There is only one quiet corner left in Ayub Park Rawalpindi

Ayub Park Rawalpindi was developed by Ayub Khan, along with other significant things like the Ayub medical college and Complex. It was then called Topi Rakh, where British soldiers would water their horses. During Musharraf’s time, the Pakistan Army took over the upkeep of the park directly. Nowadays Ayub Park timings are from 10 am to 8 pm.

I went to Ayub Park Rawalpindi, early one Saturday morning to see whether I can jog through the only natural bush available in the concrete jungle called Rawalpindi. This is the Ayub park map, location, pics, museum and cricket ground in Rawalpindi.

 

What I saw was a huge transformation from the run-down infrastructure to a well-developed, landscaped, entertainment-packed place — but trees were sparse.

Don’t get me wrong, the army heritage foundation has done a marvelous job in creating entertainment for the starved population of Rawalpindi — but I didn’t find what I was looking for — peace

There were manicured lawns, paved roads., walkways, parking places, boats, theme parks, zoos, sports grounds, zip line, snake pit, and food courts — but limited natural beauty.

The animals in the zoo were well fed, almost obese. The collection of animals like the white tiger, Bengali tiger, and mountain pumas is very exotic. Ayub Park probably has the best zoo in the twin cities.

Jungle World, Ayub Park, Pindi has all the essential rides, including a haunted house, with bonafide midgets. In Urdu, it’s called Bhoot Bangla and is a hit among Pindi people.

Glasswork in the heritage museum and ‘evolution of the soldier’ display was impressive. I got the impression our only heritage is warfare — which is not true.

The Ayub Park Rawalpindi of yesteryear was a rundown place, full of young couples hiding in the bushes, but it had plenty of peaceful corners.

This time around I did see a few love birds hiding away from the curious eye, but we checked them out anyway, just to show how Pakistani we are.

Then I saw a German lady trying to enjoy weekend leisure under the trees. The three burly, walki-talky wielding guards overlooking her ‘me’ time made her look even more alien to the place.

A giant cricket stadium is coming up on a land cleared of trees, and I wonder what for? Even the ring of fire stadium in Dubai has green stands, where people chill on green patches of earth.

There is a lovely Baradari that opens up on the opposite bank of Lake No 1, and is definitely worth spending time at.

They also have guest rooms’ smack in the center of the jungle park — with no jungle left

Post Script.

In case you are wondering, Ayub Park Rawalpindi has nothing to do with Ayub Khosa, Ayub Bachchu the guitarist of Bangladesh or Ayub Khan the movie maker of India. They should plan an information technology park here.

For more fun activities you can check out Jacaranda, horse riding in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.