Sometimes the heart melts like a candle when I realize that our country, Pakistan, need so much to work upon. Our region is not supposed to be safe. Here, many souls were deprived of their bodies for no reason. Here, justice still needs to flow its natural course. We are living in a dark night with no stars or moon to look in the sky. We need a brighter existence. We need a fresh air to breathe. Then I look at the abundant potential of our region and things begin to change. The last flame of the candle was the brightest. The last drop of tear had an ocean in it. Then nature rules the inner world and I start to travel wherever the destiny takes me.

Then I look at the land of Balochistan and my heart begins to beat in a rhythmic symphony. I start smiling. I start feeling happy. I look at the coastal belt of Balochistan and I don’t care if the world is going to last forever or end abruptly. I just remain in that path, that road. I just remain in some indescribable ecstasy. I just remain in those moments for as long as possible.

Whether we deserve or we don’t, the Nature has shown strange intimacy towards us. It has bestowed us with all the wonders of the world. Even if the world can’t see, people don’t believe, the eyes don’t lie. And my eyes just witnessed the vast space so soothing. It’s so beautiful that it all seems magical. It all seems unreal.

As adventure widens and spirit within reaches new heights, I am willing to be born in this region again and again. I am willing to be the poor dweller of Sindh and Balochistan. I want to be the fisherman of Makran, the shepherd of Lasbela, and the camel rider of Kund Malir. I am willing to be that insignificant nobody. Just let me absorb all the sunshine and brightness of this region, Makran Coastal Highway, Balochistan.

Dear winds of Makran; take me farther and spread my existence throughout the length of your golden beaches and human-shaped mountains sculpted by nature. Let me merge in the winds, vaporize in the air, form clouds above ocean, and shower rain thousand miles away. Let me taste the eternal consciousness in this Makran Coastal desert. Let me live a million years in the brief moments.

Let me float in the crystal clean waters of Kund Malir and Golden Beach. When sunlight strikes the yellow sand in the beach, it appears as if the place is shining like glistering gold. This vast region would have been one of the most expensive properties, if it was anywhere else in the world. But nature wanted to protect it in the population less, uninhabited, Balochistan.

The treasure remains untouched as there is no huge settlement or town nearby. So, when people are afraid to visit Balochistan, the few who make it become the absolute winners. They become the discoverers of the new world. The clean and bluish water calms their mind, cures their heart, and soothes their soul. It heals their body. It cleanses them. The shine of Kund Malir is so bright that it wipes out all their worries and troubles of this life.

When nature rivals the ancient people of Egypt and creates those sphinxes and sculptures in Hingol National Park, there is no way one can’t praise the ultimate Artist. The Master has beautifully crafted the mountains of Hingol National Park. Every one of them has a unique shape. It has its own expression. It speaks, it feels, and it breathes.

The Sphinx is considered in the Egyptian history as benevolent entity, protector of the temples and treasures. But in Greek mythology it is considered as malevolent entity which gives riddles to solve, failing would mean it will destroy that person. I tried my best to feel its inherent effects. To me, it looked like the famous leopard of this Hingol National Park, better to look from far and not any closer.

I saw the Princess of Hope at Makran Coastal Highway near Sphinx. I met her. I saw her hiding behind the Sunshine. She was difficult to reach as I could not climb enough, but we saw each other for some time through the eyes of our soul. This is the land of Balochistan. Here mountains wear dresses and shawls. They wear ornaments. They smile. They welcome their guests with winds and curvy roads.

A sudden realization occurred when I saw the nature's marvelous sculpture, the princess of hope. Once, Sassui traveled from some of the paths of this semi desert region. She was the girl from Bhambhore, Sindh. Her husband was the prince of Balochistan. He was abducted by his own brothers as a punishment of marrying the poor one. As Sassui walked through the treacherous terrain, the princess of hope seems to be exactly her reminder.

If only I had the chance to save Sassui. If only I had stopped her from becoming the live less rock. If only I were born in medieval times, having a sword in hand, a horse to ride, I would have saved the poor girl from scattering and dispersing away in the winds and sand dunes of Kech Makran. The nature doesn't like that we humans forget Sassui. Therefore, it has carved out this sculpture and mysteriously put in our minds to name it, 'Princess of Hope.'

About 8-12 km drifting away from the Makran Coastal Highway near Hinglaj temple, there is a large mud volcano named Chandragup. Its presence is overwhelming in the fairly plain coastal desert area. The small link road which goes towards it moves up and down like a roller coaster ride. It is thin, hardly one vehicle can pass, and it is as dark as a black snake. The mud volcano determines which person or vehicle can reach it as sand dunes occasionally cover some parts of the road.

The Hinglaj temple is near Chandragup though on the other side of the road at Makran Coastal Highway, Balochistan. It is considered one of the oldest deities in Hinduism. Today, not many know much about it. Few temples here and there in India are found in Gujarat and Rajasthan, but this is the main one in Hingol National park adjacent to Hingol River. It is located in a natural cave in narrow gorge. 

It is said that Shah Abdul Latif, Sindh's greatest poet and one of the famous Sufi mystics, visited some of the temples in Balochistan. In one such account, he saw people pouring milk over a rock. He asked about the ritual. Then he took a cup of milk and told the rock to drink it. It is said, as he poured milk over it, the milk went through the pores, giving it an illusion of drinking. Shah was unknown until then but that episode raised many eyebrows and made people aware of Shah's majestic presence in that area as a wandering saint.

Some thirteen hundred years ago, most of the dwellers of this region were Hindus and some Buddhists. But then a seventeen year old Arab general arrived. He conquered Sindh. Islam as a religion entered Indian subcontinent from Middle East. It is said that many Arab soldiers entered via Balochistan to Sindh. Many graves of the Arabs can be seen near Makran Coastal Highway. There is a mosque named after Muhammad Bin Qasim, conqueror of Sindh. 

The history is not well preserved so no one knows the truth about these graves and the mosque. They are just unknown sites. If they are a thousand and half years old, then why is there no shelter over it and no preservation attempts made by government other than putting a sign board? They are just unnamed graves which don't bother revealing their identities to strangers. In a world which doesn't take care of the alive ones, who would listen to the demands of the dead ones? No one!

In the Makran coastal highway as I entered the Hingol National Park, I saw the Hingol River. Considered as Balochistan's longest river, it is about 560 km long which flows between the hills of lower Balochistan. It appeared mighty and was full of water. It’s the only river in the province which flows throughout the year as opposed to other streams which depend upon seasonal rainfall. 

The river supports myriad flora and fauna in Balochistan. Some 250 species of plants, 35 species of mammals, 65 species of amphibians and reptiles, and 185 species of birds depend upon the gracious Hingol River. Like a mother, it feeds them and make sure they survive in extremely hot conditions. Balochistan receives one of the highest annual average mean solar radiations in the world. In summer times, especially, it is roasting hot. But Hingol River takes care of that. It’s cool and calm. It’s supportive. It’s refreshing.

If we look towards one side of the road which does not meet the ocean but goes the opposite way, there are only mountains and high cliffs of mud, clay, and rocks. That's the Hingol National Park. It has a river flowing in it but everywhere else, it’s dry and rough. It would be difficult to cross it without water and food as there is negligible population. Here, self would begin to deprecate and thirst would result in our extinction. But just when everything would go wrong, all of a sudden, eyes would see what’s hard to believe. They'd see oasis in middle of the hills.

Since ancient times, those who saw oasis in middle of the driest deserts and barren cliffs, they found them to be the glimpses of Paradise. Natural springs of fresh water which generate out of unknown sources from the hills or underground soil are no less than magic. The birds see them from a distance and land, and they lay their eggs, and interact with the water and soil. Then the soil becomes fertile. Small plants and suitable trees grow. The grass spreads like a carpet in those tiny isolated places. The water is purest of its kind and nature begins to entertain its most thirsty ones.

The road is one of the defining features of this region. Even though Pakistan is among the developing countries, this one is no less than any world class road. The company which built the famous Karakoram Highway in upper region is the same one which built this Makran Coastal Highway. Both roads have their own beauty. They are dream tracks for any driver. The curves, the ups and downs, the shine, the surrounding landscape, it’s all an experience of lifetime.

How much can a person absorb the beauty of surrounding? It must have some limits. But there are no limits in Makran Coastal Highway. It would be very difficult to not look at the unique landscape, the mud volcanoes, and nature’s sculpted mountains. It would be difficult to not look at the vast blue ocean flowing on one side and racing with our vehicle. It would be difficult to not look at the flora and fauna, the Hingol Leopard watching you from the high cliffs. It would be difficult to not appreciate the beauty of the coastal desert while traveling through the Makran Coastal Highway and Hingol National Park.

Beyond the circumstances, the way people think, beyond all the negativity which overwhelms the globe, reality cannot be manifested artificially but it’s the nature’s creation, it’s very much there in front of us. It is as shining as sunlight, as colorful as rainbow, as deep as the depths of oceans, as high as the sky, as distant as the stars, and as close as the jugular vein. Don’t recognize it, block all its memory, but eyes would again and again imprint the same in mind. Perhaps, one of the most bizarre characters of the reality is that it is concealed and apparent at the same time.

Balochistan’s Makran Coastal region and the Hingol National Park share the taste of reality as they are beautiful but their beauty remains hidden and unknown. Their beaches might be the world’s most beautiful desert beaches, but hardly any one visits them. They remain pure and untouched by most people. Only the blessed ones get to reach and experience their beauty. 

The mountains of Makran coastal region would love to host us. There are undiscovered caves, unseen oasis, and unidentified species of plants waiting to reveal their identities. If only we could drive through the majestic Makran Coastal Highway, its sand dunes, its high cliffs, and its winds would carve our sculptures in the region. They might immortalize us. We might sail through the ships of time to the shores of different dimensions unaffected by the movement of clocks, as in case of Sassui and the Princess of Hope.