Lahore Coming to Life
in Virginia
By Khalid Hasan
Washington,
DC: Noor Naghmi, a Pakistani-American entrepreneur from
Lahore, has crossed the first hurdle in making his dream
of building another Lahore in rural Virginia come true.
Naghmi, son of well-known Radio Pakistan, Lahore, broadcaster
Abul Hasan Naghmi, who was Bhaijan to millions of children
against Mohni Hamid’s Aapa Shamim, has bought all
235 acres of the tiny hamlet of Lahore in Orange County,
Virginia, an hour’s drive from Washington’s
Fairfax county where he lives and finances mortgages and
related deals. Lahore, Virginia, is not new, having come
into existence in late 19th century. The name was picked
out randomly from a book on India. The place where only
a few families live and whose only general store is now
closed, came to attention when Pakistani journalist and
Voice of America broadcaster Akmal Aleemi, driving with
a few friends in the countryside came across a sign on the
road that said ‘Lahore’. He stopped, explored
the place, talked to its few residents and wrote a feature
article on his “discovery” in a Lahore, Pakistan,
newspaper. That was when young Noor first became aware of
the existence of another Lahore, different from the one
where he was born and from where he immigrated with his
family to America in the 1970s.
A big write-up in the Washington Post on Thursday on Naghmi’s
dream details how he has set about the task, which began
two years ago. Naghmi told the newspaper’s Indian-American
reporter Sandhya Somashekhar, “I didn’t know
where to start, what to do. So I went to a realtor there,
and I said, ‘Look, I want to buy Lahore’.”
The $3 million deal which is all but complete, now only
awaiting county formalities, will turn Lahore, Virginia,
if Naghmi has his way, into a regional tourist attraction
for South Asians and others. His plans include a banquet
hall fashioned after his hometown’s famous Shalimar
Gardens. He envisions a library and a museum dedicated to
the histories of both Lahores.
He wants to open a bed-and-breakfast place to serve chickpea
curry alongside eggs and toast. “And that is just
the beginning,” he told the Post.
Naghmi’s enterprise is not going to be smooth. Among
other things there is racism, rural Virginia being the once
redneck American South, traces of which linger even today.
The real estate dealer, G Alex Waugh Jr, whom Naghmi approached,
told the Post reporter, “He came in with a coat and
tie, Indian in color, and I said to myself, ‘What
in the world is this?’ ”
According to the Post report, “Some supporters of
the project worry that some in the conservative area might
not accept the dark-skinned customers, with their foreign
dress and accented English, that the development is meant
to attract.”
The report goes on to point out that at the moment, it’s
difficult to imagine Naghmi’s vision. The center of
the 1,500-resident farming town about 75 miles south of
Washington is a strip of whitewashed buildings on a quiet
stretch of road. An old water pump sits idle. A faded Esso
sign creaks in the breeze. “The venture is an expensive
gamble for Naghmi,” it adds, but quotes Naghmi as
saying, “I have this feeling I was born to do this.
People might think I’m crazy for saying so, but that
is what I believe.” He says he thinks that his successful
ventures will help make his Lahore dream possible.
When Naghmi learnt of the other Lahore, he recalls, “In
an instant, he felt the thrill he had when he read that
article. I got on the Internet the next day. I went to Lahore
that same day. I was so excited. Just to drive on that Lahore
Road, it was like a dream. Maybe I’m homesick, I don’t
know. But I knew I had to do something.” The 235 acres
Naghmi sought, including the center of the town, were owned
by Nancy Wallace, a farmer and tough negotiator who said
she had no plans to sell, although “everything I have
is for sale, for the right price,” she said.
After a year and a half of tense negotiations, Waugh and
Naghmi persuaded her to sell. The deal will be sealed if
the county agrees to grant Naghmi a special-use permit to
operate a bed-and-breakfast in an area now zoned as agricultural.
Local leaders say it will probably go through.
Naghmi’s offer has been “cautiously welcomed”
by residents, who miss the general store that closed, as
so many mom-and-pop businesses did in the 1990s. They have
longed to see something in its place, especially a venture
that would create jobs. In the community, rooted in the
state’s agricultural past, the dominant industry has
languished, its farmers have dwindled in number and its
open space has been gobbled up by housing developments.
His estate broker has told Naghmi to “take it slow,”
but the Post report says Naghmi is “barreling forward,”
confident that his vision will gain approval from the county
and the project’s neighbors. “A Lahori is a
Lahori, no matter where you are from,” he said. “There
is a saying, ‘If you have not seen Lahore, you have
not been born’.” Naghmi is upbeat. He told the
newspaper, “What did I bring here? When I came to
this country, I had one dollar in my pocket. This country
is for people who work hard and have dreams, and I think
my dream is going to come true.” (Courtesy Daily Times)
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