Around the World in Rupees 6,000 - on Hotel W’s Rooftop
By C. Naseer Ahmad
Washington, DC
August has just turned into September and winter will be arriving soon with its snowstorms. This thought takes me to the POV rooftop restaurant in the W Hotel on 15th Street in downtown Washington from where the White House is clearly visible.
A few winters ago, when snow covered the rooftops of all buildings, everyone in that vaunted location could clearly see the Washington monument. There were still a couple of hours before sunset. The only protection from the frigid cold air were the plastic sheets in the POV rooftop restaurant and big space heaters a few feet across.
Sitting across the table from the author were retired Pakistan Navy Commander Basheer ud Din and Abdul Hameed Piracha Sahib - a distinguished businessman hailing from Bhera near Sargodha, Pakistan. We were sipping hot chocolate to keep warm. Then, spontaneously Piracha Sahib said: “So let me tell you about my trip around the world.”
Perhaps, the beautiful vistas from this location evoked some precious memories in the mind of Piracha Sahib who told us that he was in Washington in the early 1960s. “I had come from Tokyo to Los Angeles and went around the country sightseeing,” he added.
Piracha Sahib’s return trip was via Europe and after visiting London he wanted to go to Italy and other places. “While walking in the St Peter’s Square, I noticed a sharply dressed tall man with well starched pugri and kulla. There were not many Pakistani travelers then. I reached out introducing myself and discovered that the fine gentleman was a famous Pir Sahib from Pakistan, who happened to be quite friendly. As we talked, he told me that he was going to Beirut.”
They did not have long haul airplanes in those days, so journeys had to be broken in cities like Beirut and airlines generously provided hotel stays then. Piracha Sahib linked up with the distinguished Pir Sahib in Beirut. During their discussion Pir Sahib suggested to Piracha Sahib to accompany him to Saudi Arabia. “But, I don’t have a visa,” replied Piracha Sahib. “Not a problem, I can help,” Pir Sahib replied. The well-connected Pir Sahib had friends in high places, so he arranged for the visa for Piracha Sahib in Beirut and off they went to perform the Umra together.
Umra was apparently not in Piracha Sahib’s original plan and neither were some official functions that he was able to participate in. Although he was a young businessman who had traveled outside of Pakistan, this trip introduced Piracha Sahib to a world he had not seen before and expanded his horizons.
With each sip of the hot chocolate, Commander Basheer ud Din and the author visited many foreign cities and learned about the descriptions that Piracha Sahib shared with us – all while enjoying the beautiful scenery around the White House. At one moment, we were in St Peter’s Square in Rome, walking up to the tall and imposing figure of Pir Sahib - even though our fingers were frozen which the cup of hot chocolate in our hands kept warm. And, moments later, we were in the streets of Beirut right across the Prime Minister’s office building that opened in 1894, and then we went along to the old Souk al Tawileh and Souk al-Jamil. We learnt about what Jeddah was like before the gushing petro dollars helped erect the shining edifices, busy airport and hotels.
Piracha Sahib told us about his spiritual journey to Mecca and Medina and how slow life was then because these two holy places also have been transformed by the immense wealth acquired by the Kingdom in the last fifty years.
By the time we were done traveling the world, the hot chocolates in our cups and the sandwiches were finished. Since the cold wind was blowing hard, I asked the waiter for the bill. Our sojourn has cost less than fifty dollars and now comparing the US dollar to Pakistani Rupee exchange rate, it was about as much as what Piracha Sahib paid for his round-the-world ticket, which included unlimited stopovers and no extra changes for changing the flights- about Rupees 6,000, though in those days it took a lot of effort to earn that amount. For us, this was a bargain too for not only did we travel back in time but also gained from Piracha Sahib’s wisdom for he has been blessed with incredible business success.
As another historical note, the W Hotel in Washington was previously known as the Washington Hotel, which has a brief appearance in Francis Ford Coppola’s God Father II in some scenes before Michael Corleone’s participation in the Congressional investigations on his criminal enterprise. Those scenes gave rise to the term “pulling a Frank Pentangeli,” used recently by Roger Stone during the Russia investigation.
Every year when the snow blows hard, the author goes to the POV rooftop to warm the spirit with hot chocolate and the beautiful memories of the precious moments with Piracha Sahib and to reminisce the time I spent at this hotel with my Uncle Group Captain Rashid Chaudhry who visited the United States as part of his Pakistan Air Force training program in the 1970s.
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