Pakistan's Ambassador to the Kingdom Umar Khan Ali Sherzai and the author Yousif Safar Allah Wasaya Al-Baloshi at the book's launch. (Courtesy photos)A BOOK on Pakistan called “Pakistan: Land of seasons and sceneries” by Yousif Safar Allah Wasaya Al-Baloshi — the first written in Arabic on Pakistan's tourist sites — describes Pakistan as far beautiful than the image that is routinely portrayed in the media. “Pakistan is negatively portrayed in the media, which is not a fact. I encourage people to visit Pakistan. It is a very beautiful country with a loving population,” said Al-Baloshi in an interview with Saudi Gazette. “During my visit to Pakistan, I felt that there is a lot to tell the world about the country's beauty, society and people.” The book is on tourism and addresses social life in Pakistan, its geographical and environmental position, industrialization and history. Going through the book, one easily comes to the conclusion that the majority of Pakistanis are being negatively stereotyped, through no fault of their own. Al-Baloshi is a young Saudi journalist and has long been associated with the leading newspapers in Saudi Arabia. “I belong to a Baloch family that migrated to Saudi Arabia half a century back. My forefathers belong to Pakistan so I am of Pakistani origin but born in Madina Al Munawwara,” he explained. Al-Baloshi knows Arabic, English, Balochi and Urdu languages. “I always longed to visit Pakistan and finally my dream came true two years ago, when I went on a long tour of Pakistan. This was my first visit to Pakistan.” Al-Baloshi said that he loves to meet people and feels that that the profession of journalism is very close to his personality. “The difference I found in journalism and travel writing is as much as the difference between covering incidents and covering nature. I feel that I love traveling and observe nature but at the same time, I am a journalist. It was all these factors that persuaded me to write a book on the subject,” he explained. “Pakistan: Land of seasons and sceneries” is Al-Baloshi's first book but he says that he is also writing a history of Asia. “My book about Pakistan is very different from other books written on this subject as it has all the ingredients of a tourist guide on an area that has been long neglected,” he said. Al-Baloshi observed that despite the security issue, Pakistan is a place where the beauty of nature can be fully enjoyed. “If a tourist decides to visit Pakistan, the best starting point I suggest would be Murree, other than the main cities of Multan, Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, and Rawalpindi. I also visited Bhawalpur, and the beautiful northern province including Gilgit and Skardu,” he added. His favorites are Skardu and Islamabad. Al-Baloshi said that he found the common Pakistani very hard-working and loving. “Pakistani food is a little bit spicy and may be heavy on calories but it is full of taste. Pakistan has a multicultural society and every culture — Sindhi, Pathan, Punjabi, Balochi — stresses the use of bright colors and the importance of family,” he said. Pakistan also has many historical sights to offer, a fact Al-Baloshi found very interesting, but cautioned that visitors should spend some time getting used to the country before venturing out. “The Pakistani Government should boost tourism activities by arranging seminars all over the world, particularly in the Middle East where people usually go on holiday to locations in Europe,” he concluded.
