachi.

After lunch I had some leisure time, so I read the papers and wrote some letters.

Later I left for a civic reception in the more modern but still very lovely gardens of Bagh-Jinnah. These were built under the British and once were known as the Lawrence Gardens. Here the mayor of Lahore presented me with the freedom of the city.

Then I visited the All-Pakistan Women's Association shop and cottage industries and called on Begum Zafrullah Khan. I was sorry to miss Sir Zafrullah who is visiting in some Near Eastern countries and will not be home until after I leave. The daughter of the family however, told me she would be in the United States this coming spring and summer perhaps and her mother asked if I would look after her, which I'll gladly do.

We were guests at a buffet dinner given in the evening by Hon. Mian Muntaz Daulatana and Begum Daulatana.

E. R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1952, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

Geographic
  • Lahore (Punjab, Pakistan) [ index ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, February 29, 1952

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962
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Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007

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Transcription created from a photocopy of a UFS wire copy of a My Day column instance archived at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.
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