This picture and topic I picked from the share of my respected Swati Sangotian School Senior Honourable Shaukat Iqbal, a mechanical engineer by profession.
I wonder if Malala, the old resident of Landikass, a locality in Mingora, a city in Swat sadly being now anglicised at least her thoughts if it not the dress after her permanent settlement in England, yet one hopes she and her mother would remember ‘Crocheting’, a craft in which a cloth is held in a frame and with a single needle beautiful floral designs made by mostly teenaged girls along with married women sitting together in the sun in winters in their native Swat.
Swat’ is still lucky to have some of its traditional art still living such as the weavers of Shawls in Salampur or Islampur, but wool knitting of sweaters by house wives have now become extinct, as one hardly see it around once a favourite past time of ladies who now mostly occupy themselves with the less productive android phones held in their hands shopping around the ready made garments .
Simplicity and manual labour has its own dividends and crocheting is one such activity that promotes creative group activity amongst ladies reducing their stress that normally build into depression besides contributing towards their self esteem generated through hand made achievements
Once the mind is put to this art and learn at least 3 to 4 basic crochet stitching techniques , several items can be made using just one stitch or a combination of several stitches.
As Malala finds here joy in the company of famous English film stars such as Tom Cruise embarking on a new journey in the cellolid world after her debut production of the controversial Urdu and Punjabi film ‘Joyland’, While her fellow Swati girls back home joyfully sit in the sun crocheting beautiful floral designs over the textile mostly white, as bed sheets, table clothes and pillow covers that normally travel with them to the next home where they are married and happily settled.
As these Swati girls raise the next generation of the Swati joyful families, not in need to travel overseas to find their joy and peace in other places and cultures , knowing they are to be buried in the same soil, where they are born and joyfully raised. Long Live Pakistan And Its Resilient Nation To Whom Pakistan Belong As A Place Both Of Their Birth And Burial 🇵🇰
